ut them.

"I declare, the fire makes the cave look quite home-like!" was Joe's
comment, as he threw himself down on a flat rock with his blanket under
him. "Staying here won't be so humdrum as I anticipated."

"I'm going to explore the cave, now I am here," returned Darry. "Who
knows but what I might locate a gold mine!"

"You be careful of where you go," cautioned old Benson. "These caves are
full of pitfalls, and now you two boys are with me I don't want anything
to happen to you. If something did happen, neither Captain Moore nor
Colonel Fairfield would forgive me."

"To be sure we'll be careful, Benson," answered Darry. "There'd be no
fun in getting hurt--even if we did locate a gold mine."

"You won't find any gold mine here. This ground was prospected years
ago--before even the fort was located. I came out here once myself, with
a miner named Hooker Brown. Hooker was dead certain there was gold here,
but although we stayed here about two weeks nosing around we never got
even a smell of the yellow metal."

"Well, we'll have a look around, anyway," said Joe. "But we must get
good torches first."

Pine knots were procured and lit; and, with another caution from the
scout to be careful, they set off, leaving Benson to care for the horses
and prepare such an evening meal as their stores afforded. Luckily the
scout had brought down half a dozen good-sized birds, and these he now
prepared to broil in true hunter style.

The front chamber of the cave was somewhat semi-circular, and behind
this were several other irregular apartments, running down to a
passageway which wound in and out between jagged rocks almost impossible
to climb or explore in any manner. At a distance could be heard the
trickling of water, but where this came from, or where it went to,
nobody in the cave could imagine.

The boys advanced from one opening to another with care, one with his
torch held high, that they might see ahead, and the other with the light
close to the ground, to warn them of a possible pitfall.

"A regiment of soldiers could quarter in here," observed Darry, as they
pushed on. "What a defense it would make!"

"An enemy could fire right into the entrance. And, besides, supposing
the enemy started to smoke you out? I can smell the smoke from the
camp-fire away back here."

At last the two boys reached the passageway back of the rear chamber,
and here came to a halt. The dropping water could be plainly heard, and
Joe f