St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-05-20

1or the provisions. While the old man wa
gone, the boys tossed all their fireworks inf,
the awful depths of the bottomless pit; and
they fired off all their blank cartridges, in
order to hear the echoes rolling like thunder
down in the cavernous hollow. !
1t was the impulse born of thoughtlessness
and youth that led them to disobey the
guides injunctions, and to do little explor-
speed of their movements tended to make
the torches burn more rapidly. At length,
and to their horror, they We're forced to
throw the burning brands away in order to
keep their fingers from being burned, and a
few minutes afterwards the last spark was
extinguished, and they found themselves in
an impenetrable and Stygian darkness.
Instinctively, the boys took hold of each
others hands, and Sam Bowman, in tremu-
lous voice, said:
"Ed, we are lost! What shall we do?'
Edgar Whipple was equally frightened,
but, evidently in a more philosophical frame
of mind said:
eyes, I guess we are pretty badly lost.
don't think can see anything to do but sit
right down here, and pray that Uncle Dick
or some one else will come and find u.s.
Although the boys were at this time fully
hundred yards away from the precipitous
wall of the bottomless pit, they did not dare
move, for fear they might tumble over the
precipitous side and into the unfathomed
depths below. The silence was only equaled
by the darkness. Each felt that he could
hear the beating of the others heart. They
bent to listen to the shout OF the guide, but
not the faintest sound came to their ears.
For the time they forgot their hunger in
their awful dread. They spoke in whispers,
each giving it as his opinion that days must
have elapsed since Uncle Dick left them.
They regretted ever having undertaken the
expedition, and they wondered, if they should
die there, whether their remains would ever
be found.
The minutes, SO dark and silent, seemed
like long and dreary hours. Soon their in
tense hunger banished their fears, and Sam
Bowman told his friend story of ship
wrecked men, suffering from hunger, who
drew lots to see which should die, in order to
appease the appetite of the others; and they
pledged, one the other, that under no crcum-
stances would they be driven to such an ex-
tremity. .ssF55ta
In the meantime Uncle Dick had returned
W WLclO uO ieiI lile UOyS, anu Was nOFrlHeQ
to find them gone. He shouted, buthis voice
was not strong, and he had no firearms with
him, with Which to make a signal He
searched all the avenues and apartments
round about, but could find no traces of the
boys. Then, desperate and filed with alarm,
he hurried back to the entrance of the cave,
hitched up the horse, and drove rapidly
back to the camp, which he reached just
about dark. e..r.s.- . 5e-
When he had told his story, the officers and
men were SO indignant at what they con-
sfdered his negligence that they would have
punished him had not the wiser counsels of
the two fathers of the boys prevailed. Soon
a dozen officers and men with the old guide,
all well mounted and provided with torches,
were galloping in hot haste for the Mammoth
Cave. t-.-.
Unnecessary here to narrate the journey O.
the long and eager search that followed it,
Overcome by hunger, fear and fatigue, the
two boys had fallen asleep in each others
arms. They were awakened by the loud
tramplng of feet, and the glare of torches,
and when they rose in alarm from their hard
couch, they were caught in the arms OF their
respective fathers. ,ie
1t need not be added that after this they
had no further desire for cave explorations,
or that their ardor for army life was cooled,
GEORGE L. BURNS.