Chapter 3

Swamp leave? Chip expected to be walking through a swamp. The landscape was dry savanna forest - mostly tall grasses and trees. The rough dirt road had two large furrows showing where vehicles had slogged through heavy mud. During the wet season, the land was swampy. At the end of January, the rain had not arrived. The seven boys walked at a steady pace, not dawdling, but not too quickly. Kid, Snoopy, and Chip walked in front. Pilot, Zed, and Tal walked as a group further behind, and Tango, who was interested in nature, took up the rear so he could examine any interesting plants or insects that they passed. Every now and then, he would break into a trot to keep up, but the sudden exertion never bothered him.

The boys were all at that certain peak of fitness which comes from living for most of the year at boarding school.

Chip was fit for his age, so kept up with the boys without any trouble. After about an hour, they decided to stop in a grassy depression. "This is an old crater" Snoopy said.

They sat in a group and ate their lunch. Above them loomed the large cone of Mt. Stevenson.

"Are we going to climb it?" Chip asked.

"We could," Tal said, "but it would take a bit of time."

"We run up it every year," Zed said. "It's called the 'School to Peak' race."

"Actually, it's school to peak and back to school," Kid said. "There's a crater at the top, and if we've had a good wet season, it's full of water."

"So we could go for a swim?" Chip asked.

"No need to climb mountains for that. We've got a perfectly good waterhole in the creek," Snoopy said. And it's safer. The water in the crater's often polluted. Full of 5h1t."

"Feeling fit?" Chip asked.

"You're not thinking what I think you're thinking, are you?" Snoopy asked.

"You don't have to come," Chip said.

"Actually, I do," Snoopy explained. "Swamp leave rules. Nobody leaves the group. We stick together. If anyone ever gets lost, that's the end of swamp leave. Life would be hell."

Kid looked around at the other boys. "Feel like voting on it?" he asked.

"We're all in," Pilot said. "Last one up gets tossed in."

They rose as one, and started running up the track. Chip was taken back by the sudden burst of energy, but caught up with Kid and Snoopy.

"I thought you didn't like running?" he asked. Snoopy glanced over his shoulder at Chip. "Save your breath. You'll need all of it,"

At first, the ground sloped up gently, but soon the road became so steep that their initial run became a fast paced walk. They were panting with exertion. Chip dropped back and watched as the others raced ahead.

Mt. Stephenson was not really a mountain in terms of height. It had erupted in the distant past, and was worn down to a rough cone with water worn gullies cutting into its side. There was a path leading upwards, carved into the surface by many feet over a long period of swamp leaves and school to peak runs. Minor erosion assured that it was no stairway to heaven.

It took nearly an hour to scale the peak. At the top, the boys waited until Chip finally dragged himself up the last scramble to join them.

"Are you guys serious - about - getting tossed in?" he asked.

"Someone has to test the water," Pilot said. "You never know with volcanoes, it could be pure sulfuric acid."

"Or so hot you'll cook like a lobster," Tal added.

Mercifully for the unfortunate Chip, the boys didn't waste time, but grabbed him and tossed him into the water without further argument. It was surprisingly warm and pleasant. "It's fine," he said. "A bit warm, but otherwise fine."

He climbed out, keeping as much of his dignity as he could manage. "Thanks for the dip," he said. "Who's next?"

In a moment, the others jumped from the ledge and joined him in the water. For a while they swam around, then gradually relaxed.

"It is nice and warm, like a bath," Snoopy said. "Remember last year? It was freezing cold. We did it in physics - the evaporation makes it cold."

The boys got out of the water and dried off.

"Look over there," Pilot said.

There was a disturbance in the crater. A large ripple moved out from the centre of the crater and washed against the edge. Snoopy sniffed, and the boys started to cough in the foul smell.

"Sulfur dioxide," Snoopy said.

"I think you're right," Kid said. "Volcanic activity. That explains the warm water."

"I've got a bad feeling about this," Tango said. "I reckon we should head back and let the school know."

