「ソロモン王の洞窟」 第18章（全） 原文と平林初之輔 訳

 

 CHAPTER XVIII

WE ABANDON HOPE

I can give no adequate description of the horrors of the night which followed. Mercifully they were to some extent mitigated by sleep, for even in such a position as ours wearied nature will sometimes assert itself. But I, at any rate, found it impossible to sleep much. Putting aside the terrifying thought of our impending doom—for the bravest man on earth might well quail from such a fate as awaited us, and I never made any pretensions to be brave—the silence itself was too great to allow of it. Reader, you may have lain awake at night and thought the quiet oppressive, but I say with confidence that you can have no idea what a vivid, tangible thing is perfect stillness. On the surface of the earth there is always some sound or motion, and though it may in itself be imperceptible, yet it deadens the sharp edge of absolute silence. But here there was none. We were buried in the bowels of a huge snow-clad peak. Thousands of feet above us the fresh air rushed over the white snow, but no sound of it reached us. We were separated by a long tunnel and five feet of rock even from the awful chamber of the Dead; and the dead make no noise. Did we not know it who lay by poor Foulata's side? The crashing of all the artillery of earth and heaven could not have come to our ears in our living tomb. We were cut off from every echo of the world—we were as men already in the grave.

Then the irony of the situation forced itself upon me. There around us lay treasures enough to pay off a moderate national debt, or to build a fleet of ironclads, and yet we would have bartered them all gladly for the faintest chance of escape. Soon, doubtless, we should be rejoiced to exchange them for a bit of food or a cup of water, and, after that, even for the privilege of a speedy close to our sufferings. Truly wealth, which men spend their lives in acquiring, is a valueless thing at the last.

And so the night wore on.

"Good," said Sir Henry's voice at last, and it sounded awful in the intense stillness, "how many matches have you in the box?"

"Eight, Curtis."

"Strike one and let us see the time."

He did so, and in contrast to the dense darkness the flame nearly blinded us. It was five o'clock by my watch. The beautiful dawn was now blushing on the snow-wreaths far over our heads, and the breeze would be stirring the night mists in the hollows.

"We had better eat something and keep up our strength," I suggested.

"What is the good of eating?" answered Good; "the sooner we die and get it over the better."

"While there is life there is hope," said Sir Henry.

Accordingly we ate and sipped some water, and another period of time elapsed. Then Sir Henry suggested that it might be well to get as near the door as possible and halloa, on the faint chance of somebody catching a sound outside. Accordingly Good, who, from long practice at sea, has a fine piercing note, groped his way down the passage and set to work. I must say that he made a most diabolical noise. I never heard such yells; but it might have been a mosquito buzzing for all the effect they produced.

After a while he gave it up and came back very thirsty, and had to drink. Then we stopped yelling, as it encroached on the supply of water.

So we sat down once more against the chests of useless diamonds in that dreadful inaction which was one of the hardest circumstances of our fate; and I am bound to say that, for my part, I gave way in despair. Laying my head against Sir Henry's broad shoulder I burst into tears; and I think that I heard Good gulping away on the other side, and swearing hoarsely at himself for doing so.

Ah, how good and brave that great man was! Had we been two frightened children, and he our nurse, he could not have treated us more tenderly. Forgetting his own share of miseries, he did all he could to soothe our broken nerves, telling stories of men who had been in somewhat similar circumstances, and miraculously escaped; and when these failed to cheer us, pointing out how, after all, it was only anticipating an end which must come to us all, that it would soon be over, and that death from exhaustion was a merciful one (which is not true). Then, in a diffident sort of way, as once before I had heard him do, he suggested that we should throw ourselves on the mercy of a higher Power, which for my part I did with great vigour.

His is a beautiful character, very quiet, but very strong.

And so somehow the day went as the night had gone, if, indeed, one can use these terms where all was densest night, and when I lit a match to see the time it was seven o'clock.

Once more we ate and drank, and as we did so an idea occurred to me.

"How is it," said I, "that the air in this place keeps fresh? It is thick and heavy, but it is perfectly fresh."

"Great heavens!" said Good, starting up, "I never thought of that. It can't come through the stone door, for it's air-tight, if ever a door was. It must come from somewhere. It there were no current of air in the place we should have been stifled or poisoned when we first came in. Let us have a look."

It was wonderful what a change this mere spark of hope wrought in us. In a moment we were all three groping about on our hands and knees, feeling for the slightest indication of a draught. Presently my ardour received a check. I put my hand on something cold. It was dead Foulata's face.

For an hour or more we went on feeling about, till at last Sir Henry and I gave it up in despair, having been considerably hurt by constantly knocking our heads against tusks, chests, and the sides of the chamber. But Good still persevered, saying, with an approach to cheerfulness, that it was better than doing nothing.

"I say, you fellows," he said presently, in a constrained sort of voice, "come here."

Needless to say we scrambled towards him quickly enough.

