steadily, and now he felt he had means to enter the cave. With a few
pieces of this rope he made his way down to where the keg was, and
soaked them well in the rum. Then he paused and looked around. The
frowning walls seemed more menacing than ever, and that black hole just
beyond, which he had tried to enter the day before, glared at his like
a huge eye of sinister import. He thought of the ghastly skull he had
found the night before, and wondered if it had any connection with this
cave. Cautiously, step by step, he crept toward it. Was it the
hiding-place of some sea monster, and was death there in that dark
cavern awaiting him? Once again he felt his courage leaving and a
strange weakness stealing his strength. He turned back and sat down by
the keg.

Given the right conditions, and our imaginations will surround us with
hobgoblins and spectres by day as well as night, and almost upset the
reasoning power of strong men. To Manson, who had passed one long,
sleepless night full of imaginary terrors, and believing himself
governed and controlled by some supernatural power, the experience he
had passed through, and the impulses that were now alternately pulling
him back and pushing him toward that dark cave in front of him, he felt
must be ill-omened and uncanny. For an hour he sat and looked at his
surroundings, trying to reason away his fears and convince himself they
were groundless, and that all the stories he had heard about this island
being haunted were purely imaginary. Only partially did he succeed,
however, and then, at last yielding to the fascination that constantly
drew him toward the cave, arose and once more cautiously crept toward
it.

At the entrance he paused and listened. Not a sound could be heard
except the faint voice of the ocean outside. He stooped and took one
step inward, and listened again. All he could hear now was the beating
of his own heart. He lit one of his torches and then another. Then he
took two steps more and paused again. The faint light showed the cavern
sloped sharply upward. Carefully, on his knees, supporting himself by
one hand, he crawled up the incline until the floor became level and
then he stood upright. For a moment he halted there, trying to peer into
the inky darkness. He seemed to be looking into a wide, open space; a
peculiar odor tainted the air. He took a few steps and paused again.
Then he turned one of his torches down inward to increase the flame, and
as it bur