Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 183 — page 14: what you’re looking at

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14 They quickened their steps, and found the Guide standing in a dejected attitude beside a smoldering fire, but Helen, the objeetof their coming, was gone. CHAPTER XIIL THE CAVE TRAIL, A FIERCE light gleamed in the eyes of the lover, and in his fury he caught Gilbert by the arm. ‘‘ Where is she?’ cried the young man. ‘‘Have you led me here only to find that she is lost again, perhaps beyond all hope?” ‘‘Young man,” said Gilbert, ‘‘ have a little confidence in me, and do me the justice to say | that I could no more dream that the man [I left so securely could escapa, than that Helen would be in such terrible danger in the sycamore. It is enough that she is gone, and that Darromed is one, but where tbey are I cannot even dream. We shall find them if they are above ground, and we will search for them far down in the bowels of the earth. ‘‘ls there more than one way of escape from this cave?’ said Waterman, humbled by the manner of the Guide. ‘* Yes, there are three, and we must first find out whether they went out the same way they came in. That shall be your duty, Owasco, and find out as quickly as you can. They have not been gone long, at any rate.” _ Owasco lighted a torch at the embers of the dying fire, and went silently back on the way by which he had entered, while the Guide lighted another torch and went to the place where he had left the chief bound, The thongs lay upon the hard floor, and had evidently been untied. There were marks of a scuffle, and several little articles which Helen had worn were scattered about the room. “That’s it, then,” said the Guide. ‘‘ The sly rascal slipped his hand loose somehow, and then untied himself. Ha, what’s this? Blood, as I live, and from a rather bad wound, too.” ‘Tt is Helen’s,” gasped Wuterman, ‘ The ‘double-dyed villain has killed that sweet a ig ‘*T don’t think it,” replied the Guide, shaking his head, ‘‘ On the contrary, I rather think it is the blood of Darromed, and it will be a good way to track them. I left the girl a pistol, well joaded, one of those you gave her, you know, and no doubt when he got loose she fired at him and bit him too. But she did not aim true enough; you can always tell when a weak finger pulls the trigger.” ‘* Here’s the Injin,” cried Pat. ‘‘ What news?’ said the Guide, shortly. ‘* Darromed did not go out there,” replied the chief. ‘ Let us search for him, and when we find him, we will take his — Gilbert now took the lead, a pistol in one hend, a torch in the other, following the bloody tail which Darromed had left behind him upon the white limestone floor. If the young captain had not been in such agony concerning Helen, he would have been delighted with the wonder- world through which they were passing. Lofty passages, with vaulted roofs, hung with astarry- decked canopy; great rooms, frescoed by the hand of nature, and all the wonderful forms into which limestone shapes itself. And over those white floors the four men pressed on, while the wondering eyes of Handy Pat dwelt with new delight upon each addition to the nd beauties nates Haney he passed, But Gilbert, vever taking eyes from those bloody foot- prints, trod on steadily and swiftly, pausing now and then to mark the spot when the tracks were faint. Suddenly he paused upon the brink of a deep pit, reaching far down into the bowels of the earth. A deep, dark, noisome place, from which a reeking damp mist rose, and ¢»read about the cave, from side to side. Stooping on the brink, the Guide listened, and every man held his breath, and they heard a rab murmuring sound, as of rushing water, far ow, ‘*T don’t know what to make of this place,” said the Guide. ‘I’ve tried to study it out —_—_ and again, and have never succeeded. hether it a subterranean stream, or a waterfall, I can’t say, but itis water. and it’s hot, or else where does this bot steam come Do t stop to late tha d on specu on t, my dear Gilbert, but go on in the search. While we ners bere, Darromed is bearing Helen further and further a from us. I beg you, if you have any regard for me, to push on at once, and help me to aid my darling,” said Water- man. “Impatient, like all boys,” muttered the Guide. “I might have known it would be hard to check him, once he gets his head set on an object. Now, listen to me, Clinton Waterman ; am I to lead in this affair, or are you! “Of course I must leave it to you, helpless as I am in regard to this place,” replied the young man, earnestly. ‘“‘You should make some allowance for my feelings.” “As if I didn’t do that,’ murmured the Guide. ‘‘As if I could shut my beart to the cry of sorrow from a human breast. The boy don’t know me, or he wouldn’t say that to me. He don’t know that my hopes, lying stranded