"Quatermain, put your hand here where mine is. Now, do you feel anything?"

"I think I feel air coming up."

"Now listen." He rose and stamped upon the place, and a flame of hope shot up in our hearts. It rang hollow.

With trembling hands I lit a match. I had only three left, and we saw that we were in the angle of the far corner of the chamber, a fact that accounted for our not having noticed the hollow sound of the place during our former exhaustive examination. As the match burnt we scrutinised the spot. There was a join in the solid rock floor, and, great heavens! there, let in level with the rock, was a stone ring. We said no word, we were too excited, and our hearts beat too wildly with hope to allow us to speak. Good had a knife, at the back of which was one of those hooks that are made to extract stones from horses' hoofs. He opened it, and scratched round the ring with it. Finally he worked it under, and levered away gently for fear of breaking the hook. The ring began to move. Being of stone it had not rusted fast in all the centuries it had lain there, as would have been the case had it been of iron. Presently it was upright. Then he thrust his hands into it and tugged with all his force, but nothing budged.

"Let me try," I said impatiently, for the situation of the stone, right in the angle of the corner, was such that it was impossible for two to pull at once. I took hold and strained away, but no results.

Then Sir Henry tried and failed.

Taking the hook again, Good scratched all round the crack where we felt the air coming up.

"Now, Curtis," he said, "tackle on, and put your back into it; you are as strong as two. Stop," and he took off a stout black silk handkerchief, which, true to his habits of neatness, he still wore, and ran it through the ring. "Quatermain, get Curtis round the middle and pull for dear life when I give the word. Now."

Sir Henry put out all his enormous strength, and Good and I did the same, with such power as nature had given us.

"Heave! heave! it's giving," gasped Sir Henry; and I heard the muscles of his great back cracking. Suddenly there was a grating sound, then a rush of air, and we were all on our backs on the floor with a heavy flag-stone upon the top of us. Sir Henry's strength had done it, and never did muscular power stand a man in better stead.

"Light a match, Quatermain," he said, so soon as we had picked ourselves up and got our breath; "carefully, now."

I did so, and there before us, Heaven be praised! was the first step of a stone stair.

"Now what is to be done?" asked Good.

"Follow the stair, of course, and trust to Providence."

"Stop!" said Sir Henry; "Quatermain, get the bit of biltong and the water that are left; we may want them."

I went, creeping back to our place by the chests for that purpose, and as I was coming away an idea struck me. We had not thought much of the diamonds for the last twenty-four hours or so; indeed, the very idea of diamonds was nauseous, seeing what they had entailed upon us; but, reflected I, I may as well pocket some in case we ever should get out of this ghastly hole. So I just put my fist into the first chest and filled all the available pockets of my old shooting-coat and trousers, topping up—this was a happy thought—with a few handfuls of big ones from the third chest. Also, by an afterthought, I stuffed Foulata's basket, which, except for one water-gourd and a little biltong, was empty now, with great quantities of the stones.

"I say, you fellows," I sang out, "won't you take some diamonds with you? I've filled my pockets and the basket."

"Oh, come on, Quatermain! and hang the diamonds!" said Sir Henry. "I hope that I may never see another."

As for Good, he made no answer. He was, I think, taking his last farewell of all that was left of the poor girl who had loved him so well. And curious as it may seem to you, my reader, sitting at home at ease and reflecting on the vast, indeed the immeasurable, wealth which we were thus abandoning, I can assure you that if you had passed some twenty-eight hours with next to nothing to eat and drink in that place, you would not have cared to cumber yourself with diamonds whilst plunging down into the unknown bowels of the earth, in the wild hope of escape from an agonising death. If from the habits of a lifetime, it had not become a sort of second nature with me never to leave anything worth having behind if there was the slightest chance of my being able to carry it away, I am sure that I should not have bothered to fill my pockets and that basket.

"Come on, Quatermain," repeated Sir Henry, who was already standing on the first step of the stone stair. "Steady, I will go first."

"Mind where you put your feet, there may be some awful hole underneath," I answered.

"Much more likely to be another room," said Sir Henry, while he descended slowly, counting the steps as he went.

When he got to "fifteen" he stopped. "Here's the bottom," he said. "Thank goodness! I think it's a passage. Follow me down."

Good went next, and I came last, carrying the basket, and on reaching the bottom lit one of the two remaining matches. By its light we could just see that we were standing in a narrow tunnel, which ran right and left at right angles to the staircase we had descended. Before we could make out any more, the match burnt my fingers and went out. Then arose the delicate question of which way to go. Of course, it was impossible to know what the tunnel was, or where it led to, and yet to turn one way might lead us to safety, and the other to destruction. We were utterly perplexed, till suddenly it struck Good that when I had lit the match the draught of the passage blew the flame to the left.

"Let us go against the draught," he said; "air draws inwards, not outwards."

