Dot and Tot of Merryland Page 4

  CHAPTER 4 UNDER THE CLIFFS

  Tot scrambled to his feet and sat upon a seat of the boat, holdingfast to the sides with both hands. As he looked around and saw theboat was far from land, he smiled and nodded his head, saying, "Nowwe'll play ship, an' ride on 'e ocean. Won't we, Dot F'eelun'?"

  "Oh, Tot!" exclaimed the little girl; "I'm afraid we'll be drowned.How can we ever get home again?"

  "Ride in 'e boat," said Tot, composedly.

  "But the boat is carrying us farther away every minute. We'refloating downstream; and by-and-by we'll come to the ocean, wherethere are big waves," declared Dot, who was really frightened.

  But Tot refused to be afraid. As the swift current carried themalong, he clapped his hands together joyfully and gave a little laughof delight. "Nice ride!" he said again and again. "Hooray!"

  Dot was older and wiser. She knew a boat could be rowed by means ofoars, and there were two oars lying on the bottom of the boat. Shedecided to make an attempt to reach the shore, for then someone mightbe found to help them back to Roselawn, which they had now left farbehind.

  She drew out one of the oars and with difficulty, for it was heavyfor the child to handle, managed to push one end into the water andrest the other against the row-lock of the boat. Then she began torow as hard as she could; but her strength was not great, and all shedid was to push the front of the boat half around, so that it headedtoward the rocky cliffs on the far side of the river.

  Her efforts pleased Tot, who laughed merrily as the oar splashed inthe water; but Dot was determined to get to land if possible andstruggled desperately at her task.

  The boat was still headed toward the rocky cliffs, when suddenly theoar flew out of Dot's hands and she fell backward off the seat.

  She was not hurt, but when she got up she saw the oar floating in thewater, out of her reach; still she was reassured to notice that theboat was now gliding swiftly along, and presently, to her joy, shesaw it was headed directly toward the fringe of trees, and gettingnearer to the bank every moment.

  "It must be another current, Tot," she cried, "and this one is takingus to the shore. So I did some good by rowing, even if I lost theoar."

  Tot nodded, but said nothing. He was still enjoying the novel boatride. Dot sat down on the seat beside him, and they watched the shoregrow nearer and more distinct every moment as the boat glidedsteadily on.

  The trees were bigger than they had thought, and grew close down tothe water's edge. Dot became worried when she noticed the speed ofthe boat increasing as they drew nearer to the shore.

  "If we bump those trees," she said, "we may be hurt, and the brancheswill scratch our faces dreadfully."

  Tot stopped smiling when he heard this, and took hold of Dot's hand,which he clasped tightly in his own.

  The next moment, still speeding onward, the boat reached the trees.The two children were caught by the branches, swept quickly from theseat, and sent sprawling at the bottom of the boat. But the boatitself never stopped an instant. There was just room for it to floatunderneath the thick branches, and instead of bumping into the shore,the water carried it through a small opening in the face of the rockycliff, and then, in total darkness, it continued swiftly on its way!

  Dot and Tot, who were both startled by this unexpected danger,managed to get up and sit together upon the seat of the boat; butthey could see nothing before them and only a faint light behind,where they had entered this hidden tunnel in the cliff.

  For some moments they sat in silence. Then Dot reached out her handto see if she could feel anything; but the cool, damp air was allaround them. Then she reached upward, and her hand struck against apiece of projecting rock which hurt her.

  "Tot," she whispered, "I think we'd better lie down in the bottom ofthe boat. The roof isn't very high up, and it may bump our heads ifwe sit here."

  Tot slipped off the seat at once and stretched himself out on theboards underneath. Dot quickly followed him, and then for a time theylay very still in the darkness, listening to the water as it rippledsoftly along the sides of the boat.

  Presently the girl asked, "Are you frightened, Tot?"

  "Not, much," was the hesitating answer; and then, after a long pause,he added, "but some."

  "Oh, I'm some frightened myself," said Dot. "But I don't know what wecan do."

  "I know," declared Tot, solemnly.

  "What?" she inquired, in an anxious voice.

  "Nuthin'."

  Dot saw no need of replying to this, and another long period ofsilence followed.

  They did not seem to be in any immediate danger, for the boat sweptalong with a free, easy motion that was very pleasant, and the airwas delightfully cool after the heat of the sun outside in the openriver.

  But two things worried Dot. One was the fact that she was beingcarried a long ways from home, and the other a fear of where theunderground river might lead them. She wasn't at all sure they werenot floating down into the middle of the earth, and the chances ofever seeing Roselawn again were growing smaller every minute.

  Nothing seemed to worry Tot, however. The darkness and the murmuringof the water made him drowsy, and before long he was fast asleep,with his chubby little arms clasped around Dot's neck.

  The girl was also gradually recovering from her fright, since nothingterrible seemed to happen. They were having a long journey under thecliffs; but she knew there must come an end to it some time, andprobably they would float out of the dark tunnel into the daylightsooner or later.

  On and on sped the little boat, until at last, as Dot lay staringinto the darkness, she noticed a dim light about her, and began tosee the rocky roof of the cavern through which they were passing.

  Then she sat up, and, far away in the distance, she saw a round,bright spot that reminded her of a full moon. It seemed to be gettingnearer and bigger, and finally she gave a cry of joy and awakened hercompanion.

  "Tot! Oh, Tot!" she called. "We've got to the end at last and arecoming out of the tunnel!"

  Tot sat up and rubbed his eyes. He gave one careless glance at theopening, and then turned his eyes upon the lunch basket, saying,sleepily, "I'm hungry!"