day while at
their work of gold-collecting in the cavern. On being asked for a
detailed account of the circumstance which had alarmed them, Violet
said--

"We had been at work about two hours, and had just reached the edge of
the gulf with our second load, when we were startled by hearing
somewhere near us a sound like a deep long-drawn sigh, followed almost
immediately afterwards by a loud moan. I have no doubt you will think
us dreadful cowards, but it is no use concealing the truth--we simply
dropped the gold and flew back along the passage to the great cavern at
our utmost speed. Arrived there, we sat down to recover ourselves, and
at length succeeded so far that we were both inclined to believe we had
been victimised by our own imaginations--you know what an eerie place it
is, and how likely to excite weird fancies in the minds of nervous timid
women like ourselves. So we summoned up all our courage and went to
work once more. We naturally felt somewhat reluctant to visit the scene
of our fright again; but we overcame the feeling and made our third
journey to the chasm without experiencing any further shock to our
nerves. On our fourth journey, however, we had reached the place,
deposited our load, and had just set out to return when the same sounds
were repeated, much more loudly than at first, and accompanied this time
by a loud prolonged hiss such as I should imagine could proceed only
from some gigantic serpent. We were thoroughly terrified this time, and
fled once more, not only to the cavern but thence into the open air, and
home. I do not know how we may regard the matter in the morning; but at
present I really do not feel as though I could ever venture into the
place again until the mystery has been solved and the cause of those
terrifying sounds discovered."

"Of course not," said Captain Staunton. "None of you must attempt to
visit the cavern again until we have had an opportunity of investigating
the matter. It is possible--though, mind you, I don't think it at all
probable--that a serpent or large reptile of some kind _may_ have made
its way into the gallery. And, at all events, it will never do for you
ladies to run the slightest risk. What do you think, Evelin?" he added,
turning to Lance. "Is it likely that there may be a snake or something
of the sort there?"

"Not _likely_, I should say," responded Lance; "we have never
encountered a reptile of any description, large or small, in t