We took this suggestion, and feeling along the wall with our hands, whilst trying the ground before us at every step, we departed from that accursed treasure chamber on our terrible quest for life. If ever it should be entered again by living man, which I do not think probable, he will find tokens of our visit in the open chests of jewels, the empty lamp, and the white bones of poor Foulata.

When we had groped our way for about a quarter of an hour along the passage, suddenly it took a sharp turn, or else was bisected by another, which we followed, only in course of time to be led into a third. And so it went on for some hours. We seemed to be in a stone labyrinth that led nowhere. What all these passages are, of course I cannot say, but we thought that they must be the ancient workings of a mine, of which the various shafts and adits travelled hither and thither as the ore led them. This is the only way in which we could account for such a multitude of galleries.

At length we halted, thoroughly worn out with fatigue and with that hope deferred which maketh the heart sick, and ate up our poor remaining piece of biltong and drank our last sup of water, for our throats were like lime-kilns. It seemed to us that we had escaped Death in the darkness of the treasure chamber only to meet him in the darkness of the tunnels.

As we stood, once more utterly depressed, I thought that I caught a sound, to which I called the attention of the others. It was very faint and very far off, but it was a sound, a faint, murmuring sound, for the others heard it too, and no words can describe the blessedness of it after all those hours of utter, awful stillness.

"By heaven! it's running water," said Good. "Come on."

Off we started again in the direction from which the faint murmur seemed to come, groping our way as before along the rocky walls. I remember that I laid down the basket full of diamonds, wishing to be rid of its weight, but on second thoughts took it up again. One might as well die rich as poor, I reflected. As we went the sound became more and more audible, till at last it seemed quite loud in the quiet. On, yet on; now we could distinctly make out the unmistakable swirl of rushing water. And yet how could there be running water in the bowels of the earth? Now we were quite near it, and Good, who was leading, swore that he could smell it.

"Go gently, Good," said Sir Henry, "we must be close." Splash! and a cry from Good.

He had fallen in.

"Good! Good! where are you?" we shouted, in terrified distress. To our intense relief an answer came back in a choky voice.

"All right; I've got hold of a rock. Strike a light to show me where you are."

Hastily I lit the last remaining match. Its faint gleam discovered to us a dark mass of water running at our feet. How wide it was we could not see, but there, some way out, was the dark form of our companion hanging on to a projecting rock.

"Stand clear to catch me," sung out Good. "I must swim for it."

Then we heard a splash, and a great struggle. Another minute and he had grabbed at and caught Sir Henry's outstretched hand, and we had pulled him up high and dry into the tunnel.

"My word!" he said, between his gasps, "that was touch and go. If I hadn't managed to catch that rock, and known how to swim, I should have been done. It runs like a mill-race, and I could feel no bottom."

We dared not follow the banks of the subterranean river for fear lest we should fall into it again in the darkness. So after Good had rested a while, and we had drunk our fill of the water, which was sweet and fresh, and washed our faces, that needed it sadly, as well as we could, we started from the banks of this African Styx, and began to retrace our steps along the tunnel, Good dripping unpleasantly in front of us. At length we came to another gallery leading to our right.

"We may as well take it," said Sir Henry wearily; "all roads are alike here; we can only go on till we drop."

Slowly, for a long, long while, we stumbled, utterly exhausted, along this new tunnel, Sir Henry now leading the way. Again I thought of abandoning that basket, but did not.

Suddenly he stopped, and we bumped up against him.

"Look!" he whispered, "is my brain going, or is that light?"

We stared with all our eyes, and there, yes, there, far ahead of us, was a faint, glimmering spot, no larger than a cottage window pane. It was so faint that I doubt if any eyes, except those which, like ours, had for days seen nothing but blackness, could have perceived it at all.

With a gasp of hope we pushed on. In five minutes there was no longer any doubt; it was a patch of faint light. A minute more and a breath of real live air was fanning us. On we struggled. All at once the tunnel narrowed. Sir Henry went on his knees. Smaller yet it grew, till it was only the size of a large fox's earth—it was earth now, mind you; the rock had ceased.

A squeeze, a struggle, and Sir Henry was out, and so was Good, and so was I, dragging Foulata's basket after me; and there above us were the blessed stars, and in our nostrils was the sweet air. Then suddenly something gave, and we were all rolling over and over and over through grass and bushes and soft, wet soil.

The basket caught in something and I stopped. Sitting up I halloed lustily. An answering shout came from below, where Sir Henry's wild career had been checked by some level ground. I scrambled to him, and found him unhurt, though breathless. Then we looked for Good. A little way off we discovered him also, hammed in a forked root. He was a good deal knocked about, but soon came to himself.

We sat down together, there on the grass, and the revulsion of feeling was so great that really I think we cried with joy. We had escaped from that awful dungeon, which was so near to becoming our grave. Surely some merciful Power guided our footsteps to the jackal hole, for that is what it must have been, at the termination of the tunnel. And see, yonder on the mountains the dawn we had never thought to look upon again was blushing rosy red.

