y a jutting shoulder of the
cliff. Descending to the beach, we found ourselves on a narrow expanse
of firm, white sand, the whole of which it was evident was covered at
high-water, and which was now so hard that we scarcely left any
indication of our footprints upon it. Traversing this for about a
quarter of a mile we entered a sort of labyrinth of huge masses of
sandstone that had fallen to the beach from time to time, from the steep
and now lofty cliff that impended overhead. Here we were most
effectually sheltered from prying gaze by the enormous masses of rock
between which we wound our devious way for perhaps a hundred yards,
until Lotta stopped with the remark:

"Now, Dick, we have reached the end of our journey. Look about you and
see whether you can find the entrance to the cave which we have come to
visit."

I looked diligently round me, this way and that, but could see
absolutely nothing that in the least degree resembled an opening in the
rock, and at length somewhat impatiently said so.

"Neither do I," laughed my companion; "I shall have to look for it, as
usual. It is somewhere about here," she continued, pointing to a series
of horizontal ledges that ran along the face of the cliff just opposite
where we stood. Moving forward, I saw Lotta stoop down to examine the
ledges; then she moved slowly along the cliff face for a distance of a
few yards, when, to my amazement, she suddenly vanished before my very
eyes. I sprang forward until I reached the spot at which she had
disappeared, but was still unable to see anything of her.

"Lotta!" I cried anxiously, "where are you? what on earth has become of
you?"

"I am here, Dick," answered the girl, her voice seeming to issue from
the ground at my feet. Then, for the first time, I noticed that there
was what appeared to be a slight dip in the inner edge of the ledge, but
which, upon closer inspection, proved to be a fissure, just wide enough
for a man to squeeze through, and it was into this fissure that Lotta
had dropped. I promptly followed her, and presently, when my eyes had
become accustomed to the dim twilight of the place, I found that we were
in a small, cave-like hollow of the rocky cliff, measuring about eight
feet in each direction, and floored with very fine, dry sand. But of
the treasure there was no sign that I could discover, in any direction--
unless it were artfully concealed in one or more of the many small holes
or recesses that