Chapter 44 Forty-four escaped successfully

As the sun sinks behind the peaks of Tuhava and Puktapur by Lake Dobo.Glenarvan and the others were taken back to prison.They will not leave this prison until dawn rises on the summits of the Vahiti Mountains. They have one more night to prepare for death.Though under the weight of their grief, and though the terror had not subsided, they still ate a meal together. Let us not be dejected in the face of death, but let the savages see how Europeans are not afraid of death.Jazz once said so. After dinner, Lady Helene chanted Vespers aloud.All her traveling companions took off their hats and prayed with her.

Who doesn't think of God before death? After the evening class was over, everyone hugged each other. Mary and Lady Helen retreated to a corner of the shed and lay down on a straw mat.It was a sleep that forgets sorrow and prevents pain, and in a moment their eyes were closed, and they both fell asleep in each other's arms.Because of fatigue and insomnia all night, they couldn't go on any longer.At this moment Glenarvan drew his traveling companions aside. say to them: My dear fellows, our lives and the lives of these two poor women are in the hands of God.If our death tomorrow was of Providence, I believe we would all be worthy Christians.Die bravely and be judged by God.God reads the hearts of men, and He knows that we are pursuing a noble cause.If the result is not success, but death, that is God's arrangement.However harsh his will may be, I have no complaint against him.However, coming to this place to die is not a one-time death, there is also torture, and perhaps a great shame, and these two women

Jazz's voice has always been firm, but he trembled when he said this.He paused, in order to restrain his emotion.He was silent for a moment: John, you agree with Mary to treat her as I treat Lady Helen, what have you decided to do? I promised her things, I believe, under the guidance of God, I can do it. Yes, John!But what do we do without weapons? Here's another weapon.Munger replied, taking out a short knife, which I wrested from the savage's hand when Karatet fell at your feet.Sir, whichever of us dies last will do what Lady Helene and Mary ask. After this conversation, there was a deep silence in the shed.At length the major broke the silence by saying:

Friends, don't resort to this last resort until the last few minutes.I still do not believe that there is no room for redemption. I'm not talking about our side.Jazz replied, no matter how we died, we would all risk our lives to do it. If there were only a few of us men, I would have shouted: Friends, get out!Kill those bastards!But there are two of them!The two of them! Meng Geer opened the door curtain at this time.Counting the natives guarding the gate of Walledu, there were twenty-five in total.There was a great fire burning there, and a pale red light shone on the uneven buildings in the castle.The natives, some lying around the fire, some standing still, their shadows were clearly reflected on the background of the fire curtain.But whether they were lying or standing, they often turned to look at the shed they were guarding.

It is generally said that, between the prisoner and the escaped prisoner, the prisoner has more chances of success.Because one is intentional and the other is unintentional.The watchman may forget that he is a watchman.But the prisoner never forgets that people are watching him.Prisoners are always thinking about escaping, but guards are not always thinking about defense. Because of this, it often happens that prisoners escape from prison, and the escape is wonderful. But, on the occasion we are describing, the watchers were not an indifferent jailer, but some hateful and vindictive natives.If the captives were not tied up, it was because there was no need to tie them up. Twenty-five people looked at the only door in Walledu. Do they still need to be tied up?

The shed is backed against a rock at the end of the city wall, and there is only a long and narrow dirt road leading to the flat ground in the center of the fort.There are steep cliffs on both sides of the shed, and a deep pit of more than 30 meters below.Therefore, slipping down was impossible.There is no way to dig through the ground in the prison, because the ground is just a big stone shell.The only way out was the dirt road that looked like a drawbridge into the center of the fort, but it was guarded by Maori.Escape by any means was therefore impossible, and Glenarvan had tried countless times on the walls of his prison before he could not deny that there was no way of escape.

However, this anxious night, hour after hour passed.The heavy night shadow enveloped the whole mountain.There was neither moonlight nor starlight, and it was a deep darkness. Several gusts of wind rushed wildly around the fort, blowing the wooden stakes of the shed to humming, and the fires burned by the natives were suddenly blown by the gusts of wind. It became more vigorous, and the red light of the flames shot straight into the prison, flashing a few times.The people inside were illuminated a bit.The poor wretches were lost in their last musings.There was deathly silence in the shed. It must have been about four o'clock in the morning, when a slight noise attracted the Major's attention, which seemed to come from behind the stakes of the shed foundation, in the wall on the other side against the rock.At first, the major didn't pay attention to the sound, but then he felt that it was still going on, so he listened carefully.The noise kept going, and he felt strange, so he put his ears on the ground and carefully discerned it.He felt that someone was picking up the earth and digging a hole outside.