"You know the rules about swimming," Zed said.

"Rules are rules, but we can't ignore the fact that our hill has a warm crater lake, and is giving out bad smells. I'm not a vulcanologist," Kid said.

"Our overalls will be dry by the time we get back. I'm for heading back to school now." Pilot said.

"Awe! We've got the whole day off, and you want to go back to school." Tal complained. "It's not going to erupt this afternoon. We don't need to hurry."

"I guess you're right. We'll go back via the beach." Kid decided.

They descended from the mountain in a direct line to the beach. Their course over the ridges and deep gullies that had been worn down the side of the old volcano was rough and exhausting. At times, they had to help each other down the steep earth banks which were really volcanic ash that had been washed down by heavy tropical rain over the centuries. At last, the boys reached a depression in the ground at the base of which was a large hole.

"The old lava cave," Snoopy explained to the bemused Chip.

"Whew! I'm beat," Chip said. "Now I know why we have to wear overalls."

"Goonskins." Tango said. "Beats being scratched to death, he said, ducking into the hole to follow the others. Chip was surprised to find himself in a large hollow pipe that sloped downwards gently. The floor was covered with rocky debris, but in some places it was glassy smooth.

Snoopy's voice echoed loudly as he called back to Chip, "How do you like our lava tube, Chip? Nobody else knows about it. Only us."

"Great," Chip said. He was a bit puzzled by their enthusiasm. So what was so special about a long cave? He thought. Ahead, there was a shaft of light.

"A light at the end of the tunnel," he said.

"It's not the end," Tango said. "It's the big cave."

They entered an enormous cavern about a hundred feet long, sixty feet across, and fifty feet high. A small hole at the top admitted light which shone down as a shaft through the dust in the air.

"We think a lot of lava streams joined together here to make a big bubble," Snoopy said. "Then the lava rushed down through that outlet over there."

Several tunnels joined into the cave at this point. At the end of the tunnel, a dark cave funneled away.

"So why hasn't anyone else found this?" Chip asked.

"Point one," Kid said, "Is that it's a Frazer House secret. Nobody, but nobody ever tells anyone about it. Got that?"

"Yes, but surely someone has found it before."

"There are only two land entrances. The hole up on the volcano itself, and you saw how hard it was to get to it. The hole up there in the roof - a couple of feet across at the most. We've looked for it up top, but haven't ever found it."

"And the outlet?"

"That's the best part. It's under water. I hope you can swim, Chip, because it's an awfully long way back."

The outlet from the cave dropped away like a long funnel. It grew darker and darker as they walked down the long slope. Chip looked back at the dull orange glow of the cave, now becoming a distant round patch at the limits of his vision.

"Stop here," Kid ordered.

They stopped in the silent darkness and waited. On the floor in front of them was a dull blue glow.

"How's the tide?" Kid asked.

"Dropping," Snoopy said. "Want me to check it out?"

He slid into the water, took a deep breath, and swam downwards towards the light blue patch at the bottom. Suddenly, he was out of the cave looking up at the surface of the sea. In moments, he was on the surface, grasping at the rocky cliff and breathing deeply. He took a deep breath and swam back down to the cave mouth. A few moments later, he was back with the boys in the cave.

"No problem," he said. "It's all clear. The boys dived into the hole, one after the other. It reminded Chip of films he had seen of penguins in the Antarctic. Not wanting to be the last, he joined them and swam out of the cave. They scrambled up onto the wall of the cliff and began to climb up to the ledge at the top.

"Not bad, eh?" Kid said. "Now you know why swamp leave is so popular."

"It's unreal," Chip said. "Totally awesome."

They ascended to the high ledge and walked along it until it sloped down to the long beach. A crescent of tropical white sand, fringed with coconut trees and beach pines, stretched for miles. The old plantation coconut trees stood in military lines, overgrown with secondary growth tropical jungle.

"This is all school land?" Chip asked.

