The Miller sun. (Miller, Hand County, S.D.) 190?-19??, 1907-04-27
CHAPTER Y.-(Continued.l

CI1aT 1Eh N.-\SOHllHueuI
And now 1 was curious to sec more of
her prison, and taking the candle from
the cleft l lifted it up, shielding it from
her eyes with my hand. She caught my
arm, and shrinking to my side pointed
with wild wonder at the flickering shad-
ows caused by the moving light. l plac-
ed the candle so that she could see her
own shadow on the sands. That delight
ed her when she recognized what it was.
She spread her arms out, and swayed her
little body from side to side, and then
singing her song she kept time to it with
a movement of her limbs and body that
resembled more the dance of a japanese
girl than any other l know. When she
ceased to move she stood looking at her
shadow in silent wonder until, compre-
hension dawning upon her, she drew me
across the cave. At the further extrem-
ity there were some rough steps made in
the sand that led to a cavity where the
sea at high tide filtered up through the
Jhingle. There was a clear pool at the
present time, and going down to the edge
she bent over and showed me her rearc-
ton in the water.
| observed that there was a faint glin-
mer of daylight and as l peered for the
opening that admitted it she OWNED my
object, and led me away to a point 1t
tie beyond where an enormous slab OF
chalk sloping up met another that formed
a vertical wall, and creeping EDWARDS a
few steps she pointed upwards, and / saw
through a cleft high above our heads 4
narrow strip of blue sky. She clappcd
her hands with delight as she looked up,
for this tiny strip of blue was probably
the most beautiful thing in nature she
knew.
Cav" she said, pointing up 70 let
me know it was that way the tacKCaw
came down to her.
Observing the curiosity with which |
examined the cave, Psyche--that is the
name l instinctively gave the poor girl
drew me away to show me all the curl
osities of her home. Going back to the
pool in the hollow she gave me to under
stand by gestures and sounds, like the
splashing of water, that there she bathed.
Then, turning to the litter in the alcovn,
she threw herself down and closed her
eyes. l nodded and snored; but she did
not understand that, though sho laughed
at the odd sound. She pointed round in
grave admiration to the strips of colored
rag with which she had adorned the wall.
There was nothing else in that cave that
she found worthy of remark except a
quantity of old clothing useful In cold
weather, as she expressed by drawing
ner shoulders together and clasping her
arms; but it seemed to me they might
give some clue as to the length of time
she had been a prisoner, and, turning
them over, / found a little frock of gray
stuff that had clearly been made by
woman's hand. She clapppd her hands
and laughed on my taking this out, and
holding it against her side showed that
it came no higher now than her hip. She
could not have been more than six or
seven when she wore that. That would
give her at the outside eleven or twelve
years of Imprisonment. Well, in that
time she might under such conditions cas-
lily lose the faculty of speech-reason--
anything. The only wonder was that she
had continued to exist.
Taking the frock to the alcove she
pointed out some strips of colored ribbon,
and some curious buttons that she had
taken from the dress and, little as
knew about such matters, / perceived
that no child of the common class would
have such trimming on her frock.
Psyche threw aside the dress impa-
tiently, and drew me on quickly, having
something better than that TO show me.
We passed through the opening into the
timbered cave, which was far more caps
cioug than the adjoining one. She direct
ed my attention in passing to the table
on which the dinner was set and also 20
a receptacle closed with a slab, where she
kept her food out of the way of Cav"
and made her way to that side Of the
cave where the entrance from the shore
was blocked up with the debris from the
fallen cliff. The sloping mass spread in
ward to considerable distance, the light
err rubble lying on that side nearest the
inner cave, and the greater blocks on tue
other side where the fracture seemed TO
have originated Amongst these blocks,
some of which were of gigantic proper
tons, Psyche began to thread her way.
In some places it was as much as could
squeeze my body through tie openings,
in others we passed on hands and knees
beneath poised masses that a touch might
have brought down upon US. At one
point she stopped, and by an expressive
gesture let me know that there she had
once stood in deadly peril-the expression
In her upturned face and crouching figure
indicating a mortal terror. Even with
the light to guide nee it was hard to see
where the foot might be set with safety
II was simply marvellous how she could
mass with impunity in the dark. Pros
emily she began to scale the blocks. ard
we mounted until we almost reached the
roof of the cave. Seen from this point.
the cave, with the timber oalks, AMI The
shadows they casr, looked weird and ter
rible. Right against the roof there was
O gap; through this Psyche slipped side