Gilbert, the Guide. and withered on a desolate shore, show them- floor and they could follow the tracks readily, selves to my heart like the bare ribs of ship- | but as the passage grew wider and higher the ping, wrecked in the long ago. There; don’t think me hard on you, lad, for I don’t mean to be. I know how hard it is to lose loved ones; I’ve lost them myself, and that makes me feel the more for you, my poor boy. I'll find your Helen, if she lives, and if she dies, [ will so avenge her that the Wyandots shall tremble when the name of Gilbert, the Guide, is spoken of in their lodges. Come around me, you three, and swear by all we hold holy and dear, by our hopes of heaven, and a land of peace where the ‘wicked cease from troubling and the weary are at rest,’ that you will never turn back from the duty of seeking this lost child, or avenging her if slain, unless incapa- citated by wounds.” ‘‘] swear,” said Clinton, solemnly, ‘‘and I will be true and steadfast to keep this, my vow. ‘‘ And so do I, Handy Pat O’Driscoll, county Antrim, and the divil resave me the day I turn back like a coward from danger.” ‘‘T cannot swear,” said Owasco, proudly; ‘but I give you the word of a man who never lied that I will not turn back, until the white maiden is free or avenged, or another Ononda- a scalp hangs on the war-pole of a Wyandot odge.” They joined bands, these four strong men, and an electric shock seemed to pass from arm toarm. Henceforth they were bound ina new tie, by their solemn vow. Danger lay before their path in the coming days, but they did not fear it; privations were their lot, and they shared them boldly; torture and great sorrow came upon them, but never despair; but they were faithful and true to each other in the days before them. “Now for work!” said the Guide. ‘Our path is cut out for us and we must tread it un- shrinkingly, even to the end of our weary road. Some of us may grow weary, and lie down to rest forever from the cares of the world, but the rest must keep on unshrinking- ly, if our course takes us into the very beart of the Wyandot villages. Give me the torch, Owasco, for I must study the course of the chief from this point.” He took the torch and looked for the bloody marks. They were faint now, as if the wound had nearly ceased to bleed, and upon a rock near by they found some pieces of stained calico rags and buckskin, which had evidently been used to stanch the wound. ‘‘See this,” said the Guide. ‘It says to me more plainly than words could that here the Indian put Helen down and bound up his wound. I should say that it was in the leg, and probably a flesh-wound, or he could not have one on so long, bleeding in that way. Very Hkely he bound the girl while he attended to the wound,” ‘‘ But how did he cross the chasm?” demanded Waterman, ‘“‘I should say it is ten feet wide.” ‘¢ He did not cross it at all, I think,” replied Gilbert. ‘Remember that he was forced to carry the girl in his arms, for she is too high- spirited to go with him willingly. There must be some outlet from this point of which I know nothing, or else he tried back from this point to the opening we passed about a hundred yards above.” At this moment Owasco began to climb up to a sort of shelf which ran along the wall of the vaulted passage, about three feet from the floor. Something bright glittered in the light of the lamp, and picking it up, he it to his companion, Gilbert gave it silently into the hand of the young soldier, who pressed it to his lips with a joyfulcry. It was a broad gold ring, with a single small diamond set into a tablet upon the top. ; ‘That belongs to Helen,” he said, quickly— “a gift which I mace her in happier days, when we were betrothed. Doubtless she man- aged to slip it from her finger, in the absence of anything else she could lay hold of, to guide us in following her.” The Guide sprung upon the shelf by the side of Owasco, and together they ran along the wall, striking upon the rocks as they passed along to see if any were loose, At last one trembled under a heavy blow from the hand of Owasco, and seizing it in both hands, he plucked it out, and revealed an opening be- yond. The two men worked hard, and soon cleared a passage through which they could make their way, but before they passed in Gil- bert examined the bottom of the passage, and there, in the dust of centuries, they found the tracks of an Indian foot, pressed heavily into the debris, as if he had carried a weight. ““Didn’t I-tell you so?’ cried the Guide. “He carried her so far, but he can’t stand that — for the girl will make a heavy load after a little while, liglit as she looks, Come on, you fellows.” e crawled into the low passage, closely followed ty Owasco, the Irishman and Water- man. The place was very narrow, and yet the air was pure and fresh—a strange characteris- tic of these