Part 4 (1/2)

”I have carefully examined this cavern,” said the captain, after a moment's pause, ”and there are only tays by which those et in You need not be afraid that any one can scramble down the walls of that farthest apartht be able to fire upon any one in it But in the unshots I shall keep Maka on guard a little back froround, and can hear footsteps long before they reach us It is barely possible that soreat cleft in the cave on the other side of the lake, but in that case they would have to swie of which you have heard, and if he sees any of theive very quick warning I hardly think, though, that they would trust the”

”And you?” said she

”Oh, I shall keep in to feel a spirit of fight rising up within ets here, I almost wish they would then come I would like to kill a lot of them”

”Suppose,” said Edna Markham, after aback, and should attack him”

”I hardly think they would do that,” replied the captain ”He will probably coood-sized vessel, and I don't think they are the kind of ht sneaks and assassins Now, I advise all of you to go and get so to eat It would be better for us not to try to do any cooking, and so make a smoke”

The captain did not wish to talk any more Miss Markham's last remark had put a new fear into his mind Suppose the Rackbirds had lured Rynders and histheht, when they left, that there would be any necessity for defence against their fellow-beings

When Edna Markham told Mrs Cliff what the captain had said about their chances, and what he intended to do for their protection, the older woreat faith in the captain,” she declared, ”and if he thinks it is worth while to ood one If they should be firing, and Mr Rynders is approaching the coast, even if it should be night, he would lose no ti to us”

Toward the close of that afternoon three wild beasts came around the point of the bluff andthe beach They were ferocious creatures with shaggy hair and beards Two of theuns, and each of them had a knife in his belt When they came to a broad bit of beach above the reach of the waves, they were very much surprised at some footsteps they saw They were the tracks of twofor This discovery er to kill the escaped African before he got far enough away to give information of their retreat, for they knew not at what tiht approach the coast But they were very wary about running into danger There was somebody with that black fellow--somebody ore boots

After a time they came to the boat The minute they saw this, each miscreant crouched suddenly upon the sand, and, with cocked guns, they listened Then, hearing nothing, they carefully examined the boat It was e about them, they saw a hollow behind soround, and there they sat and consulted

It was between two and three o'clock the nextthat Maka's eyes, which had not closed for er, and with his head on the hard, rocky ground of the passage in which he lay, the poor African slept soundly On the shelf at the edge of the lake, the other African, Mok, sat crouched on his heels, his eyes wide open Whether he was asleep or not it would have been difficult to deterreat cleft on the other side of the lake, he would have sprung to his feet with a yell--his fear of the Rackbirds was always awake

Inside the first apartuns by his side He had kept watch until an hour before, but Ralph had insisted upon taking his turn, and, as the captain knew he could not keep awake always, he allowed the boy to take a short watch But now Ralph was leaning back against one of the walls, snoring evenly and steadily In the next rooement made with Ralph, and she knew the boy's healthy, sleepy nature, so that when he went on watch she went on watch

Outside of the cave were three wild beasts One of the on the farther end of the plateau Another, on the lower ground a little below, stood, gun in hand, and barely visible in the starlight A third, barefooted, and in garht, and armed only with a knife, crept softly toward the entrance of the cave There he stopped and listened He could plainly hear the breathing of the sleepers He tried to separate these sounds one from another, so that he should be able to deter inside, but this he could not do Then his cat-like eyes, beco more and more accustomed to the darkness within the entrance, saw the round head of Maka close upon the ground

The soul of the listening fiend laughed within him ”Pretty watchers they are,” he said to hiht, and they are all snoring!” Then, as stealthily and as slowly as he had colided through the darkness down to the beach, and then set off at their best speed back to their rendezvous

After they had discovered that there were people in the cave, they had not thought of entering They were not fully armed, and they did not kno , and that was that these shi+pwrecked people--for that hat they must be--kept a very poor watch, and if the whole band caht, the affair would probably be settled with but very little trouble, no ht be It was not necessary to look any further for the escaped negro Of course, he had been picked up by these people

The three beasts reached their camp about daybreak, and everybody was soon awakened and the tale was told

”It is a co the stureat ue, which some of theht's work is all cut out for us Noe can take it easy to-day, and rest our bones The order of the day is to keep close No straggling, nor wandering Keep those four niggers up in the pigeonhole We will do our own cooking to-day, for we can't afford to run after any lish, for he can't tell anything about us, any more than if he was an ape So snooze to-day, if you want to I will give you work to do for to-night”

CHAPTER VII

GONE!

That , when the party in the cavern had had their breakfast, with soht, and had looked cautiously out at the sunlit landscape, and the sea beyond, without seeing any signs or hearing any sound of wicked reat ground for such a feeling, but as the Rackbirds had not coht, perhaps they would not coht be they did not care whether the black man ran away or not But Captain Horn did not relax his precautions He would take no chances, and would keep up a watch day and night

When, on the night before, the time had come for Ralph's watch to end, his sister had awakened him, and when the captain, in his turn, was aroused, he had not known that it was not the boy who had kept watch during his sleep

In the course of thebeen filled with an intense desire to see the wonderful subterranean lake, had been helped over the rocky barrier, and had stood at the edge of the water, looking over to where it was lighted by the great chas to peer into the soleht Edna said nothing, but stood gazing at the wonderful scene--the dark, mysterious waters before her, the arched cavern above her, and the picture of the bright sky and the tops of the distantwhich stretched itself upward like a cathedralon the other side of the lake

”It frightens me,” said Mrs Cliff ”To be sure, this water was our salvation, for we should have been dead by this time, pirates or no pirates, if we had not found it But it is terrifying, for all that We do not kno far it stretches out into the blackness, and we do not kno far down it goes It o so near the edge, Ralph It makes me shudder”

When the little party had returned to the cavern, the captain and the two ladies had a long talk about the lake They all agreed that the existence of this great reservoir of water was sufficient to account for the greenness and fertility of the little plateau outside Even if no considerable ah the cracks in the rocks, the moisture which arose from the surface of the water found its way out into the surrounding atmosphere, and had nourished the bushes and vines