Oakes Republican., 1903-12-18

| And Win ttse light held above his head
Rob gazed with strained eyes into the
inky blackness of recesses opening Out
on three sides.
But Rob had been through the cav.
erns when a 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 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
carae 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 it, 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, cassimexcs 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 .
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 a
mere smuggler's resort All those
arms were there for a p.lrpose-he
knew not what.
But he could not eat them.
| Weary, hungry and disheartened,
| Rob went back and examined his bed.
Finding it 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 it 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, if that
worthy had appeared to let him out.
Rob sat on his bale of cloth for a
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-
ination 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 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 Iii.
checks. He wondered if his uncle had
missed him, and if a search would be
made. But he dismissed .his hope, fol-
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 it, Some one
was certainly outside.
Rob's heart now beat violently. Wal
this some wandering native, who
would release him from his prison, ant
enable him to go to Buenos Aires anl
find his uncle? Or was it Lemue
Starne' returned to finish his fiendist
work?
The eagerness to get out was great
er than fear of Starne, and Rob plac
ed his mouth near the crack and gave
a loud "Halloo!"
"Ho" came in the well-knowr
voice Of Captain Torreyo,. of "Bl Gate
Negro. "Are you there, after all?"
l S01, 1vopS o& vroo ~ 49,. <>.,A