The Holly chieftain., 1900-02-09

And with the light held above his head
Rob gaxed with strained eyes into the
inky blackness OF recesses opening out
on three Sides
But Rob had been through the cav
erns when dozen such torches had
been blazing. and he knew there was
nothing there that would harm him.
There were no wild beasts. So, bolster
Ing up his courage with this one con-
soling thought, he began thorough
i exploration Of the place. From one
cave to another he went, closely ex-
amining the sides. always on the alert
to catch a glimpse Of what might be
another opening. But he saw none
There were the great stores OF contra
band goods-enough to make dozen
men rich II sold at fair prices, but
nothing that Rob wanted.
To all the rest Of his discomfort now
came the pangs Of hunger. He did not
know how long he had slept; therefore
he could not Judge how long he had
been in the caves. But he knew he
was very hungry.
He now applied himself to searching
for something to eat
There was plenty Of tobacco, easily
distinguished by the odor
But Rob could not eat this. There
were casks of liquor. but Rob had
| never touched drop Of 1t, and even
the bottles of which there were many,
did not seem to point to way to
| spare him any pain.
He found plenty of bales OF stuff,
| silks, ,cassimeres and everything In
that line that was dutiable. But not
a thing to eat.
| After traversing room after room
and vault after vault, Rob entered a
! large rock chamber, dry and cool, and
| there he stood, more amazed than
ever
1t was an arsenal. Here were stored
hundreds of rifles. pistols, swords,
knives-in fact every kind of weapon
And around the sides of the chamber
were kegs-probably containing pow
| der-and cases-probably containing
cartridges.
Even to Rob's young mind it was
evident that this was more than q
mere smuggler's resort. All those
arms were there for purpose-he
knew not what
But he could not eat them.
Weary, hungry and disheartened,
Rob went back and examined his bed.
Finding 1t clean and dry. he dragged
1t to the opening, and extinguished
his light Rob's object in getting near
the opening was twofold. In the first
place. there was little light there,
and 1t was less grewsome than back
in the black recess he had slept in be-
fore. In the second place, he would
be in the way of any person entering
the cave, and could not be overlooked
as he might be If he went to sleep in
a hidden spot. And Rob had now be-
come SO terror-stricken at the gravity
of his situation, and the awful pros
| pect of starving to death in that place
that he would have welcomed any one
| even Lemuel Starne himself, IL that
worthy had appeared to let him out
| Rob sat on his bale of cloth for
long time, blinking at the little streak
of light, and listening to the trickling
and dropping of the water in the cav
erns around him. To his excited imag-
nation it seemed as If this noise was
growing louder. and he thought per-
haps the roof was breaking, and would
let in the water from the river. This
meant a speedy death by drowning.
| All the events of his past life came
up before him. He thought OF his
mother, and the tears ran down his
checks. He wondered II his uncle had
missed him, and IL search would be
made. But he dismissed this hope, for
it would surely have been reported
that he was lost overheard from the
Royal Mail.
The WEAKNESS was too much for him
at last. and with great sobs shaking
| him he fell asleep.
Even this time he did not know how
long he slept. But he was awakened
| by hearing some one outside the cave.
He sat up and listened intently. There
! was no mistake about 1t. Some one
was certainly outside.
Robs heart now beat violently. Was
this some wandering native, who
would release him from his prison, and
enable him to go to Buenos Aires and
find his uncle? Or was 1t Lemuel
Starne returned to finish his fiendish
work?
The eagerness to get out was great
er than fear Of Starne. and Rob plac-
ed his mouth near the crack and gave
loud "Halloo!"
aIJovy oo,,o ir tbo u,alI In o,,,,,