Presently the grey light stole down the slopes, and we saw that we were at the bottom, or rather, nearly at the bottom, of the vast pit in front of the entrance to the cave. Now we could make out the dim forms of the three Colossi who sat upon its verge. Doubtless those awful passages, along which we had wandered the livelong night, had been originally in some way connected with the great diamond mine. As for the subterranean river in the bowels of the mountain, Heaven only knows what it is, or whence it flows, or whither it goes. I, for one, have no anxiety to trace its course.

Lighter it grew, and lighter yet. We could see each other now, and such a spectacle as we presented I have never set eyes on before or since. Gaunt-cheeked, hollow-eyed wretches, smeared all over with dust and mud, bruised, bleeding, the long fear of imminent death yet written on our countenances, we were, indeed, a sight to frighten the daylight. And yet it is a solemn fact that Good's eye-glass was still fixed in Good's eye. I doubt whether he had ever taken it out at all. Neither the darkness, nor the plunge in the subterranean river, nor the roll down the slope, had been able to separate Good and his eye-glass.

Presently we rose, fearing that our limbs would stiffen if we stopped there longer, and commenced with slow and painful steps to struggle up the sloping sides of the great pit. For an hour or more we toiled steadfastly up the blue clay, dragging ourselves on by the help of the roots and grasses with which it was clothed. But now I had no more thought of leaving the basket; indeed, nothing but death should have parted us.

At last it was done, and we stood by the great road, on that side of the pit which is opposite to the Colossi.

At the side of the road, a hundred yards off, a fire was burning in front of some huts, and round the fire were figures. We staggered towards them, supporting one another, and halting every few paces. Presently one of the figures rose, saw us and fell on to the ground, crying out for fear.

"Infadoos, Infadoos! it is we, thy friends."

He rose; he ran to us, staring wildly, and still shaking with fear.

"Oh, my lords, my lords, it is indeed you come back from the dead!—come back from the dead!"

And the old warrior flung himself down before us, and clasping Sir Henry's knees, he wept aloud for joy.

 

ソロモン王の寶窟 : 第十八章　絶望

 

その晩の恐ろしさは私の筆では十分に描きつくせぬ。だが有難いことにはその恐ろしさも時々眠りのために途切れた。 こんあ恐ろしい境遇にあつても疲れきつてゐると時々睡魔が襲つて來るものだ。 けれども少くも私は餘り多く眠ることは出來なかつた。 世界中の最も勇敢な人間でも吾々の眼前にさし迫つてゐるやうな運命には氣がくじけてしまふに相違ないのに、 私は決して勇敢な人間ではないのだ。しかもその事を別としても、 その場の餘りの靜けさだけでも、眠ることを許さなかつたのだ。 讀者諸君、夜、床の中で眼が醒めて四邊《あたり》の靜けさが妙に恐ろしくなる時があるに相違ない。 だが諸君は、完全な靜けさと言ふものがどれ程恐ろしいものかまだ知るまい。 地球の表面では常に何かの音、何かの運動があるものだ。ところがこゝではさいふものが絶對にないのだ。 吾々は雪を戴いた大きな峰の内臟の中へはひつてゐるのだ。 數千尺の上には清らかな風が眞白な雪の上を吹いてゐるだらう。 だがそんな音は此處までとゞきはしない。しかも死人は音などさせるものではない、 世界中の砲兵隊が一度に大砲を放つたつて、この生きた墓場の中にゐる吾々の耳にはとゞく筈がない。 吾々は世界のあらゆる響きら絶縁されてゐるのだ。——既に死んだも同じなのだ。

それに吾々の皮肉極まる立場が妙に強く私の胸を打つた。吾々の周圍にはいゝ加減な國の國債を支拂つたり、 艦隊を建造したりするに足る位の富が横はつてるのに、 吾々はそんなものはいらないから少しでも逃げ出す機會があればよいと思つてるのだ。 今にきつとそんな寶物よりも一片の食物、或は一ぱいの水の方がほしくなつて來るだらう。 そして最後には、一思ひに苦しみを縮めて死んでしまふことが出來れば、 そんな寶物はいらないといふ氣にもなることだらう。實際人間が一生を費して得ようとする富なんていふものは、 最後の時になるとまつたく價値のないものだ！

こんなことを考へてゐるうちに、夜はだん〜更けて行つた。

「グッド君、燐寸《マツチ》は何本殘つてゐるかね？」とたうとうサー・ヘンリイが言つた。 その聲は恐ろしい靜寂の中にがん〜響き渡つた。

「八本です。」

「一本擦つて時間を見よう。」

彼が燐寸《マツチ》をすると漆黒の闇に馴れてゐた吾々の眼は、 眼がくらむほどまぶしく感じた。私の時計は五時だつた。 吾々の遙か頭の上では、今、美しい曙の光りが雪の峰を染めてゐるに相違ない。 そして、心地よい微風が、夜の靄を吹き拂つてゐることだらう。

