tely proceeded to Lima to report to
the Dictator, and hurried back to take command of the sloop again.

The reconnoiter of San Lorenzo had convinced Paul that the island was
watched from end to end in the closest manner and it was useless to
attempt to work from there with the means at hand. He determined to lead
out in a different direction to accomplish his designs, and his next
move was a cruise due southward to the island off Pachacamac and
generally called by that name. The little sloop wound her way in and out
among the numerous rocky islets off the coast. Under their close shelter
she picked her way hidden from the Chilean cruisers that turned their
guns on everything not of their own kind, on the sea. The coast is
extremely wild and utterly deserted, formed of lofty ledges of rock,
hollowed into caverns underneath, by the insidious beating of the trade
wind waves. The chiseled doorways to those caves are rare specimens of
Nature's mysterious work; some large, some small and of queer, fantastic
shapes; that black-mouthed gape at chance passers, while towering high
above, a roof of table land--arid, scorching pampas, is just as
uninviting as the water way below. So desolate is that part of the coast
that it is but little known. Don Nicholas and a group of Peruvian
officers to whom Paul described the caves, expressed the utmost
astonishment, though born and bred within twenty five miles of their
mysterious recesses. The desert above is traversed only by a narrow
trail and is seldom used, while even the fishermen give the caverns
below a wide berth, being superstitious and fearful of the strange cries
that are heard echoing from their depths. That is why they are so
little known and never explored.

During the day, when a Chilean cruiser nosed around uncomfortably close,
the little sloop would be hugged under the lee of one of the islands,
sail lowered and anchor dropped. Paul was thus given an opportunity of
exploring the caves. Sometimes he paddled into them encased in his
rubber dress; but generally he used a little gig, carrying an ax, knife,
carbine and a few biscuits, spending whole days in those lonely places
whenever the sea permitted. Once while exploring along the coast, he
observed a great table rock that had been washed down until it rested
upon two natural pillars, forming the capstone of the entrance to a
great cave. The sea was rolling heavily at the time, but by cautiously