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It is evident that at that moment a deviation had presented itself before me, whilst the Hansbach, following the caprice of another incline, had gone with my companions away into unknown depths. How was I to return? There was not a trace of their footsteps or of my own, for the foot left no mark upon the granite floor. I racked my brain for a solution of this impracticable problem.
Having come to this mental decision, I made up my mind, before I started upwards, that ablution would certainly do me a great deal of good. I stopped to plunge my hands and forehead in the pleasant water of the Hansbach stream, blessing its presence as a certain consolation. Conceive my horror and stupefaction! I was treading a hard, dusty, shingly road of granite.
Brooks and waterfalls were tumbling everywhere from the projections in the rocks. I thought I recognised the bed of surturbrand, our faithful Hansbach, and the grotto in which I had recovered life and consciousness. Then a few paces farther on, the arrangement of the cliffs, the appearance of an unrecognised stream, or the strange outline of a rock, carne to throw me again into doubt.
Amongst these streams I recognised our faithful travelling companion, the Hansbach, coming to lose its little volume quietly in the mighty sea, just as if it had done nothing else since the beginning of the world. "We shall see it no more," I said, with a sigh. "What matters," replied the philosopher, "whether this or another serves to guide us?" I thought him rather ungrateful.
Of course, down this fault the Hansbach fell in a cascade, and lost some of its volume; but there was enough and to spare to slake our thirst. Besides, when the incline became more gentle, it would of course resume its peaceable course. At this moment it reminded me of my worthy uncle, in his frequent fits of impatience and anger, while below it ran with the calmness of the Icelandic hunter.
This beneficent spring, after having satisfied our thirst on the road, would now be my guide among the windings of the terrestrial crust. Before starting afresh I thought a wash would do me good. I stooped to bathe my face in the Hansbach. To my stupefaction and utter dismay my feet trod only the rough dry granite. The stream was no longer at my feet. To describe my despair would be impossible.
We have been searching for you in all directions, both by going upwards and downwards in the gallery. My dear boy, I had begun to give over all hope and you can never know what bitter tears of sorrow and regret I have shed. At last, supposing you to be still on the road beside the Hansbach, we again descended, firing off guns as signals.
It is scarcely necessary to say that in this curiously shaped fissure the Hansbach had become a cascade to the detriment of its size. It was still, however, sufficient, and more, for our wants. Besides we knew that, as soon as the declivity ceased to be so abrupt, the stream must resume its peaceful course.
The most important thing, then, to be done was to discover the bed of the Hansbach. After a slight meal and a draught of water, I rose like a giant refreshed. Leaning heavily on my pole, I began the ascent of the gallery. The slope was very rapid and rather difficult.
"Well, it is delicious!" "Of course it is, water should be, found six miles underground. It has an inky flavour, which is not at all unpleasant. What a capital source of strength Hans has found for us here. We will call it after his name." "Agreed," I cried. And Hansbach it was from that moment. Hans was none the prouder. After a moderate draught, he went quietly into a corner to rest.
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