Sunbury American. [volume] (Sunbury, Pa.) 1848-1879, 1869-04-03
JRY, NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNA.
OLD SERIES, VOL. 80, NO. %.

men 2 King has leen gone ten minutes.
Here, Sergeant Halscy, hurry those men
upr n .-
The sergeant, brown, strong man Of mid
/ die age hesitated, and yentured to stanr,cr:
4 beg your pardon, Lieutenant, but /
think there's something wrong inside the
cave. There's three men in there all hun
cry and knowing that dinners ready. Sure,
! ly they'd come back iftIiey could. Perhaps
there's wild beasts, or some strange kind of
gas that smothers en-. or
Nonsense, Sergeant interrupted the Hou
tenant, irowning 4 give you five minutes
to bring those men back. Go y
! The sergcant's face paled, but without
another word, he took up n torch and enter
ed the cave, disappearing from the gaze Of
/ bis friends.
I Che minutes passed. the lieutenant and
.he men ate their dinner mechanicilly, await.
ing anNionsly the expected return yet none
of the four came back.
The words of the sergeant had made a
deep impression on the minds Of his hearers.
A genera! gloom fell upen the camp, and
the men cast frequent and fearful glances in
the direction of the cavern. Even the lieu.
tenant and Hubert felt strange depression
creeping over them, which neither could re-
sist
4 'What can be the matter ? at length de-
manded the officer. The sergeants in trou-
bic, should judge, by his long absence.
There can't be gas in the cave, or il so, he
would probably have had time to cry out.
There can't he Wild beasts, for those four
mon were all well armed, and would ut least
have fired. Which of al! goa men wil'gc
into the cave and learn What the matter is :
There was general shrinking back
Every soldier was brave in an Indian fight
but not one dared to face a mysterious apd
unknown danger. Not ore wished 10 risk
the complete and total disappearance from
earth and human knowledge that had be
fallen his comrades.
whoever will venture in search of tbs
missing men shall receive from me hun
dred dollars in gold = exclaimed Hubert. ID
his clear. ringing tones. Who speaks frs
for the money!
The offer was tempting but it was no
accepted, Not word of reply was made
to il.
Hubert hcsitated, giving a brief though
to Miriam, his loved and waiting Miriam,
His face then glowed with heroic light
and he said, in tones that did not faltcr
Il will go in search of the men, Lieuter
ant Brydges. Only. your party is now small
and i'll 80 not return in twenty minutes
you may resume your Journey
But. Earle expos,ulated the lieutenant
this is positive madRess. You must no
!, risk your life We will wait q while, and
the men do not return, we will move on"
They may need help replied Hubert
steadily. They may have encountered
. well. God knows what, can't imagine.
| fire nay rife, come to me. If l fail to re
| turn within the time appointed, move on y
He went up to the nearest hre, picked NJ
! blazing stick, arranged his rifle for instan
use, approached the mouth of the cave, peer
ed into it cautiously, and listened intent
t for some sound.of life within.
| No sound came. All was as still AS deaf
within the cavern
The next instant Hubert had vauishe
. therein.
An was now brenthless suspense.
: The lieutenant and his men -gatherc
around 70 listen for the rep0rt of the ritl
, The minutes passed, but it came not Fiv
: minutes dragged by-ten-fftecn, and sti
no sound reached their cars. They coul
, see brief space into the cavern, by the ligl
r of thei. own torches. but nothing bnt rock
walls and floor met their gaze.
@ Twenty minutes were thus passed. I'll
i time was up, and Hubert had not returned
n The men looked at one another with pa
lid faces. As if turned to stone, they stoo
/, an awe stricken group about the cavern
;. mouth, until the minutes had more tlia
d made un an hour-and still they fingered
y During this tiue they had cleared ava
n the bushes from the mouth Of the cay
They had tried again and again to peer il
v to the dark depths of the opening, but coul
$ not. The lieutenant had called. repeated
s to Hubert, but received no answer, Al iengt
n he proposed to tie a rope around his wal
,r and descend into the sinister abyss, but h
f; men objected unanimously.
s. whats the use 2 asked one. There
y something here that no morta! man can co
h quer. 49,
n another. Just think how few there ere
t. US
The time continued to drag on
-e At last, when two full hoars had passe
le Lieut. Erydgcs staggered to his feet, al
y said:
This is horrible--terrible beyond expr'
e. sion! We have lost four of our conrad
" and this noble young stranger, whom | 10
m ed as a brother. This fearful cave mi
hold the secret of their fate, be it what
s, may. Let US CO.
~ Without q word, but with white faces
in q sort of mute terror, the men mount
he their horses and resumed their journey. I
ce above is all of this story that will be publii
lis ed in our columns. The continuation OF
&C. from where it leaves off here can be fou
only in the New York Ledger, which is
no sale at all the bookstores and news Gepo
es Ask for the number dated April 10, ls
and in il you will find the continuation
in thi. beautiful tale. The Ledger is mail
ed TO subscribers at three dollars year. ]
IN, publication of Rev. DR.. Tyng's great sto
, a which has been written expressly for
Ledger, is just commenced in the ledg
m. 80 that our readers will get the whole
". these two stories in it. The Ledger has
best stories of any paper in the world a
re Henry Ward Beecher, James Parton a
Il Fanny Fern, have articles in every numb
ier A person who purports to be bereft
sipht is led by o. dog, the latter bearing