There was another high cliff in front of them. The water was running straight into a cave beneath the cliffs opposite the falls. The Swallow picked up speed, and they braced themselves. The current was sucking them toward the dark hole. Had they launched the Swallow on the other side of the pool they would have run into the stream, but the realization came too late.

Dann grabbed his paddle, shouting, “Back water, try to turn her or we’ll go right into that hole!”

But they could not fight the inevitable. Hard as they tried, the little boat was sucked into the dark gaping hole, despite their heroic efforts with the paddles. One moment they were sweating and striving in the bright sunlight, next instant they were swept into the black chasm and into another waterfall, which plunged straight down underground.

27

27

Tragglo Spearback and Friar Butty were in the kitchens making oatmeal scones for breakfast. Tragglo pulled trays of the hot scones from the ovens and laid them out in neat rows. Old Friar Butty followed him up, making a sloping slice into the top of each scone, until the whole batch was ready. Then Tragglo took an earthenware jar and a wooden spoon, and starting at the first tray he began filling the slice in each scone with a gob of thick, fawn-colored honey. Friar Butty followed, placing a thin slice of crystallized plum in the honey. They worked dutifully and well, until Florian Dugglewoof Wilffachop sauntered into the kitchens, sniffing the air appreciatively. “I say, you chaps, somethin’ smells jolly good, wot!”

Tragglo menaced the gluttonous hare with his honey spoon. “Them’s for breakfast, mister Florian. You put a paw near our scones an’ I’ll raise a lump on it wi’ this ’ere spoon!”

Florian managed a look of outraged innocence. “Steady on, old lad, I’m no blinkin’ scone-robber. I merely popped in, so t’speak, to see if you needed any assistance. No need to accuse a chap of felonious intentions on your scones!”

Friar Butty continued his work, keeping one eye upon the hare. “Well, we don’t need any assistance, so t’speak, thank you. I thought you were supposed to be up on the walltops defending us from vermin attack. What are you doing down here?”

Florian continued to sniff the aroma of fresh-baked scones, striding up and down the kitchens with an air of exaggerated boredom, getting closer to the cooling trays all the time. “Doin’ down here, me? Oh, this’n’that, y’know. Gets rather tedious standin’ on a flippin’ walltop all night, watchin’ those vermin types choppin’ away at a tree. Jolly borin’, wot!”

Butty looked up from his work. “Which tree? What’s going on up there?”