After the major felt sure, he slipped into the ears of Jazz and Mengle.Interrupting their painful contemplation, led them into the depths of the shed. You listen.He whispered, and made them bow with gestures. Gradually, the sound of scraping soil became clearer.They could hear the creaking sound of small stones being dug by something sharp and falling outward. It is the beast that moves in its hole.Mengel said. Jazz patted himself on the forehead: Who dares to judge!He said, what if a person is chopping? Whether it is a man or a beast, we will find out in a moment!replied the major. Wilson and O'Bill also came together, and everyone started to dig the wall together. Meng Geer used his short knife, and the rest used stones pulled from the ground or just fingernails. Pay attention to the movement of the group of natives in the gap of the door curtain.

The natives stood motionless around the fire, not having the slightest idea of ​​what was happening twenty paces from them. The hard outer layer of the ground was made of tuff, loose and brittle.So although there are no tools, they dig very quickly.After a while it was obvious to everyone that one or several people were lying on the waist of the castle and digging a tunnel from the outside of the shed wall.What is the purpose of these tunnel diggers?Did they know there were captives in the tent?Or did they have another purpose, and stumbled across here to do the job that seemed to be done?

Everyone stepped up their efforts. Their hands were all torn and bleeding, but they continued to pick.After digging for half an hour, the hole was one meter deep.When they heard the noise outside gradually getting louder, they knew that the distance between the two sides was only a thin layer of soil, and if the thin layer of soil was removed, the inside and outside would be connected. After a few more minutes, the major's hand was suddenly pierced by the point of a knife, and he flinched back, almost screaming, but held back. Meng Geer stretched out his short knife to block the knife that drilled outside, and he felt the hand holding the knife as soon as he touched it.