「何か少し食つて元氣をつけることにしよう」と私は言つた。

「物を食つたところで何になるんだ？」とグッドは答へた。 「もう早晩死んでしまふんだもの？」

そこで吾々は乾肉《ビルトング》を食ひ、少しばかり水を飮んでまた暫らく休んだ。 その時サー・ヘンリイは出來るだけ扉《ドア》の近くへ行つて大聲を出せば誰かゞ外で聲を聞きつけるかもしれないと言ひ出したので、 長い間の海上生活で鋭い聲を持つてゐるグッドが、手さぐりで隧道《トンネル》を歩いて行つてわめきはじめた。 彼の出した聲は實に大きな聲だつた。しかし外側へは蚊のなく程にも聞えなかつたであらう。

暫らくすると彼は斷念してすご〜歸つて來た。しかもそのために咽喉が渇いて少し水を飮まねばならなかつた。 それで吾々は水がなくなつてしまふのをおそれてもうわめくのはやめた。

吾々はまた用もないダイヤモンドの箱に凭れて何もせずにつくねんとしてゐた。 この何もせずにゐるといふことが、また吾々にとつては何よりもつらいことの一つであつた。 私はもうすつかり絶望してしまつた。サー・ヘンリイの廣い肩の上に頭をもたせて、 私は思はず涙をこぼした。片一方の肩では、グッドが涙をのみ込んでゐるのが聞えた。

その時ほど私はサー・ヘンリイのやさしさと勇氣とをしみ〜゛感じたことはない。 吾々二人が物に恐れた子供で、サー・ヘンリイが乳母だとしても、 彼はこれ以上吾々をやさしくすることは出來なかつただらう。 彼は、彼自身も同じみじめな境遇にあることは忘れてしまつて、 力のあらん限り吾々を慰めたり勵ましてくれたりした。 そして吾々が浮きたゝなくなると遂にはもう苦しむのも暫くの間ですぐに樂になる、 疲れきつて死ぬのは樂しいもおのだ（これは[言|虚;#2-88-74]《うそ》だが）等と言つたりして吾々を慰めた。

その中に夜が明けたと同じやうに日が暮れて行つた。こんな暗闇の中では晝と夜との區別はないのだが、 燐寸《マツチ》をすつて見ると時計は七時になつてゐた。

吾々はもう一度喰ひ且つ飮んだ。さうしてゐるうちに私の心のうちに一つの考へが浮んで來た。

「この空氣は重苦しいが、それでもいつまでも新鮮なのはどういふ譯だらう？」と私は言つた。

「さうだ。そのことは氣がつかなかつた」とグッドが跳び上つて言つた。 あの石の扉《ドア》から空氣がはいつて來る譯はないから、 何處か他のところからはひつて來るに相違ない。 空氣が通はないとすれば、吾々はこゝにはひつた時に窒息してゐる筈だから、 きつとある、搜して見よう。」

このちよつとした希望の火花を認めただけでも吾々の氣持がどれほど變つたかわからない。 吾々はすぐに四つ匍ひになつて少しでも風の通つてゐさうな處を搜しまはつた。 そのうちに私の手は冷たいものにさはつてぎよつとしたが、 それはファウラタの死んだ顏であつた。

一時間餘りの間吾々は搜しまはつたが、たうとうサー・ヘンリイと私とは幾度びも吾々の頭を象牙や、 箱や、窟《あな》の壁にぶつつけてかなり負傷したので絶望して諦めてしまつた。 しかしグッドは何もしないでゐるよりはましだと言つて、殆んど陽氣な調子で辛抱強く搜してゐた。

「みんなこつちへ來て見なさい！」とやがて彼は壓《おさ》へつけるやうな聲で云つた。

言ふまでもなく吾々は彼の方へ蹌踉《よろ〜》しながらかけつけた。

「コオターメンさんちよつと此處へ手をあてゝ見なさい。 私の手のところへ。なにか感じがありますか？」

「風が下からあがつて來るやうな氣がする。」

「よく聽いてゐなさい」と言ひながら彼は起ち上つてそこを足で踏んだ。 すると吾々の心中にはさつと希望の焔が燃え上つた。そこは空洞《うつろ》のやうな響きがした。

私は手を顫はしながら燐寸《マツチ》をつけた。もうあとには三本しか燐寸は殘つてゐなかつた。 燐寸の光りで見ると吾々の立つてゐる處は窟《いはや》の一番端の隅つこであつた。 それだから吾々は、先程あれ程搜してゐても空洞《うつろ》の響きに氣がつかなかつたのだ。 燐寸の燃えてゐる間に、よく念入りに檢《しら》べて見ると、堅い岩の床に一つの接ぎ目があつた。 そしてその岩に一つの石の環がついてゐた。吾々は昂奮の餘り一語《ひとこと》も言はなかつた。 希望のために心臟の鼓動が劇しくなつて物も言へなくなつたのだ。 グッドの持つてゐたナイフの背には馬の蹄《ひづめ》から石を拔きとるために鍵がついてゐた。 彼はその鍵を開いてそれで環のまはりをほじくり、 たうとうそれを環の下へさし込んで鍵が折れないやうに要心しながらそつとこじ上げた。 環はやつと動き出した。それは石で出來てゐたものだから何百年も前からそこに横になつてゐたにもかゝはらず、 餘り堅く膠着してはゐなかつた。鐡の環なら錆びついてゐて動きはしない處だつたのだ。 やがて環は上へもち上つた。そこで彼はその中へ手を入れて力いつぱい引張つた。 しかし下の岩はびくともしなかつた。

