The times., 1898-01-23
..They aln,t up yet. !. one of them said; the

Lin;lng uii tnan we've nad Win the young
feller." 500
-,gn, he's gone down the Slide Pft.'' an
sweTeu the utner. 4 kHoweu 1t soon's IS
i seen has ian,erli. But Pn peu he'll never
Iney .u.nea 20 go back. the other say
ing That's SO, but Ike would rather of
tarOwea hlm uowu.' sst--sT ss--s =
snouiu hase Deem again half scared to
death had 1 not been by this time 80 far
gone WIN THIRST unau couiu pay at
tention to anything else. 1 trfess-Uo ear, hut
couta force no nrofsei down my sw oiien
throat. At Fast ceuid stand fS no longer.
L tell that 4 must iiaye water or perish
mserably where 1 lay.ss, Sc a ,slipIeu or,
biundered along 10 ine pools, al,u make
bold 10 say, urank ilaif.enpugti Tor a horse.
4 erept nock, aif,s,s uay talrsU being LOW
gone, oI course, Wishing 4 uad hot come
Gown, Well knowing that l co.la never
get back up. Ass ,crawled across the
lss1e, having a care dor tne edge OF the
PIC, icit 1t yaut under nay knees. and, on
on putting my hand On IL, Could clearly
NY first thought was tnat Tie Z wo inen
HAD got DacK, and ( wnfppcd out my knife
To repeat nay plan OF fopecattfiig- l had
the blade falriy under II ana READY To pun,
when l reflected that l nearn no voices
iiisl aIi was Ozark and paused. Just then
The man reached the top, Breathing. very
hard from the WORK OF ciIiliitlg; anu you
may sInlle ir YOU piease1 KNEW from this
rcsItning tnaJ IT WAS Daupuin. lnueed,
had been so much in the ozark that L-was
becoming very like a bat, with 40 Least
need Tor ewes, aud | knew Lota~tne cap
ts.In's anu DaapiiEas fnanner OF treat mug
as well as their 1eices.- When ae-shad
pulled lilseli ap spoke 70 hiLii IN d y. iispel,
surprised. { answered YES anu then, us
rast a. could told liitl wnat { mad happeneu
sin ,e 1 tiau coilie up, and how laIters stood
Ia. tn,.n toii iaee tnat ne had Elrsu gone up
the Gopher Hole bst, being scared py -lne
InrOt,bing sound which how Iiiied the
whole cave beyond the Trap Door, ne had
reireated backward towaru Rope rit, ana
had like To nave been caught py the iieh,
they having come up tie pole. ne nau
liaG TO put out ms torch and creep away,
anu had finally THROWN them off the track
ana rot down the pole hiinSelf but, having
mo iigth or food, mad seen but one thing
To do,that is, TO come up the rope ana take
his chances. His hands were sore lrOin
feeling his way, ana ne was faint froih
hunger. He boosted me up, and got
" hat was left of the bread, which l gave
hiui, together with sofue meat and cheese,
the first right food he had tasted in -FOUR
or five weeks, if he spoke the truth He
was soon zone, and tnen, on my telling
him that had matches, ne was fast Tor
our going back down the rope.
Come on, Harry, he said. Down
there is no place for white man or
an honest man 70 live, but It's saIeI n n
such grub as that I'd say stay. We can
get along without the cap'n. The cap'n is
goBd man ia some ways but hes ever
too free with. 'Dauphin. hold your tongue
or, Dauphin, yon'il be well-hanged some
day He amt got no feelings for man
what Is been urliucky. ths cap II amt We're
well rid of the cap'n, 80 We are, Harry
cantain,'' | saifl&['.Y You may go down
If you choose, but l mean 10 stay. and
see IL / can't do something for MIN.
You'd best stay, too, and maybe we can
get out. You Ought to know some place
here where we hide I'LL they give up
the hunt for us, and then we can see what
we can do"
Ion, fog the reaatter of what you say
l do know an uncommon snug place TO
stow ourselves, bat staying here and fooiing
round bout the cap'n is the worse thing
we can do
Come, show me that place" l said,
and we started with him arumbling like
a cross bear about the captain.
