Litchfield enquirer., 1869-04-01
King Xii, ain fine you, young soldier, took 0rc

King a fine young soldier took as torch, and entered the cave. .~.,.....
 s9The dinner Was dealt @ott-hot ssayvsory bsteaks and sfoasts +thed eefomeaSnred, \ and the. maal commenced, but noneof mprel men ! wo had entered the gave sHeste made thsif hlap I1ls'How singuiari' eiaculated Brydge, tdst.i l fly T anduimpatiently What can keep those men?a King has been gone ten min Eutes. Here Sergeant Halsey, hurry those men up!' iaz5a ' ta#tiss-F ji 9Hs .3sasl
 The sergeant, brown, strong man of middle age, hesitated, and ventured to stammer:
 Ihs r beg your pardon, Lieutenant, but I st think there's something wrong inside the cave. There's three men in there-all
 hungry and knowing that dinners, ready
 Surely they'd come back if they could. Perhaps there's wild beasts, or some strange I kind of gas that smotherse lem, or77rsf, e,I4 L. Nonsense. Sergeantr :. interrupted the lieutenant, frowning. T give you five min
 utes to bring those men back Cor aa b I . The ssrgeant's face paled, but, without another word, he took up torch and en-
 tered the cave, disappearing from. the gaze
 of his friends. '7H .3s2 s<ei' i&=l'i 4 I The minutes passed, the lieutenant and
 the men ate their dinner mechanically,
 awaiting anxiously the expected return :; ] yet none of the four came back. e''@ Y 1 The words of the sergeant had made Q
 deep impression on the minds of his hear
 ers.l A general gloom fell upon the camp and the, men cast frequent and fearful Iglances in the direction of the cavern. Even the lieutenant and Hubert felt a
 strange depression creeping oyer them,
 which neither could resist.
 What can be the matter?' at length de-
 handed the officer. The sergeant's in
 trouble, should judge, by this long ab-
 sence. There can't be gas in the cave, or
 if so he would probably have had time to cry out. There can't be wild beasts, for
 those four men are all. we'll armed, and
 would at least have fired. Which of you
 men will go into the cave and learn what
 the matter is?' 4A} la aas s4r E.a ..a
 There was general shrinking back. Ey-
 cry soldier was brave in an Indian fight,
 but not one dared to face a mysterious and
 unknown danger. Not one wished to risk the complete and total disappearance from
 earth and human knowledge that had be- fallen his comrades. '''
 Whoever will venture in search of the missing men shall llreceive from me hum dred dollars in goldp exclaimed Hubert, in
 his clear, ringing tones. Who speaks first
 for the money?' ''' ''i" z47 @aistfi' e
 The offer was tempting; but it was not
 accepted. Not Q world of reply was made i to it. .
 Hubert hesitated, giving brief thought
 to Miriam, his loved and waiting Miriaml
 His face then glowed with heroic light,
 and he said in tones that did not falter:
 will go in search of the men, Lieu
 tenant Brydges. Only, your party is now
 small, and if IgdoNnot return in twenty minutes, you may resume your journey m | 4gf But, Earle expostulated the ieuten-
 ant, this is positive madness You must not risk your life We will wait awhile, and if the men do not return, we will move jo"' ihuea qis53 tefl} {spra}a ad3 lo rtiaE Ialf They may need help replied Hubert
 steadily. They may have encountered we'll, God knows what. I can t imagine. If
 l fire my rife, come to me. If l fail to
 return lls within the, tin time appointed, move Ea He went to the nearest fire, picked up a blazing stick, arranged his rifle for instant
 use, approached the mouth of the cave, I peered into it cautiously, and listened in-,
 tently for some sound of life within.
 l No sound came. All was still as death within the cavern. 'c 1t aa+ 9ae.yd hsd-
 The next instant Hubert had vanished
 therein.fIaa s>ala . 5-sEl 3ushfys, s. ft .la3 tc All was now breathless suspense. ..E .-,
 The lieutenant and his men, gathered faround to listen for the report of the rife.
 The minutes passed, but 1t came not. Five , minutes dragged by-ten-fifteen, and still , no sound reached their ears. They could 1 see brief space into the cavern, by the light of their own torches,~ but nothing but
 rocky walls and floor met their gaze.
 Twenty minutes were thus passed The
 time was ap. and Hubert had not returned. The men looked at one another with 4 palhd faces. As if turned to stone, they Istood an. awe; e;stricken group about the cav ern's mouth, until the minutes had more
 than made up an hour and still they h1 P lgered. uH aaag .e3nooaatal ,a54.acn.9U T During this timet they had cleared away the bushes from the mouth of the cave. s They, had tried again and again to peer in-
 to the dark depths of the opening, but conlli notn The lieutenant had called re-
 peatedlyl to Hubert, but. received no an-
 swer. At length he proposed to tie rope laround his waist and descend into the sim E ister abyss, but his men objected unani-
 mously. snmai3o ssl io bsa. sAl sa a3. .1iq What's the use? F There's something here that no mortal man can conquer.
 We can't risk your life, lieutenant, said another. Just think how few there are of Il us 'ai1,i s5t Io i1jn09 od] has s9i5Hb 9Yl5Bss + The time elcontinned to drag on.5,7caG9-- Il l At last when two full hours had passed,
 Lieutenant Brydges staggered to his feet. and said: '7s1 70 177263nd2 jatoli.o sds Eo This is horrible terrible beyond ex- .I Ipression! We have lost four of our com
 rades and this noble young stranger, whom ! I loved as brother. This fearful cave . must hold the secret of their fate, be 1t Il what it may.e Let us go.',e4s gi.f9sf, ot 4s.- Il Without a word, but with white. faces 2 in sort of mute terror, the men mounted their horses and resumed their journey. The above is all of .thls story that will be ! published in our columns. The continua- sltion of it from where it leaves off here can be found only in the New York Ledger, which is for sale at all the bookstores and news tdepots.o Ask for the, number dated Il April 10, 1869, and in it you will find the continuation of this beautiful tale. a1The Ledger is mailed to subscribers at three dollars year: The publication of Rev. q pr: Tyng's great story, which has been written expressly for. the Ledger, is just Il feommenced in the Ledger, so that our I readers will get the whole of these two sto- 1,o f1,x, Ixdot atnTiaG