Dann awakened gradually. Far away he could hear the muted roar of the waterfalls. It was cold and somebeast was anxiously patting his face.
"Dann, me ole mate, wake up! Y'can't die an' leave me here all on me own. C'mon, Dann, I'm beggin' yer, mate, wake up! If you die an' leave me down 'ere on me own I'll never speak t'you again, so there!"
Opening his eyes, Dann found himself staring into Dippler's tearstained face. Despite his aching body, the squirrel smiled. "You muddle-'eaded little ragbag, you'll never speak to me again if I die? That's a good 'un, mate!"
The Guosim shrew hugged his friend heartily. "You know wot I mean, Dann!"
Dann clasped Dippler's paw. "Of course I do, matey!"
Straightening up, they both took stock of their surroundings. The underground river flowed by on their right. They had been washed up on some rocks that skirted a huge pool to the left. Pale green phosphorescent light bathed the immense cavern, and stalactite and stalagmite formations decorated the far reaches of the pool's edge. However, they were of little interest to Dann and Dippler, whose eyes roved the strange place searching for the watervole.
Dippler voiced his thoughts. "I wonder where ole Burble's got to?"
Cupping both paws around his mouth, Dann shouted, "Burble, are you there, mate?"
Echoes of the call bounced back from all directions, but there was no reply, only the distant boom of the falls and a steady plip-plot of water dropping from the high cavern ceiling into the pool. It all sounded very eerie.
Dippler gave Dann a worried glance. "Pore ole Burb. Wot if he's ..."
The young squirrel placed a paw to the shrew's lips. "Don't even mention it, Dipp. Come on, maybe he's been washed farther downriver. Don't fret, we'll find him."
Keeping close to the river edge, they pressed onward, sometimes wading waist deep, other times jumping from rock to rock. Dippler followed Dann. He was in a gloomy mood and took every opportunity to let his companion know it, voicing his thoughts aloud as they went.
"Huh, I've gone an' lost me blade. Wot sort o' Guosim must I look like, widout a rapier by me side? It's all right fer you, mate, you've still got that great sword slung over yore back. Pore ole me, I've got nothin' to defend meself with." Dippler's voice re-echoed about the tunnel they were sloshing through after leaving the cavern. "An' I'm so wet'n'cold that I don't think I'll ever get dry'n'warm agin. Blinkin' head's achin', too!"
Dann waded forward, trying to ignore Dippler's complaints. "Proper little ray o' sunshine, aren't you, Dipp? Moanin' ain't goin' t'do us any good. One more word out of you an' I'll die an' never talk to you again!"
"Help! Gerroff me, y'dirty great hooligan! Heeeeeelp!"
Echoes of Burble's voice boomed all around the tunnel. Dann drew his sword, looking about wildly. "It's Burb. Which way are those sounds coming from?"
Dippler pushed past Dann, stumbling and splashing ahead. "Well, he wasn't back where we were, so he must be up thataway!"
The tunnel opened out into another vast cavern. Like the previous one, this also had a rockbound pool, but far larger than the first. They scrambled up onto the rocks and saw Burble.
The watervole was clinging fiercely onto a stalagmite at the shallow side of the pool, flat out in the water. He was caught by the tail, and a veritable monster of a fish was trying to drag him into the deeps. The fish was a barbel, white as snow and completely blind from living in the dark subterranean depths. It was a fearsome sight, with a head as wide as Dann was tall. Dippler hurtled into the shallows and grabbed Burble's paws as they slipped from the smooth rounded stalagmite. He began a tug of war against the barbel, with Burble roaring in a panic, gripping the young Guosim's paws, trying to lever himself forward as Dippler dug in, bending over backward, grunting as he tried to heave his friend away from the huge fish. The watervole felt his wet paws slipping from Dippler's grasp as the monstrous barbel pulled, dragging him farther into the fathomless pool with it.
"Don't let 'im get me, Dipp! Pull, pull! Dann, heeeeelp!" he shrieked.
Dann dashed forward and tripped, cannoning into a stalagmite, the limestone column snapping as he struck it. Scrambling upright, the young squirrel hurtled onward, booming echoes of his shouts ringing round the cavern.
"Hold on, Burb, I'm comin'! Redwaaaaaalllll!"
Without thinking, Dann had seized hold of the broken-off stalagmite, unconscious of its weight. Sloshing into the shallows, he swung the cylindrical chunk of limestone like a club, whacking the fish a mighty blow on its jaw. The barbel's awesome mouth flew open and Burble shot forward, collapsing in a heap atop Dippler. Dann let go of the stalagmite and leapt to safety, landing upon his two friends in a jumble of thrashing limbs. Like a steel trap the barbel's mouth slammed shut, trapping the stalagmite in its jaws. It slid backward, completely stunned. Slipping from the shallow rock ledge, the leviathan of the pool dropped back into the depths. Slowly it sank from sight in the green translucent water, leaving behind a spiraling trail of carmine from its injured mouth. They lay exhausted, shuddering with shock and fear.
Dann sat up first, massaging his limbs briskly, wide eyes riveted on the still pool. "Uuugh! What an evil-lookin' monster. Are you all right, Burb?"
The irrepressible vole inspected his skinned tail ruefully. "Yiss yiss, 'twas a big 'un all right. Pity we couldn't 'ave dragged it ashore an' ate it. I'm starvin'!"
Dann burst into laughter at the gluttonous watervole. "Hahaharr! Trust you, Burb, always thinkin' of yore stomach!"
Burble shook himself indignantly. "Ah now, yer wrong there, bucko, I was thinkin' of the big fish's stomach, an' wot it'd be like livin' inside it. But thank ye, Dann, that's a useful ould club you swung there, yiss yiss!"
Dippler was in agreement with the watervole. "Burb's right, though, I'm starvin' too. Wot I wouldn't give fer one of ole Goody Brimm's scones spread with honey an' cream!"
Dann took a glance at their surroundings. "As for me, all I'd like to see is the sunlight shinin' on trees an' woodland again. This place gives me the creeps!"
The three friends lost all sense of night or day in the gloomy caverns deep in the mountain. They followed the course of the river, hoping that somewhere it might flow out into the open. However, there was always the dread in their minds that it would flow into ever-deeper underground caves and keep going down. Hunger, cold and weariness pervaded their bodies, but they strove onward, knowing they could not afford to lie down and sleep in the bitterly low temperatures of the subterranean regions.
Dann began bobbing his head slowly from side to side as they progressed along a winding stone corridor. Dippler, who was walking behind him, grumbled. "Keep yore 'ead still, mate. I'm startin' to feel dizzy, watchin' you shakin' it from one side to t'other all the time."
But Dann continued moving his head. "I can see a star shining up ahead. Leastways, it looks like a star, but maybe 'tis just a vision, I'm so tired."
The shrew pushed his way in front of Dann. "Let me take a look, mate. Hah! Yore right, there is somethin' glimmerin' up ahead, looks a bit like a star. Come on!"
Pushing their exhausted limbs, they stumbled ahead. The light grew larger, and then Burble shouted joyfully, "Yiss yiss, I see it clear now. That ain't no star, 'tis a gleam o' daylight. It's daylight, I tell yer!"
Renewed energy flooded their bodies and they ran toward the light, laughing and rubbing their paws together like gleeful Dibbuns. Leaving the river course, they climbed upward over piles of stony debris, sliding back in the deep dusty shale. Dann used his sword, digging the blade in and hauling himself up until he reached the light. The young squirrel placed his eye against the hole and peered through.