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Nikola still leading, found the tunnel, and passed through it as safely as if
we had been lighted by a hundred linkmen.
"Our next endeavour must be to discover how we are to get out of the building
itself," said Nikola, as we reached the four cross passages; " and as I have
no notion how the land lies, it looks rather more serious. Let us try this
passage first."
As quickly as was possible under the circumstances we made our way up the
stairs indicated, passed the great waterfall, sped along two or three
corridors, were several times nearly observed, and at last, after innumerable
trybacks, reached the great hall where we had been received on the day of our
arrival.
Almost at the same instant there was a clamour in the monastery, followed by
the ringing of the deeptoned bell; then the shouting of many voices, and the
tramping of hundreds of feet.
"They are after us! " said Nikola. " Our flight has been discovered. Now, if
we cannot find a way out, we are done for completely."
The noise was every moment coming closer, and any instant we might expect our
pursuers to come into view.
Like rats in a strange barn, who hear the approach of a terrier, we dashed
this way and that in our endeavours to discover an exit. At last we came upon
the steps leading from the great hall into the valley below. Down these we
flew as fast as we could go, every moment risking a fall which would
inevitably break our necks.
Almost too giddy to stand, we at last reached the bottom, to find the door
shut, and guarded by a stalwart monk. To throw ourselves upon him was the
work of an instant. He lifted his heavy staff, and aimed a blow at me; but I
dodged it in time, and got in at him before he could recover. Drawing back my
arm, I hit him with all the strength at my command. His head struck the floor
with a crash, and he did not move again.
Nikola bent over him, and assured himself that the sleep was genuine. Then he
signed to me to give him the key, and when the door was unfastened we passed
through it, and closed it after us, locking it on the other side. Then down
the valley we ran as fast as our legs would carry us.
Chapter XVII. Conclusion
As I have said, we were no sooner through the gates than we took to our heels
and fled down the valley for our lives. For my own part I was so thankful to
be out of that awful place, to be once more breathing the fresh air of
Heaven, that I felt as if I could go on running for ever. Fortunately the
night was pitch dark, with a high wind blowing. The darkness prevented our
pursuers from seeing the direction we had taken, while the noise of the wind
effectually deadened any sound we might make that would otherwise have
betrayed our whereabouts.
For upwards of an hour we sped along the bottom of the valley in this
fashion, paying no heed where we went and caring for nothing but to put as
great a distance as possible between ourselves and our pursuers. At last I
could go no further, so I stopped and threw myself upon the ground. Nikola
immediately came to a standstill, glanced round him suspiciously, and then
sat down beside me.
Dr. Nikola Returns
Page 120
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Chapter XVII. Conclusion
119
"So much for our first visit to the great monastery of Thibet," he said as
casually as if he were bidding goodbye to a chance acquaintance.
"Do you think we have given them the slip? " I queried, looking anxiously up
the dark valley through which we had come.
"By no means," he answered. " Remember we are still hemmed in by the
precipices, and at most we cannot be more than five miles from their doors.
We shall have to proceed very warily for the next week or so, and to do that
we must make the most of every minute of darkness."
We were both silent for a little while. I was occupied trying to recover my
breath, Nikola in distributing more comfortably about his person the
parchments, etc., he had brought away with him.
"Shall we be going on again? " I asked, as soon as I thought I could go on. "
I've no desire to fall into their hands, I can assure you. Which way is it to
be now? "
"Straight on," he answered, springing to his feet. " We must follow the
valley down and see where it will bring us out. It would be hopeless to
attempt to scale the cliffs."
Without further talk we set off, not to stop again until we had added another
four miles or perhaps five to our flight. By this time it was close upon
daybreak, the chilliest, dreariest, greyest dawn in all my experience.
With the appearance of the light the wind died down, but it still moaned
among the rocks and through the high grass in the most dreary and dispiriting
fashion. Half an hour later the sun rose, and then Nikola once more called a
halt.
"We must hide ourselves somewhere," he said, " and travel on again as soon as
darkness falls. Look about you for a place where we shall not be likely to be
seen."
For some time it seemed as if we should be unable to discover any such spot,
but at last we hit upon one that was just suited to our purpose. It was a
small enclosure sheltered by big boulders and situated on a rocky plateau
high up the hillside. To this place of refuge we scrambled, and then with
armfuls of grass, which we collected from the immediate neighbourhood,
endeavoured to make ourselves as comfortable as possible until night should
once more descend upon us. It was not a cheery camp. To make matters worse we
were quite destitute of food, and already the pangs of hunger were beginning
to obtrude themselves upon us.
"If we ever do get back to civilization," said Nikola, after we had been
sitting there some time, " I suppose this business will rank as one of the
greatest exploits of your life? "
"I have no desire ever to undertake such another," I replied truthfully. "
This trip has more than satisfied my craving for the adventurous."
"Wait till you've been settled in a sleepy English village for a couple of
years," he said with a laugh. " By that time I wouldn't mind wagering you'll
be ready for anything that turns up. I wonder what you would think if I
told you that, dangerous as this one has been, it is as nothing to another in
which I was concerned about six years since. Then I was occupied trying to
discover"
I am sorry to have to confess that it is beyond my power to narrate what his
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