CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

When I woke up, my face was wet with tears. I don't know how long I was asleep, but I know that no one has ever been as lonely as I was in that passage.

After I fell, I had lost a great deal of blood, which I was now covered in. Oh, how I regretted that I hadn't died, and that I still had to wait for death to come! I sat down again and fell asleep, believing that I would soon be dead. Just then, I heard the sound of an ocean, but where did the sound come from? I continued to listen. I wanted to hear the sound again. I listened for a quarter of an hour, but heard nothing. As I sat there listening, I thought I heard the sound of human voices. I must be dreaming, I thought. But no, I was awake, and heard the voices again.

"Yes," I said aloud, "someone's talking, there's no doubt of it!"

When I moved farther down the wall, the voices became louder.

"Help!" I shouted as loudly as I could. "Help!"

I listened in the darkness to hear an answer, but heard nothing. Several minutes went by. I'm not hearing those voices through the rock. The walls are made of thick rock. That sound is coming to me along the passage! There must be some kind of special way for the sound to travel through the way the walls have been formed.

I continued to listen, and this time, I heard my own name being spoken. It was my uncle! Now I understood, I had to speak next to the wall to be heard. I had to speak quickly; if they moved only a few steps away from the wall, they would no longer be able to hear me.

"Uncle Otto!" I said loudly.

I waited anxiously. Sound doesn't travel very fast, particularly when under pressure, although it will improve the sound. A few seconds later I heard these words:

"Axel! Axel! Is that you?"

"Yes, yes!" I answered.

"Where are you, my boy?"

"Lost in the darkness!"

"Where is your lantern?"

"It's broken."

"Where is the stream?"

"It's disappeared."

"Axel, my poor Axel! Don't lose your courage!"

"Wait for awhile. I don't have the strength to talk right now, but talk to me."

"Be brave, my boy. Don't talk, just listen. We went up and down the passage looking for you, but we could not find you. I cried for you, my boy! Finally, we thought that you might be further along down with the stream, so we followed it down, firing the gun, at times. Now, although we can hear each other, it's only because of the wall's special effect. Don't worry, though, Axel!"

As my uncle spoke, I realized that if we were going to meet again, we must know how far apart we were.

"Uncle Otto, we must first know how far apart we are. Use your watch to measure how long it takes for me to hear your voice. When I hear it, I'll respond."

"Yes, and half the time between the moment when I speak and the moment when I hear your answer will be the time it takes for my voice to reach you."

"That's right."

I put my ear to the wall to listen for him to speak. I heard the word, "Axel," and repeated it, then waited.

"Forty seconds," my uncle said. "So, the sound takes twenty seconds in each direction. Sound travels at one thousand and eighty feet per second. You are twenty-one thousand six hundred feet away from us, or a little over four miles."

"Four miles!"

"Yes, but you can find your way. Start walking downward because we've come to a place where there are many passages. The one you've been following will surely bring you to us. So stand up and begin walking. You'll find us waiting here to welcome you. Come, my boy!"

I was filled with courage at hearing these words. "Goodbye, uncle," I called to him. "I'm starting to walk now."

"Goodbye, Axel, we'll see you soon!"

Those were the last words I heard.

That incredible conversation, four miles apart, ended with words of hope. I began walking downward, but soon the path was too steep; I began sliding down. I then began falling, as the passage was now vertical. I hit my head on a rock sticking out of the wall, and passed out.

(end of section)