「私がやつて見よう！」と私は焦々《いら〜》しながら言つた。といふのは、 その石の環は、あひにく、ちやうど隅つこにあつたので、 二人で一度に引つぱるわけにはゆかなかつたのだ。私はそれを掴んで引つぱつて見たが何の手答へもなかつた。

それからサー・ヘンリイがやつて見たがやはり駄目だつた。 そこでグッドは再び環を掴んで、吾々が空氣の通つて來るのを感じた隙き間を、 もう一度すつかりほじくつた。

「カーチスさん、これをつけてあなたの背中をその中へ通しなさい。あなたは二人力ありますから」 と言ひながら身だしなみのいゝ彼がもつてゐた丈夫な絹のハンケチを取り出し、 それを環の中へ通した。「コオターメンさん、 あなたはカーチスさんの腰の周りを抱いて私が言葉を掛けたら力一ぱい引きなさい。そら。」

サー・ヘンリイは、滿身の力を振りしぼり、グッドと私とも精一ぱいの力を出した。

「そら、そら、もう一 呼吸《いき》だ。少し動き出した」とサー・ヘンリイは喘ぎながら言つた。 彼の大きな背中の筋肉がめり〜いふのが聞えた。 突然、ぎし〜軋《きし》る音が聞えたかと思ふと颯《さつ》と風が吹きあげて來た。 吾々は三人とも重い敷石の下になつて床の上に仰向けに轉んだ。 サー・ヘンリイの力が遂に效を奏したのだ。

「燐寸をつけなさい、コオターメンさん」と吾々が起き上るとすぐにサー・ヘンリイは言つた。 「今度は氣をつけなさい。」

私はその通りにした。すると有難や！吾々の前に石の階段の第一の踏み段があつたのだ。

「さてこれからどうしよう？」とグッドは訊ねた。

「無論階段を下りて行つてあとは神に任せるのさ！」

「ちよつと待つて」とサー・ヘンリイは言つた。 「コオターメンさん、殘つてゐる乾肉《ビルトング》と水とを持つて行きませう。 あとで要るかもしれませんから。」

私はそれを取りに箱の側へ引き返した。そしてそこから行かうとした時にふと考へついた。 吾々はこの一晝夜といふものはダイヤモンドのことなどは考へなかつた。 實際ダイヤモンドのことなんか考へると、そのためにこんな目に遇つたのだと思つて胸糞が惡くなつたものだ。 だが私は思ひ返して、若しこのいま〜しい坑《あな》の中から出られる事もないとも限らぬと思つて、 少しダイヤモンドをポケットへ入れて行かうと決めた。そこで私は最初の箱へ手を突込んで、 私の古ぼけた獵服のポケットへはひるだけのダイヤモンドを填《つ》め込んだ。 そして一番上へ三番目の箱から大きな奴を一掴みか二掴み入れた。これはうまひ考へだつた。

「あんた方もダイヤモンドを持つて行きませんか？」と私は二人の者に言つた。 「私はポケットへ一ぱい填《つ》め込むましたよ。」

「ダイヤモンドなんてもう二度と見たくもない」とサー・ヘンリイは言つた。

グッドは何とも答へなかつた。彼はその時彼を愛してゐた憐れな娘に最後の別れをしてゐたゞらうと私は思ふ。 家の中に安らかに生活してゐる諸君は、吾々がこんな無限の富をうつちやつておくのを不思議に思ふかも知れぬが、 二十八時間もの間、地球の内臟の中へ閉ぢ込められて、それから先どうなるかも判らないやうな場合には、 誰だつてダイヤモンドに未憐を殘すやうなことはなからうと私は思ふ。 私だつて日頃の習慣のために價値《ねうち》のあるものはちよつとそた機會でもあれば持つて行くと言ふことが第二の天性になつてさへ居なかつた、 ポケットの中へこんな邪魔者を填《つ》め込むやうな事はしなかつたに相違ない。

