boldest mortal that ever lived, to have looked into that dark tree-cave,
without a previous knowledge of what was contained therein; and no
wonder that Ben Brace uttered a wild exclamation, and stood shivering in
speechless terror.

Within the trunk of the tree was a chamber. It was of square form,
about six or seven feet in length, breadth, and height. It was no
natural cavity of decayed wood, but had evidently been hollowed out by
the hands of men, not very exactly, but roughly hewn as if by an axe.

Along the back a portion of the wood had been left, resembling a bench
or banquette, and upon this bench were the objects that excited our
terror. Three human forms were seated upon it, with their faces turned
towards the entrance. They were sitting--as men ordinarily do when
resting themselves--with their backs leaning against the rearmost wall
of the chamber, and their arms hanging loosely by their sides--their
knees bent, and their limbs somewhat stretched out towards the centre of
the floor.

There was no motion on the part of any of the three; for although they
were human forms they were not living ones, nor yet were they dead
bodies! No, they were neither living men nor dead men, and this added
to our consternation on beholding them. Had they been alive, or only
corpses, the sight would have been natural; but they were neither one
nor the other. In their time they had been both; but it must have been
a long while ago, for now they resembled neither!

They were all three shrivelled dried up as mummies, but they were not
mummies either. They more resembled skeletons encased in suits of black
leather, that, although fitting tightly to their bodies, was
nevertheless wrinkled and puckered around them. There was wool upon
their crowns--they had evidently been negroes--and their eyes were still
in their heads, though lustreless and dried up within the sockets like
the rest of the flesh. One thing still preserved its lustre, and that
was their teeth. The lips, shrivelled and drawn back, exposed these
fully to view; and in the mouths of all three the double rows of teeth
were shining like white ivory. These, contrasting with the sombre hue
of their skins, and aided by the skeleton form of their heads, and the
gaunt prominence of their jaws, produced an appearance that was hideous
and unearthly in the extreme.

No wonder my companion shivered when he saw them.

CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT.

You will be surp