The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1898-01-09
FRONTENAC CAVE.


| Nd showed them 10 be small limbs OF
s,,me soft wood. very light and dry.
Larger sticks by the fire were OF the
| san ne kind. and seemed polished by the
! wal er; so we made no doubt that they
| had been washed into the cave at some
/ opening by a freshet
This seems TO be one OF their camps"
| said the Captain. land think We had
| best get away from IT before they are
! back. They cannot be far. for the fire
| was certa inly covered within few hours.
Wen lust borrow some of their torch
| sticks and perhaps we may find where
| the fish com e from"
The river which was three or four
yards wide. disappeared a few rods farth-
| or on. In the soft clay we saw some boot
| tracks. We went on very cautiously and
! quietly. keeping as much as we could
| in small holes and passages. and often
| hiding our torch es and listening with our
! ears We were grprised at the height OF
the rooms and tive bigness of the stalac-
tites The torch sticks gave more light
than our candles had done. so bringing
out the beauty OF the stalactites. which
| were Of all shapes end sizes. In one place
we saw high up on the wall where the
water had seeped down and made n
! great hanging-curta IN OF drip-stone, as
some call It, looking ike nothing so much
as a big. white WOOL en- blanket hanging
up in folds. We saw another which looked
like a stack OF wheat. with others in all
sorts Of queer shapes
For the most part the floor seemed 10
be in general way quite level, though
there were many heaps OF rocks and pits
and domes. We tossed small stones into
the pits and they did not seem TO be
very deep but the domes stretched away
up. and we could get no notion OF their
height.
This IS more as I've heard folks tell
about Frontenac Cave" said the Cap
| tain. We're coming down where II has
| been explored. If we can keep those
fellows from getting sight Of us and
find hole leading out well be all right"
"Td Just as lief find where those fish
came from" ! said.
/ "Ay. that's what We nded." answered
the Captain with smile. That last meal
was little light. Besides. I guess It's
! been two hours" and he took out his
watch. why it's stopped" he exclaim-
| ed. "It must have stopped when I fell
/ in the water-I might have known it,"
| nor could he make IL start
II don't see how we're going 70 tell
night from day without the watch"
| said
"Well. where YOU can't tell II doesn't
matter" answered the Captain no whit
doNncast "Our appetites will always tell
US when it's mealtime. The only thing
10 worry about is that II may not always
| be as easy to place the meal es the time"
We kept sharp lookout for footprints
| wherever there was dirt floor. bot saw
| no more Finally we got into tunnel
| leading gently downward. and ar a sharp
,,,rp capna fnpxpeCted1V upOn the river
| again, or upon some river. II was larger
than where we had seen II Differentiated
| It was more like a pool or small lake
| the tunnel enlargng and arching up over
! exactly like a cover on a great dish or
| SOUP. Suddenly the Captain drooped on
| his knees. crying FISH as he did so.
Sure enough. thera were fish In the
, water. not eyeless cave fish. but regular
downstream fish. coming up to have a
good look at our torch lights.
Eyes. fish" returned. more excited
/ than he; "but what ia like TO know Is
| how we're going 20 get them.
Leave US alone for that answered
| the Captain We've got TO get them:
Necessity. as they say, Is the mother or
! invention. Let's see first II anybody else
has been here.
The floor Of the tunnel and bank were
| clayev. but there was no track or trace
OF any human being.
",Those fellows can't get their hsh mere
| or they'd leave some marks or II, SAID
| the Captain. He fell TO studying the sur
| face OF the water. and then went on:
s"rhere Is no forward current In that
water, but there is some sort or move
ment. thpk It's downward. and II must
either sink into a full pit or take curve
| downward and rome up to the level be-
| yond either underground again or In the
| Zurbro river. think from the river nsh
| being here that this Is where II gets Into
| the river like a big spring"
DO you think We could hit one OF them
| with a stone?" 7 said. a good deal moro
| interested in eating them than IN ac-
| counting for how they came to be there.
1--WE might, but It would scare all tie