The times., 1898-01-09

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There We're fully dozen OF the SUCKS
In the little hollow, and they had soa ked
up nearly all of the oil. They were about
two feet long and little bigger than your
thumb, the most Of them, and some that
We're not oil-soaked showed them to be
small limbs Of some soft wood very light
and dry. Larger sticks by the, fire We're
of the same kind, and seemed polished by
the water; We made no doubt tina they
had been washed into the cave at some
opening by a freshet.
This seems TO be one of their camps"
said the captain, ''and l think we had
best get away from it before they are back.
They cannos be far, for the fire was GER
tainly covered within a few hours. Wen
Just borrow some of their torch sticks and
perhaps we may find where the fish came
from.''
The river, which was three or four yards
wide, disappeared a few rods farther
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 ana passages, and often hiding
| our torches and listening with all ears.
| We were surprised at the height OF the
rooms and the bigness of the stalactites.
| The torch sticks gave more light jnan our
| candles had done, SO bringing ont tie
! beauty of the stalactites, which We're
| of all shapes and sizes. In one place we
| had seeped down and male great hang
| ing curtain of dripstone, as some call 1t,
| looking like nothing so much as Dig,
| white woolsn blanket langlng up in fields.
| We saw another which looked ike a stack
of wheat; with otherS in all sorts of queer
| shapes.
For the most part the floor seemed to
be in a general way quite level, although
| there were many heaps of rocks ana pits
| aud dornes. We tossed snail stones into
| the pits, and they did not seem TO be very
| deep, but the dones stretched away up,
| aud we could get no notion of their height.
| This is more as we heard FOLKS tell
| about Froutenac Cave" said the CAPITA in
Were coming down where it has been
| explored. II We can keep those fellows
| from getting sight OF us ana lind hole
| leading out well lie all right
.'l'u Just as lief find where those fish
came from," said l.
| "Ay, that's what We need answered
| the captain with smile. THAT last meal
| was a little light; besides, guess it's
| been two hours and he took out his watch.
why, it's stopped he exclaimed. 1t
| must have stopped when fell in the water
Il might have known it," nor could he
| make it start.
II don't see how we're going to tell
| night from day without the watch"
| said.
| matter" answered the captain, no whit
| dow ncast. .'Our appetite VIII always
| tell us when it's mefl-time. The only
| thing to worry about is that IL may not
| always as easy 10 place the meal as the
time
| we kent a sharp lookout for footprints
wherever there was n dirt floor. but saw
no more. Finally we got into tunnel
leading gently downward, and at sharp
| turn unexpectedly upon the river again,
| or upon some river. Ii was larger than
where we had seen il before inde I'll IL was
| more like pool OF small lake. the tunnel
enla rgig and arching up over exactly Ike
a cover on a great dish OF soup. Suddenly
| the captam dropped on his knees, crying,
| Fish" q s he did so.
SURE enough there were fish Iii the
| water, not eyeless fish, but regular open
stream fish, coming up TO have good
look at our torchiight,.
'.Yes, fish," I returned, more excited
than he, hut what I'd like TO know is
how we're going TO get them
| Leave us alone for that" answ cred The
| cantain. We've got to get them. Neces-
| sity. as they say, is the mother OF inven-
! tion. Let's see first If anybody else has
been here.
The floor OF the tunnel and ha nix were
clayey. bat there was no track or trace or
any human being.
.sThose fellows can't get their fish
here or they'd leave some marks of it,
said the captain. He fell to studying
the surface Of the water ana then Went
on: .-There is no forward current IN
that water, but there is some sort OF q
movement. | think it's downward, ahe
il must either sink into full pit OF
take a curve downward and come up to
the level beyond, either pndergroun aEaii
or in the Zumbro River. think from
I fitasa a D this where
IL gets into the river like d big spring.
..uo YOU think we could hit one oi
Them with a stone?'' 1 SAID, a good Gea
more Interested III eating tacih thah III
accounting for how tney caine 70 be
! there.
we might. bat it would scare all the
others away, and you saiu you wanted d
dozen. Let's saeiT we can { rig UP a spear.
| went on a wlIaIer once wneu was ABOUT
your age and saw enough narpoonilg, 50
/ ought TO be able TO land catfish That
way
me sat down, pulled off his boots and
from the tops cut three long leather
strings. Then he wniit!ed the ENDS oi
three OF the torch sticks 81 they fitted
together pretty neatly, 1 thought, anu
wonnd tnem tightly with the leather
strings, making stout joints with the
third string ne bound tne handle OF his
knife TO one end of this odd spear, leaving
the BLADE open, and then saln:
Now, off with your Loots till L make
o. line for nay narpoon," wnicn / ald, ana
he soon iau dozen OF fifteen feet OF ieatn-
! er slrlugs leu To the otner END oil Ills
spear.
| We turned to the pool again and the fish
crowded up To make out the meaning OF
our torch, one line pickerel soon finuing
il to mean a ulnner Tor US, since the
captain harpooneu MIN as htatiy as you
please He hau to make several trials
pefore re got another, but did so at last
this time a big CATFISH with his chill
wniskers. 1ney ,otn slipped OIL the kilhe
when struck ana We're near float ing
out Of reach, but the captain stepped i'll the
water auu pulled unem III with TIE end oi
his harpoon.
The next thing was to get our fish
cooked, though L was hungry enough &c
have eaten them raw. We did not wan,
TO go back near the fire if we could help,
having a fear that the outlaws might by
| this time be there; so we slung our fist
over our shoulders and set out to find some
wood, / ( it might be. 1t was a wearisome
search, but just as we thonght to give III
| and 60 back to the fire by the pit, outla ws
| or no outlaws, we CHANGED upon some
sticks in one room and. turning down q
little at one side, found ourselves in d
tunnel which seemed to have once beer
the bed OF q river at least SIX yard
wide Its edges were strewn with small
branches of bushes and trees, dry as
bones and brittle, the bark and often
| times part of the wood worn away by
| the water. There were whole horse
| loads of them; later on we followed this
tunnel for q quarter Of mile, but never
found where they got in, and have since
concluded that the place was the overflow
of river which we did not discover