The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1899-03-03

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only a brass t~obacco-baS, a short,
black pipe. and one shilling and six
pence; yet he was speedily deprive I'd
of them by one who seemed to be the
leader Of the gang.
You rascally Jack Spaniard!" said
Tom, shaking his c!enched fist in the
robbers face, eff ever I haul alongside
of you elsewhere, look out for squalls"
At this they all laughed, and seized
us by the arms, dragged lis into the
back part of the cavern or tissure in
the rocks, leaving one of their num-
Der, armed with a mUsket, as sentinel,
at the entrance, where he lit a paper
cigar, and stretching himself on the
grassy bank. placed his hands under
his head, and proceeded to leisurely
smoke in the sunshine.
These proceedings filled us with
great alarm; now that they had rob-
bed us Of everything save our
clothes, what could their object be?
One of them produced two pieces of
rope, with which II hands were
tied. Dragged by some, and receiving
severe blows and bruises from the
clenched hands and musket-butts Of
Others-accompanied by the impreca-
tons and coarse laughter Of alive
were conveyed through a low-roofed
grotto, or natural gallery in the rocks,
the echoes of which repeated their
voices with a thousand reverberations.
The only light here was by the re-
Election of the sunshine at the en-
trance, where the basalt was coated by
a white substance, the debris of some
old volcanic eruption; for the slope
up which we had been ascending all
the morning formed a portion Of the
great Peak. And we became SEN
siEle of a strange sound and a strange
odor %pervading all the place.
Through a rent in the rocky roof of
the grotto there fell a clear, bright
stream of sunlight, that revealed the
terrors of the place toward which our
captors dragged us.
On n side there yawned a vast
black fissure or chasm, in the somber
masses Of obsidian and red blocks Of
lava N1IlSH SOllpOtocu lllC llOOI VI llldC
horrid cavern; and from this fissure
there assembled, and doubtless still as
cends at times, a hot, ~sulphurous
steam, which rendered breathing diff
fcult and induced an inclination to
Sneeze.
From the depth Of that hideous
chasm, the ~profundity of which no
mortal eye could measure, and no hui
man being could contemplate without
W and terror, we heard a strange,
buzzing sound, as if from the bowels
of the inner earth. far-heaven alone
knows how far-down below.
In fact, VIC were upon the verge of
one of those natural spiracles which
the natives term "the nostrils," or ave
nues through which the hot vapors of
that tremendous Piton ascend; and
the buzzing sound that made our
hearts shrink, we scarcely knew why,
was caused by some volcanic throe at
the bottom Of the mountain, whose
base is many a mile below the waters
Of the sea.
The assure was also twelve feet
broad, and across it there lay a plank,
forming a species Of bridge.
Two Of our captors crossed, and then
ordered us to follow them.
I followed like one in a dream; but
my heart was chilled by a terror so
deadly that I had no power or
thought of resistance. My first fear
was that the plank might be trundled
from under Jul feet, and that we
would be launched into the black abyss
below; but such was not the object of
these Spaniards, as Tom and l were
permitted to pass in safety.
hi remainder of the thieves fol-
lowed, and We found ourselves in an
other grotto, the roof of which was
covered by stalactites, that glittered
like gothic pendants of alabaster in the
light that fell from the upper assure,
which formed a natural window, and
through it we could see the thin, white
steam ascending and curling in the
sunshine.
Now, supposing that they had us in
perfect security, Jul captors proceed
ed to hold a consultation as to what
they should do with us; and imagin-
ing that we were both ignorant of their
language, or, what is more probable,
caring little whether we knew it or
not, they canvassed the most terrible
resolutions with perfect GOODNESS and
freedom Of speech.