It's a small hand!A woman's or a child's is a European hand! Neither side said a word.Obviously, neither side dared to speak up. Is it Robert?Sir said to himself. But, no matter how low he spoke, Mary was awakened by the start, slipped to his side, took the little muddy hand and kissed it. It's you!It's you!Mary said with certainty, it is you, my Robert! It's me, sister, I'm here, I'm here, to save everyone!But keep quiet! Good boy!Jazz moaned frequently. Look at the natives outside.said Robert again. When Mu Ladi heard the child's appearance, he left for a while, and now he hastened back to his monitoring post. There is nothing outside, only four people are guarding now.The rest are asleep.He said. Take it well!Wilson responded. After a while the hole grew bigger, and Robert fell from his sister's arms to Lady Helene's.He was also bound with a long rope of formion grass. my child!my child!The lady whispered, those natives haven't killed you yet! no ma'am.I don't know how I did it, but I escaped the eyes of those natives by taking advantage of the chaos.I climbed out of the fence and hid behind a bush for two days.I run around at night, I want to find you.When all the fallen people were busy with the funeral for the chief, I ran to the foot of the stronghold on the side of the prison to observe, and found that I could climb to your place.I went to an empty shed and stole this knife and this rope.I used the grass and branches on the cliff as a soft ladder, and climbed up.Inadvertently discovered that there is a hole in the middle of the high rock that the shed is leaning against.There was only a few feet of loose soil between the hole and the shed, and I just scraped through the soil and entered. Many silent kisses as the only answer Robert could get. Let's go!He said in a firm tone. Is Paganel down there?Sir asked. Monsieur Paganel?Robert was surprised to hear this question. Yes, is he waiting for us down there? No, sir.What, M. Paganel is not here? He's not here, Robert.Mary answered. What words?Did you not see him?Sir asked, Did you two not meet during that tumultuous time?Didn't you run away together? No, sir.Answered Robert, very surprised to hear that his friend Paganel had disappeared. Let's go, we can't lose a minute.Wherever Paganel is, he's better than us here.let's go!said the major. Yes, time is precious.Now it was imperative to escape.This escape, if there is not a section of almost vertical cliff outside the cave, it can be said that there is not much difficulty. Fortunately, this section of cliff is only about seven meters high.After going down this section of the cliff, there is a slope that goes all the way to the foot of the mountain, and it is not too steep.From the foot of the mountain, the captives could quickly enter the valley.When they get there, if the Maori find that they have escaped, they must make a big detour to get here, because they don't know that a tunnel has been dug between the prison and the slope outside. The escape begins.In order to ensure a successful escape, everything was prepared first.Everyone first climbed out of the narrow tunnel one by one and went into the cave.John.Before leaving the shed, Meng Geer removed the excavated soil, then slipped into the tunnel entrance, and covered the entrance with the straw mat in the shed.Therefore, the tunnel is completely hidden. Now it was time to descend from that part of the cliff to that slope, which could not be descended if Robert had not brought a rope. People quickly untied the rope, tied one end of it to the rock, and dragged it outside. The rope was twisted from the tendons of Formion leaves. Menger tried it first, but he felt that the rope was not very strong.We need to know that this risk cannot be taken casually, because it is very likely that you will die if you fall. This rope can only hold two people.So we have to do it with the strength of the rope.Let Sir and Madam go down first. When they reach the slope, they pull the rope and shake it three times, beckoning us to go on. I went down first, and I saw a deep pit at the bottom of the slope. Those who went down first could hide in it and wait for the people behind.said Robert. Well, you go down, my boy.Sir said, shaking his hand. Robert disappeared out of the hole.A minute later, the rope shook three times to show that he had reached the ground without any problems. Immediately, sir and lady ventured out of the cave.The night is still very dark, but the mountain peaks towering to the east have already revealed a little light gray color. The piercing chill of the morning cheered the lady up, and she felt her strength increase, and she began her perilous escape. Jazz grabbed the rope first, and Lady Helen followed, and the two of them slid along the rope until they reached the place where the cliff reached the top of the slope.Then Sir stepped in front of his wife, butted against her, and began to walk backwards.He found grass roots and small trees as her foothold.He tried it first, and then put Lady Helene's foot on it.A few birds were awakened and flew up with soft calls, and a small stone was kicked out of its nest and rolled to the foot of the mountain with a clatter. The two of them were terrified. They were halfway up the slope when they heard someone shouting in the cave. stop!Menger shouted softly. Glenarvan clutched a clump of square-stem grass with one hand, and his wife with the other, and waited, breathless. It turned out that Wilson had issued a warning.He heard a sound outside the prison, and hurried back to the shed, lifted the curtain, and looked at the Maori.He greeted, so Mengle stopped Glenarvan. Sure enough, one of the guarding natives heard a strange noise, got up, and approached the prison. He stood two steps away from the shed, bowed his head, and listened carefully.He stayed there for as long as a minute of an hour, ears turned, eyes fixed.Then, feeling that he had heard wrongly, he shook his head, went back to his companions, took a bundle of dry wood, and threw it on the half-extinguished fire, and the flames blazed up again.His face was bright red by the fire, and he no longer showed any uneasy expression.He looked at the first gleam of morning light on the horizon, and then lay down by the fire to warm his frozen hands and feet. There was no movement outside.Wilson said. Menger gave the signal again, telling Sir to continue down. The Sir slid down the slope, and after a while Mrs. Helen and he stopped on the path where Robert was waiting for them. Three more shakes of the rope, and it was Mengele who led Mary down the dangerous path.His venture succeeded.He reached the pit that Robert had mentioned, and joined the Jazz and his wife. Five minutes later, all the traveling companions successfully escaped from the prison and left the earth pit where they were temporarily hiding.Avoiding the inhabited shores, they followed many narrow paths into the deepest valleys. They walked quickly, trying not to be seen.They didn't speak, and walked among the many small bushes, just like ghosts.Where are they going? Don't know, just run around, but they are free. When it was almost five o'clock, the sky began to turn pale.The high places of the cloud pile gradually showed a light blue.Hazy peaks began to emerge from the morning mist.The sun will soon go up the mountain, and this morning light is no longer a signal of execution, but on the contrary, it will reveal the prisoner's escape. Therefore, before the inevitable pursuit, the fugitives must escape from the circle of the natives, and run far away, so that they cannot easily find their traces.But they couldn't go fast because the paths were very steep.Lady Helene was supported by Glenarvan as she climbed the hill, and Mary by Mungle.Filled with the joy of success, Robert, joyously and triumphantly, ran ahead to open the way, with the two sailors trailing behind. In half an hour, the sun will rise from the clouds and mist in the sky. The fleeing people ran around for another half an hour.Paganel was no longer here to guide them. This Paganel, everyone was worried about him. His disappearance cast a shadow over the joy of everyone's success.However, everyone ran as far east as possible, and walked towards the glorious morning light.After a while they reached a height of one hundred and fifty meters above the surface of Lake Dobo.The morning chill was even colder at this height, harshly piercing their skin.The vague shadows of many mountains and hills were stacked in front of them.But Glenarvan was just going into the mountains at this time for fear of not going deep: he wanted to get into the maze of thousands of mountains first, and then slowly try to get out.At last the sun came out, and faced the fugitives with its first rays. Suddenly, a terrible roar, a mixture of hundreds of shouts, broke out in the air.It came out of the fort, but where is the fort now?Glenarvan couldn't tell for a moment.Moreover, a dense fog spread under his feet like a curtain, preventing him from seeing clearly the valleys below. But there can be no doubt that their escape was discovered by the natives.Can they escape the pursuit of the natives?Have they been seen by the natives?Will the traces they leave along the way point to their whereabouts? At this moment, the fog below had risen and surrounded them in a wet cloud, and they could see the crazy crowd a hundred meters below their feet. They saw others, and others naturally saw them.Another roar erupted, with the sound of dogs barking in it.All the fallen people came out. They wanted to climb up the cliff of the prison first, but they couldn't climb up, so they turned their heads and flocked to the outside of the fence, chasing after the prisoners who escaped revenge.