The Argosy, Vol. XXV, No. 1 — page 184: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

184 _ ‘THE BUNKEL MYSTERY. examine it carefully. He knew that the rocks were honeycombed with openings, as a load of large stone chips would be when dumped on the ground from a cart. Andy had backed the tender into the cavern, which was about ten feet deep, so that he could secure the painter on the shelf. . He drew the boat up to his landing place, and stepped into it. Letting go of the cord which held it, the tender immediately drifted back to its former position. The stern rested against an upright mass of rock. The wind did not blow directly into the little grotto, and the water in it was sheltered by the abutment on the weather side. Andy shortened the painter so that the tender should not hit the rock at the stern. Then, with a small line he found in the boat, he rigged a stay on each side, which he attached to the rocks. Thus secured, the boat pitched and rolled on the uneasy waters, but it was safely moored so that it could not strike the rocks at any point. _ Andy seated himself in the stern of the tender, and put on the overcoat he had brought with him in anticipation of rain, for the air was quite chilly. He could hear the roar of the surging waves as they-beat upon the rocky shore ; but he felt quite comfortable. In this easy position he began to consider the events of the preceding night. He found abundant occupation for his thoughts; but he had hardly entered upon the subject when he was startled by the sound of a voice quite near him, as he thought. The sound did not seem to come from the direction of the lake, where the only opening he knew anything about was situated. The voice seemed to be in the very heart of the rocks. It appeared to come from some point over his head, though not directly above him. He was alarmed, not for his personal safety, but because the security of his position was threatened. He looked about him ; but, except on the sur- face of the water, it was so dark that he could not make out anything. Andy was not a smoker, but he made the fire in the cook stove for his mother in the morning, and he carried a tin box of matches in his pocket. He lighted one of them. By the feeble light of the match he discovered that there was a consider- able crevice on the south side of him. Casting off the stay on the opposite side, he moved the tender over to the aperture. Pieces of rock had fallen from above, and formed a rough platform just above the water. It followed that, if he could hear the persons above him, they could hear him if he made a noise. He did not, therefore, deem it prudent to get upon the platform. . As he reached over and put his head into the aperture, which was like an oven, he could see gleams of light. It was evident that the crevice in the rocks reached to the summit of the hill, though it was so crooked and irregular that no direct rays of daylight could penetrate through it to the lower cavern in which Andy had sought shelter. | ‘“Tom ! Tom !’’ shouted the person whose voice Andy heard. ‘‘ Wake up! I have called you a dozen times !’’ (©) Eomichbooks