The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1899-06-10

~ called it-was promptly relightsd.
Visions Of hidden treasure. guarded
perhaps by grim skeleton sentinel,
occurred to them both as they pressed
forward.
"Coms along, Alanr' cried Dolly
eagerly. cts most deliciously excit-
ingl' And she waved him aside with
her hand and led the way into the cave.
The entrance WAS wedge shaped and
narrow at first. But the sides very soon
began to retreat from one another,
though the roof still remained low.
stalactites had evidently hung from
above at one time, for the stumps Of
them still remained. but they had been
broken off and carted outaide perhaps.
suggested Dolly, because they obstruct.
ed the treasure hiders' road. Underfoot
the rocky path, though not altogether
smooth, was still passable, and the pair
got along without much trouble.
The light from the entrance behind
grew DINNER az they advanced. But
here and there were gaps In the stone
ceiling. shafts reaching to the open air.
whose upper edges they could see were
garlanded with thick growth Of ferns
and creepera Through these shafts
there came a gentle twilight glow, and
a. the rock walls Of the cave were al
most white the reflection from them
gave light enough for the explorers to
see the grotto's outlines.
There were plenty Of evidences Of
human agency. Every here and there a
footmark could be seen In some dried,
muddy patch Of the floor, and 1t was
an eerie thought that the foot which
had made it might well have been dead
a century or even more. And every
where there were the broken stalactites,
which Of a surety could not have tum-
bled down and then marched off by
themselves from the floor on which they
had fallen.
But Of any more valuable relics there
was not trace. There were none Of
those kegs and barrels, those iron bound
chests and piles Of rusty 'armor, those
lavish heaps Of plumber with which, by
all the canons Of romance, such place
ought to have been stored. And. as
Guthrie remarked, the cave was bone
dry and had long been undisturbed, and
therefore they were clearly within their
rights in expecting to find such relics
The persistent thought that perhaps
the pirates had themselves carried off
all they had left there or that some 9th
or folk had since rifed the hoard was
steadfastly put away. "Whoever heard
Of people coming out Of 80 romantic
situation as this empty handed?" de-
manded Dolly, when her companion sug-
gested that their case bad afinities
with that Of the late Mrs. Hubbard.
So on they went, penetrating farther
and farther under the surface Of the is
land, and always lighted by the shafts
which at intervals capped the roof
above.
At last, after wandering fully three.
quarters Of mile from the entrance,
they came upon an obstruction which,
though it barred their farther progress,
sent up the hopes Of find almost to fe-
yer heat.
II was a door Of hard wood, heavily
clamped with corroded metal, set in
doorposts that were cleated and NOR
tised into the sides Of the cave itself.
The nearest light shaft was 80 yards
astern, and so the door was in deep
shadow. 1t was with their hands, there
fore. that the eager searchers examined
1t chiefly, fumbling about it and giving
every square inch Of it the most curious
attention There was no latch. The
door did possess keyhole though, sur