We went On little ways, and then
lit candle. There" said Dauphin. point
ing TO a hole not much bigger than barrel-
head in the ceiling: 'up there is place
whch1l make you say you're in the Robins
Nest again; it is SO like 1t, barring the
hole in the bottom"
ii was beyond our re ach, but he stopped
over and | stood on his back; then as he
slo WY Strengthened up L got hold of the
edge and drew myself up, with his pushing
on my feet. Then ne tossed up the candle
and the last of the bread, and lay on my
face and, catching my toes in crack,
reached down and hauled him up by the
arms, though the lit went close to pulling
me in two. The place, as he had said,
was very like the kobins Nest, and being,
in a way, hung up, l called it the Swal-
lows Nest. There was also some loom
~
one of them with some little stalactites
and pools of water. There was no other
way 10 get out except through the hole in
the bottom.
IN Ike London sfoves his head up that
there hole he'll need Iiniment for it,"
chuc6led Dauphin. Then he broke off a
stalagmite sla pc dlikea teacup, which must
have weighed five pounds and, tearing
d sleeve from his coat, be tied 1t In one
emo OF the sleeve with leather strings from
his boot-tops, winding it all tightly, and
to me. nd he was that cheerful about it,
chuckling to himself and talking OF Lon
don's head, that 1t made me Snudder TO
watch him.
But nu head was thrust up the hole,
though some OF the men went through
the room below several times. From a
few words We caught | concluded that
they had given up the hunt for both OF
US.
1t R.ust have gone near two days that
we stayed In the swallows Nest: then we
left it, we thought for q short tine only,
but we never saw it again; and dare guess
that q bunch OF keys which l forgot and
left there, Is there TO this day. 1t fell out
in this wise: Our yictuals being gone and
our candles down to one small bat, some
thing had TO be done; decided that we had
best scout about a little and see what it
should be, so we started. We soon came
up near the Fort, creeping like eats. Over q
rock at he end of a small hole we got u
view of it down larger tunnel. Thus l
may describe 1t In two dozen words. Large
room, nearly round, ma ybe 100 feet
across, floor mostly level and sandy. Bright
fire in middle, with smoke going straight
up, as If it were under a dome as Dauphin,
indeed, said it was. The outlaws were
sitting about the fire drinking and smoking,
London still with his arm in a sling. My
heart gave glad leap as | saw the captain
sitting little TO one side, seeming a S well
as ever.
The liquor they were drinking was in
bottles, which they passed about freely
enough. We watched them for some time,
Dauphin growing ever time he saw them
drink. L had hard work to keep him still,
and was on the point OF going back TO the
swallows Nest, when one of the men rolled
up in his blanket by the fire as if to sleep
for the night. Soon the others began to do
likewise, being. L think. two thirds drunk.
and thought there would never be a better
time to do what had planned. By and by
they were all in their blankets except
London and one other. At this London got
up and snapped pair of handeuffs on the
captains wrists who then himself lay
back and did the same.
But was d good deal dfsheartned to see
that the other man intended to stay on
guard. de sat on rock a candle burning
iieSide him, and with his revolver in his
lap But soon he began to drink out of q
big flat bottle, which he took from his
pocket, and L had hopes. And my hopes
used me well, too, because, after some
time, he rolled over on the bare ground
and went as sound asleep as the Others,
leaving the fire burning in the center.
Now is out time" 1 whispered to
Dauphin. Il viii creep up to the captain
and waken him. You go TO the guard
and get his candle. Then you can show us
the way to the opening, ana in two hours
we can be out" s, p@
III get his barker, teo, Harry-leave
me alone for that. We might need it,
and Gil Dauphin is the feller that knows
how to use it,.
He cropped his sleeve and stalagmite,
and we crept down among the men without |
making sound - got to the captain, |
ana touched him on the shoulder. He sat |
up instantly cool. as was ever his way. |
lie held up his stlackled hands, but point I