Los Angeles herald., 1907-05-19

: When they recovered full possession of their
senses they were lying on bed of vines,
while above them, twenty or thirty feet, tow
cred tn the perpendicular cliff down which they
mad fallen, and below, about fifteen feet, was
a, pond OF crystal water. They had fallen over
the, chasm, the edge of which had been en-
tirely concealed by the vines. and had il. not
been Tor the tough but yielding network Of
have been the result
Water! water! and plenty of itl'' shouted
Bart, who had regained his feet first, and
$1,000 looking down upon the contents OF this
that he gave no heed as to whether his COM
paIn1lons were injured or not.
WIN the exception of a rev scratches and
e,,i SORT OF bewilderment ooccasioned by the
rapid. descent, and they stood gazing in mute
surprise at their surroundings
Ihey were in what looked like some vast
shaft that had been cut through the solid
soeR reen IN m an oval form At the top could be
they had fallen, while the other appeared to
be destitute even of vegetation. On this side,
needle-like points of rock rose straight up
IRON n the edge of the pond nearly to the top
Of the cliffs, but about fifteen feet from it,
thus preventing them from being used as
means of escape from the basin. On neither
slde was there an opening by which they
could get out, and the only way to, extricate
themselves was up the perpendicular walls,
which it was impossible to climb unless aided
by some one from above
Here's all the water we could need, and
we can run the Kirk Sheldon now in any
way we, choose" cried Bart, walking around
quantity it contained.
There's no doubt but that we've got water
enough here" said Kirk, laughingly. 1The
question is how we're going to get it down
"That can easily be done. 1t would even
pay to cut a water-course right through the
| solid rock; but with this pressure here all we
shall have to do is to open that spring until
we get what we want from there. You see"
Bart" interrupted Dory, excitedly, not
needing what the guide had been saying, so
alarmed had he suddenly become by the real
lzatlon OF their position. chow are we to get
out of here?"
Get ont?" repeated Bart, as if he thought
shall find fssure in some portion of the
wall, SO that we can climb out easily enough,
but If we don't, those needle rocks look as if
they would make good ladders"
But they are at least fifteen feet from the
| side OF the basin," said Kirk, running hastily
lNaround to survey them as he became alarmed
| Dy GcTy,s, question, "and the walls haven't
the Ih slightest appearance of being broken any
Bart now seemed to think that it was neces-
gazing at the water, and he walked quickly
to the base of the cliff, making careful ex-
animation in every direction.
1t was not until he had spent nearly an
nour IN scanning the almost smooth face of
the rock that he was willing to admit that
they were regularly imprisoned Then he
sald, as he took final survey:
wen, declare, it looks as if we might
nave TO stay here some time, and it surely
ISN'T the most comfortable place in the world
IN which to spend the night
The water is likely to do us very little
good, now that we have found it, said Dory.
despondently, his elation at the discovery hav-
ing been so great that his fears were CORE
spondingly increased
we can't stay here great while, for just
as a, soon as they think at the camp that some
in search . said Kirk And then he added,
IN lower tone: "Of course we've got to re-
main here all night, for father won't get wor-
rled until it's dark and then it will be too
late to begin to look for u.s."
Yes, SAID Bart in tone that was far
more cheerful than it would have been had
he not wished to make the boys believe that
their situation was by no means serious
one; Let's pick out the best place we can
Ind to sleep in, for as soon as the sun gets
behind the hills this hole viii be as dark as
dinner out Of what we brought with us, and
perhaps we'll be so lucky as to get late
breakfast in camp tomorrow"
1T will most likely be late one," said
hlrk, gravey, "and we shall be fortunate if
they find us in one day.
Now, don't get gloomy" replied Bart try-
ing to laugh.. We can keep firing the guns
every few minutes and if they're anywhere
within a mile they'll hear US. We are not
half as badly off as we have been in this
range, and | reckon we can stand this kind
of luck day or two"
The boys tried to put all depressing thoughts
from their minds; but they were only partial
ly successful, for the terrible idea would oc-