The House on the Borderland | Page 3

heads.
Thus we spent several days, having splendid sport, and first-rate
appetites to do justice upon our prey. We were pleased to find how
friendly the villagers were inclined to be, and that there was no
evidence of their having ventured to meddle with our belongings during
our absences.
It was on a Tuesday that we arrived in Kraighten, and it would be on
the Sunday following that we made a great discovery. Hitherto we had
always gone up-stream; on that day, however, we laid aside our rods,
and, taking some provisions, set off for a long ramble in the opposite
direction. The day was warm, and we trudged along leisurely enough,
stopping about midday to eat our lunch upon a great flat rock near the
river bank. Afterwards, we sat and smoked awhile, resuming our walk
only when we were tired of inaction.
For, perhaps, another hour we wandered onwards, chatting quietly and
comfortably on this and that matter, and on several occasions stopping
while my companion--who is something of an artist--made rough

sketches of striking bits of the wild scenery.
And then, without any warning whatsoever, the river we had followed
so confidently, came to an abrupt end--vanishing into the earth.
"Good Lord!" I said, "who ever would have thought of this?"
And I stared in amazement; then I turned to Tonnison. He was looking,
with a blank expression upon his face, at the place where the river
disappeared.
In a moment he spoke.
"Let us go on a bit; it may reappear again--anyhow, it is worth
investigating."
I agreed, and we went forward once more, though rather aimlessly; for
we were not at all certain in which direction to prosecute our search.
For perhaps a mile we moved onwards; then Tonnison, who had been
gazing about curiously, stopped and shaded his eyes.
"See!" he said, after a moment, "isn't that mist or something, over there
to the right--away in a line with that great piece of rock?" And he
indicated with his hand.
I stared, and, after a minute, seemed to see something, but could not be
certain, and said so.
"Anyway," my friend replied, "we'll just go across and have a glance."
And he started off in the direction he had suggested, I following.
Presently, we came among bushes, and, after a time, out upon the top
of a high, boulder-strewn bank, from which we looked down into a
wilderness of bushes and trees.
"Seems as though we had come upon an oasis in this desert of stone,"
muttered Tonnison, as he gazed interestedly. Then he was silent, his
eyes fixed; and I looked also; for up from somewhere about the centre
of the wooded lowland there rose high into the quiet air a great column

of haze-like spray, upon which the sun shone, causing innumerable
rainbows.
"How beautiful!" I exclaimed.
"Yes," answered Tonnison, thoughtfully. "There must be a waterfall, or
something, over there. Perhaps it's our river come to light again. Let's
go and see."
Down the sloping bank we made our way, and entered among the trees
and shrubberies. The bushes were matted, and the trees overhung us, so
that the place was disagreeably gloomy; though not dark enough to
hide from me the fact that many of the trees were fruit-trees, and that,
here and there, one could trace indistinctly, signs of a long departed
cultivation. Thus it came to me, that we were making our way through
the riot of a great and ancient garden. I said as much to Tonnison, and
he agreed that there certainly seemed reasonable grounds for my belief.
What a wild place it was, so dismal and sombre! Somehow, as we went
forward, a sense of the silent loneliness and desertion of the old garden
grew upon me, and I felt shivery. One could imagine things lurking
among the tangled bushes; while, in the very air of the place, there
seemed something uncanny. I think Tonnison was conscious of this
also, though he said nothing.
Suddenly, we came to a halt. Through the trees there had grown upon
our ears a distant sound. Tonnison bent forward, listening. I could hear
it more plainly now; it was continuous and harsh--a sort of droning roar,
seeming to come from far away. I experienced a queer, indescribable,
little feeling of nervousness. What sort of place was it into which we
had got? I looked at my companion, to see what he thought of the
matter; and noted that there was only puzzlement in his face; and then,
as I watched his features, an expression of comprehension crept over
them, and he nodded his head.
"'That's a waterfall," he exclaimed, with conviction. "I know the sound
now." And he began to push vigorously through the bushes, in the
direction of the noise.

As we