「さあコオターメンさん、來なさい。私が一番先きへ行きますよ」 とサー・ヘンリイが既に石段の最初の段に足を掛けながら言つた。

「よく氣をつけて行きなさい。下に恐ろしい穴があるかもしれませんから」と私は答へた。

彼は十五段ばかり進んだ時、立ち止つた。「これで石段はお終ひだ。 どうやら道があるらしい、早く來なさい」と彼は言つた。

グッドはその次に、私は最後に竝《なら》んで行つた。そして殘つてゐる二本の燐寸のうちの一本をつけた。 その光りで見ると吾々の立つてゐる處は狹い隧道《トンネル》で、 道が右と左とに直角についてゐた。それ以上の事は判らない中に燐寸は指まで燃えて消えてしまつた。 そこでどちらの道を進んだらよからうかといふ厄介な問題が起つて來た。 勿論、その道はどんなふうなのか、或はまた何處へ通じてゐるのか判りやうはなかつた。 だが一方の道を行けば安全で、一方の道へ行けば破滅かも知れないのだ。 吾々は途方に暮れて終つたが、不圖《ふと》私が燐寸を點けた時に風の爲に焔が左の方へ曲つたとグッドが言ひ出した。 「風の吹いて來た方へ行けば良い。風は内側へ吹くので、外側へ吹く道理はないから」と彼は言つた。

吾々はこの言葉に從つて、兩側の壁を手探りして、一歩《ひとあし》毎に前の地面を足でさぐりながら、 どうにかして命を助からうと思つて、この呪はれた寶窟から出て行つた。 そんあことはあるまいと思ふが、若し生きた人間がいつか此處へはひつたら、 開け放した寶石の箱や、油のなくなつたランプや、 憐れなファウラタの白骨等で吾々が嘗つてこゝへ來たことが判るだらうと思ふ。

手探りをしてかれこれ十五分ばかりも進んで行くと、道は急角度を畫いて曲つて居り、 それからまたしばらく行くと同じやうに曲つて何處までも續いてゐた。 そんなふうにして吾々は數時間も進んで行つたが、どうやらこの道は出口のない石の迷路らしい、 何のための道かは判らないが、確かに太古にこしらへたもので、 鑛脈に沿うて縱横に掘つたものらしい。

遂に吾々は疲れきつてがつかりして立ち止つた。 そして乾肉《ビルトング》の殘りと最後の水とを飮んでしまつた。 咽喉は石灰窯のやうにから〜に乾いてゐた。岩窟の暗闇の中で死ぬことだけはまぬがれたものの、 今度は隧道《トンネル》の暗闇の中で死ぬことになるらしい。がつかりしてそこに立ちつくしてゐると、 何だか物音が聞えるやうな氣がしたので、他の者にもそのことを注意した。 それは、微かな、非常に遠くから聞える音ではあつたが、やつぱり音には違ひなかつた。 こんなに寂然《ひつそり》とした處では音が聞えたゞけでもどんなにほつとするか知れたものではない。

「あれは水の流れる音だ。行つて見よう！」とグッドは言つた。

そこで吾々は以前のやうに手探りしながら音の聞える方へ進んで行つた。 だん〜進んで行くにつれて音ははつきり聞えるやうになり、 遂にはごう〜といふ大きな音になつて來た。確かに水の音だ。 だがいつたいどうしてこんな處に水が流れてゐるのだらう？ 水の音はもうすぐ側に聞えて來た。先頭に立つてゐたグッドは水の匂ひがすると言ひ出した。

「そつと行くんだよ、グッド君」とサー・ヘンリイは言つた。 「もうすぐそばに違ひないから。」と突然、ざぶん！と音がしてそれと同時にグッドの叫び聲が聞えた。

彼は水の中へ墜ちたのだ。

「グッド！グッド！何處にゐるんだ？」と吾々は吃驚して叫んだ。 するとむせるやうな聲で返事が聞えたのでほつとした。

「大丈夫です、岩に掴まつてゐるから。燐寸をつけて見せて下さい。」

私は急いで、殘つてゐる最後の一本の燐寸をつけた。その明りで見ると、 吾々の脚下《あしもと》には黒い水が流れて居り、少し先の方の突き出た岩につかまつてゐるグッドの黒い姿が見えた。 水の幅はどれ位か判らなかつた。

「私をつかまへて下さい。そこまで泳いで行きますから」とグッドはどなつた。

ついでざんぶと水の中へ飛び込む音が聞え、やがて彼はサー・ヘンリイの伸してゐる手につかまつた。 吾々は彼を隧道《トンネル》の上へ引き揚げた。

「大へんだつた！」と彼は喘ぎ喘ぎ言つた。「もしあの岩につかまらなかつたら、 そしてもし私が泳ぎを知らなかつたら、土左衞門になつたところですよ。 流れは速いし、底はないのですからね。」

吾々はまた墜ちはしないかと思つてこの流れの岸傳ひに進むことはやめて、 グッドが暫らく休み、吾々も水を飮んだり顏を洗つたりしてから、もと來た道へ引き返した。 そして右の方へ曲つてゐる別の道へはひつて行つた。