"No. The volcano is National Park. School land starts at the plantation boundary. That's pretty obvious."

"The coconut trees," Chip said

"How observant." Pilot said, stripping off his overalls, shoes and socks, to wring them out.

They dried out on the long walk back to the school. From the beach, Plantation House stood out like a white beacon. The residential houses to one side, and the mess hall and chapel on the other, stood as silent sentries to the colonial monument. In front of the white building, crisp green playing fields rolled down to the sea.

"It really does look like the picture on the prospectus," Chip said.

Snoopy and the others laughed.

"About the only thing that's accurate," Zed muttered.

"You're not on about the 'firm but kindly discipline' are you, old chap?" Tal asked. "Bend over, boy, and take your punishment like a man."

"Oh, stop complaining," Pilot said. "What's a blood blister or two between friends. Oh, look. Mrs. Edwards is taking the crabs for a dip."

From where they were, the blue blob of figures on the beach was indistinct, but they guessed the junior boys were having supervised swimming. As they got closer, they could see the two portable towers manned by Seniors from Bligh House. A zodiac cruised out to sea, patrolling the offshore boundary to the swimming area.

"So that's the job of the duty house," Snoopy said. "Lifeguards. They are doing it tough."

"They probably lost on purpose," Tal said.

They reached the swimming area. The boys from Junior School were splashing happily between the red and yellow flags.

"Hello, Frazers. Strange things come from the swamp," one of the boys called from the observation tower.

"Hard at work, Mr. Quimby?" Kid asked. "This is Chip. A newbie. Chip, this is Spike - He's head of Bligh House. Nice chap, if not rubbed up the wrong way."

"Good afternoon, boys," Mrs. Edwards said. She had a long floral print cotton dress, and large brimmed white hat that shaded her sunglassed eyes. Her feet protruded from the long skirt, revealing that she was wearing a swim suit beneath the pretence of modesty. She swept the sea with her field glasses, doing a fast count as she scanned for lost or drowning boys."

"Twenty four," Spike said.

"Check, twenty-four," she affirmed. "And how was your day? Pleasant, I trust."

"Well, we went up Mount Stevenson, and guess what?" Snoopy asked.

"You all got puffed on the way up after your long, unfit holiday."

"No, but the crater is full of hot water, and there's a nasty smell of sulfur dioxide which is bubbling up from the water."

"Nice try," Mrs. Edwards said. "For a microsecond, there, my heart skipped a beat."

"It's true," Kid said. "That's why we came back early. Just think, Mrs. Edwards. You're the first member of staff to whom we have broken the good news. Bob Louis is waking up."

"Pass the COM down, Spike. I'm going to call Mr. Carter." She muttered to herself as Spike passed the walkie-talkie down to her. "Trust this to happen when the school is starting up for the year. We don't even have the new headmaster yet."

She spoke briefly to the deputy headmaster, then to Kid. "Mr. Carter wants to talk to all of you. I suggest you go right away without changing out of your slightly damp overalls."

"Oh, dear," Snoopy muttered.

"It was that very large wave, was it?" Mrs. Edwards asked.

"The very large ... Oh, sure, Mrs. Edwards. You saw it too?"

She chuckled. "Go on, the lot of you. I'm sure Mr. Carter will have other things on his mind than whether you went swimming unsupervised."

"She's really a good sort," Kid said as they walked up the white gravel path towards the School.

Mr. Carter and Mr. Hawke, the grounds manager, were walking quickly towards them.

"Well boys, what's all this about the crater?" he asked.

"It's full of very warm water, Sir, and bubbles of gas are rising from the centre," Kid said.

"Rupert, Roger, and Mark - you're the senior boys here. Come with me. The rest of you can return to your dormitory. Dismissed. Don't start silly rumors. We'll have a look at it, and let the Government know if there's a problem." He looked at Mr. Hawke. "Hopefully, it's just over-active schoolboys' imagination," he said as he walked briskly towards the school garages.

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