Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-07-30


<oon az school was out for the summer
Harry's time was not so occupied as ne
would have liked it to be. OF course. he
assisted his mother in the garden, weeded
the vegetable beds and so forth. And he
often gave his father and the workhands
bit Of help at the irrigation bitches. and
also lent hand at haymaking: but much
of his time was unoccupied with work.
and he could read or ramble about the
prairies as he chose, He had fine pony,
on whose back he enjoyed many long
ride going to see the boys on the neigh
boring ranches the nearest one being five
miles distant
Rut the summer days are long on the
praires, where the people rise In tne
morning at ) o'clock and retire at . or
go: and while Harry had his WORK on
the ranch it occupied him only 1e"
hours each day And although he went
riding about the country occasionally, ne
still had much time on his HANDS ana
having no brothers or sisters TO play WIN
he often became bit lonely, LOT So eis
folks love the society or those Oh theil
oun age and even the most loving ana
communicable parents cannot give theIh
all they want, though they make them
very happy.
One dav while riding over a long range
a, sandy hills Harry decided to pay a
visit to a ledge of rocks that bordered
ravine in which water flowed during the
rainy season. He had never gone to this
particular spot, and thought he might
find something of interest there. The day
was a close hot one, such as the Kansas
people know precedes storm, ano
Harry looking at the piled-up thunoer
heads in the northwest, decided ne must
horne
the day seemed to be storm Dreeoer.
.IU have time to gallop over TO the
ledge and look about for places OF inter,
est he said to himself But Wlthlh
two hours / must be back home
He touched Beauty's side with the whip
and the f1eet-footed little animal sprang
into a brisk gailop. He reached the leoge
and dismounted, tying Beautys or1oie
about a bit of cottonwood sapling which
struggled for existence in the dry SOL.
Then he walked toward a sharp curve IN
the ravine. where the rocky ledge reared
to great height and depth In iact, tIle
snot was very picturesque, and Harry
stood looking up at the giant rocks ao-
miringly.
Tom Grayson says there's fine cave
in this ledge, but that the opening ieao-
ing into 1t is too small to admit OF a
mans figure He tried crawling into II
once. but got stuck, and had to wrlggie
his way out again as best he could But
he declares that inside that narrow pas
q
II / can find that little entrance III en-
large II so that I can get through AND
I must have an implement TO WORK WIFI
Thus talking to himself, Harry looked
to dig i'm the side of the ledge. He found
iust what ne wanted in the form or
broken cottonwood limb, strong and sharp
at one end. Evidently 1t had been whit
tied out to be used as a prop to camp
ing tent and left on the ground by the
eampers when they departed
With the stick over his shoulder, Harry
proceeded to hunt up and down the rocky
ledge for some sign of cave. For half
an hour or more he searched in vain.
Then Just as he was about to give up the
search. his eye caught small, dark spot
beneath some vines and grass which
chung against the cool rocks. Pulling
these aside. he saw a small hole leading
beneath a great shelving rock He lay
down and peered within. The small open
ing seemed to lead into nothing, for just
about three feet from the outer edge a
sudden wall appeared. But, straining his
eyes. Harry could see that the wall did
not lay close against the outer ledge.
There seemed narrow passageway,
turning at this point. Harry crept into
the hole. very tight fit, and stuck his
arm round the turning passageway. Yes,
somewhere beyond. But Harry knew he
could not go very far round that curve,
for his hand told him the opening was
narrow and very low. But he would try
going in as far possible. He managed
to crawl round the turn. Then he found
himself in a dark, close tunnel-like pas
sage. scarcely high enough to admit of
his figure lying down. But the height
of the passage did not menace him so
much as did the width. At one side a
rock jutted right into the opening. Grasp
ing this in his hands, Harry found he
could shake it. All. the rock was loose.
Surely, IL had been placed there by
human hands and had been SO wedged
into place as to deceive the casual OBJ
server. This must he a hiding place of
some sort. Harry became excited and
reached behind him for the heavy stick
which he had brought into the caves en-
trance with him. BY digging and prying
and pulling with all his might he got the
rock ioosened sufficiently TO drag toward
him. This he did. crawling backward as
Of the passage.
fore mana ging to dislodge the rock, and
ultimately getting il to the outside of
the caves entrance. for when he reached
open air again he was surprised to see
the sky heavy with a great, boiling,
angry cloud from which lightning
flashed. TO be followed by terrific peaIs
OF thunder. While inside the deep pas
sageway Harry had not been able to
hear a sound from without. Sudden
gusts of wind were coming across the