「どちらへ行つても同じだね。おつこちる處まで行つて見るまでだ」とサー・ヘンリイは言つた。

今度はサー・ヘンリイが先頭にたつて、吾々は力なくしほれきつてとぼ〜と後から蹤《つ》いて行つた。

突然彼は立ち止つた。「これや私の頭がどうかしたんだらうか？ それともあれは光だらうか？」と彼は囁いた。

吾々は眼を据ゑてぢつと見詰めた。すると成程、ずつと先きの方に微かな小屋の窓位な光るところが見えた。 それは吾々のやうに二日間も暗闇の他に何も見なかつた者の眼にでなければ判らないほど微かな光りであつた。

吾々はほつと安心してその方へ進んで行つた。五分間も行くと、 その光りは紛れもないものになつて來た。それから暫らくたつと爽かな風が吾々の顏にあたつて來た。 吾々はずん〜進んで行つた。隧道《トンネル》はだん〜狹くなり、下はもう岩ではなくて土になつてきた。 吾々は四つ匍ひになつて匍ひだし、初めにサー・ヘンリイがやつと外へ脱け出した。 グッドも私もそれに續いて隧道《トンネル》から匍ひ出した。 外へ出て見ると、空には星が輝いてをり、吾々は爽かな空氣を吸ひこんだ。 だがその時突然足をふみはづして吾々は草と軟かい土との上をごろ〜と何處までもころんで行つた。

私は何かにつかまつてとまつた。でその場に坐つて大きな聲でわめくと、 下の方でサー・ヘンリイが答へた。彼も勾配の少し平たくなつた處にとまつてゐたのだ。 彼はせい〜息をきらしてはゐたが別に怪我はなかつたやうだ。 それから吾々はグッドを搜した。グッドも少し離れたところの又のある木の根にひつかゝつてとまつてゐた。 彼は方々を打つたらしいがすぐに正氣にかへつた。

吾々は草の上に坐つて泣きたいほど嬉しい氣持になつた。 すんでのことで吾々の墓場になるところであつた、あの恐ろしい土穽《つちあな》から、 吾々はやつと逃げだすことができたのだ。きつと情け深い神樣の力が、 吾々の足を豺《むじな》の穴の方へ導いて下さつたのに相違ない。 と言ふのはあの隧道《トンネル》の端にあつたのはたしかに豺《むじな》の穴の相違なかつたと私は思ふ。 その時は恰度向うの山は薔薇色に染つてゐるところであつた。 吾々は二度と見られまいと思つた曙の光を見たのだ。

やがてほのかな晝の光りが射し込むにつれて、吾々の居る處は洞窟の入口の附近にある大きな豎坑 に近い處であると言ふことが判つて來た。 上には坑《あな》の縁《へり》に立つてゐる三つの巨像の姿がぼんやり見えた。 疑ひもなく吾々が彷徨《さまよ》ひ歩いたあの隧道《トンネル》は、 このダイヤモンド坑と何か關係があつたのだ。地下を流れてゐるあの河は何の爲の河で、 また何處から流れて何處へ注いでゐるかは判らなかつたが、私はそんな事は知りたいと思はなかつた。

四邊《あたり》はだん〜明るくなつて、吾々はお互ひの顏が見えるやうになつた。 吾々は頬はこけ、眼は窪み、顏ぢゆに埃《ほこ》りと泥とがいつぱいついて居り、 そこらぢゆうかすり疵《きず》のため血だらけになつてゐた。 そして吾々の顏にはさし迫つた死に對する恐怖の色がまだあり〜と殘つてゐた。 到底陽の光りで見られるやうな顏ではなかつた。 しかもなほグッドの眼鏡が彼の眼にはまつてゐた事は儼然たる事實であつた。 恐らく彼は一度もそれを外した事はなかつたのだらう。 眞暗な闇も、地下の河への墜落も、豎坑の勾配を轉げ落ちたことも、 グッドと彼の眼鏡とを引き離すことはできなかつたのだ！

やがて吾々は起ち上つた。そして餘り長くとまつてゐると手足がなえて來るのを恐れて大きな豎坑の側壁を徐々に上りはじめた。 一時間餘りも青い粘土の勾配を木の根や草につかまりながら攀ぢ上つてたうとう巨像の立つてゐる街道へ登りついた。

百碼ばかり離れた道端に焚火が燃えてゐて、火の周りには人影が見えた。 吾々が互ひにぐんなりした身體を凭《もた》せ合ひながら、蹌踉《よろ〜》とそちらへ進んで行くと、 その中の一人が立ち上つて吾々を見ると地べたに倒れて恐怖の叫びをあげた。

「インファドオス、インファドオス！、吾々だよ！」

彼は起ち上つて吾々の側へ駈け寄り、まだ恐ろしさに慄へながら、しげ〜吾々を見詰めた。

「おゝあなた方でしたか、眞實《ほんと》にあなた方が生返つて來なすつたのですか！ 眞實《ほんと》に生き返つて！」

かう言ひながら老戰士は吾々の前に身を投げ、サー・ヘンリイの膝につかまりながら嬉し泣きに泣いた。