limestone caves. For some dis- tance the fine debris was thick upon the stone | dust disappeared, until they again stood in a lofty room, like that in which they had left Helen, containing, if possible, more beautiful specimens from the band of that wonderful architect and artist, Nature. But the tracks had disappeared, and they could no longer follow in the way they had done before. For some distance there was no passage, either to the right or left, but at last they came to a place where the road separated, and the object of their pursuit might have taken either course. ‘‘ Stay here until I return or call for you,” commanded the Guide, dashing down the right- hand passage with a torch in his hand, ‘I won’t be long in finding out if she went this way.” He hurried on without paying any attention to the entreaties of Pat that he might go, and was absent some ten minutes, when he returned, saying that the passage had come to an end, and she must bave gone by the other. They hurried on to make up for the lost time, and soon decided by slight traces, observable on] to the scouts, that Darromed bad passed this way. ‘** Don’t ask me how I know this,” said Gil- bert. “It is apart of my business to read the earth like a printed book, and I see in this bare rock, written as a, as I care to read, that this is the road he took. This can’t last much longer, either, for this path inclines up- ward and we are not far from the open air.” ‘* It seems to me that we have traveled miles under the earth,” said Clinton. ‘“ Deed have we,” said Pat. ‘ Fifty av thim and Irish miles at that, and thim’s the longest miles we know anything about, being that St. Patrick measured thim in his coach.” ‘‘We bave not gone half a mile in all,” re- plied the Guide. ‘* That is, if we measure in a direct line. The circuit we bave made is nearer a mile, but itis hard to measure distance in a place like this.” ‘*Don’t thry to fool me now,” exclaimed Pat. ‘Sure and we've thraveled fifty mile, and long wans at that.” ‘*No more than I say,” persisted the Guide. ‘‘T ought to know something of the distance, for a great part of the later years of my life I have made use of such hiding-places as this.” ‘‘T suppose so; but look at this! As I live, here is another branch of the passage.” ‘‘And a good sign to go by,” said the Guide, stooping at the entrance of the right-hand pas- sage. ‘‘ This girl certainly has her wits about her, for wherever she is likely to leave us at fault she has lefta reminder. That looks like a trinket I have seen her wear upon her neck.” It was a small piece of amber, cut in the form of a Maltese cross, which Waterman at once identified as belonging to the lady, andit pleased him that she should be so thoughtful. ‘Yes, yes,” he said. ‘‘She trusts in us to follow and save her, but she does not know how close we are upon the trail, or how much this little token cheers us. It gives us a certainty that she has as yet been uninjured, and that she is cunning enough to outwit Darromed, though the scoundrel is no fool.” ‘*Not he!” replied the Guide. ‘‘I know to my cost that he has the ferocity of the blood- hound, the cunaieg of a fox, and the un 4 patience of a wolf. My heart beats strangely as I take this little cross in my band, and —* the darling girl has worn it on her neck. ‘‘Come on, come on!” cried the young agent. * It is I who feel impatient now.” ‘You shall not accuse me of being slack in my duty,” replied the Guide, quickly. “For- ward!” A few steps further they felt a current of fresh air blowing in their faces, and pushing on, they saw the star of evening, Venus, shining clear and bright above their heads. They were at the bottom of a funnel-shaped ravine, containing in the circuit of its circum- ference perhaps a thousand F ag => The sides were fresh and green, and_ bright flowers bloomed about their feet. Stepping so sud- denly from that strange cavern-bome under the light of the stars came like e shock to them, oy hg a moment one one paused to drink n the delicious atm ee ee ‘Tt is a beautiful world,” said Gilbert, “ana looking upon such @ scene as this, one can on] think it sacenin that such a scene can be out- raged by the strife and passion of man. And yet without doubt, this peaceful t has been the witness of savage warfare, bloodshed and death, Here ends our work for to-night, as it is impossible to say which way the trail leads i] morning. unt net we lie idly here all night, knowing that every hour_is placing a greater distance between us and Helen?’ demanded Waterman, in an agonized tone. ‘It is useless to go on,” answered the Guide ‘‘and yet the night shall not be lost, for L will o to the camp of Mack and tell him what we intend to do, and let him return to the fort. But, will you not be punished for leaving upop such an expedition without orders?” EOMNMINCG MOO) “6S (C(O) f