resh
and sweet, and it can't lead us to any worse place than this."

The girl and the sailor-man got up and climbed to the side of the Ork.

"We'd about decided to explore this hole before you came," explained
Cap'n Bill; "but it's a dangerous place to navigate in the dark, so
wait till I light a candle."

"What is a candle?" inquired the Ork.

"You'll see in a minute," said Trot.

The old sailor drew one of the candles from his right-side pocket and
the tin matchbox from his left-side pocket. When he lighted the match
the Ork gave a startled jump and eyed the flame suspiciously; but Cap'n
Bill proceeded to light the candle and the action interested the Ork
very much.

"Light," it said, somewhat nervously, "is valuable in a hole of this
sort. The candle is not dangerous, I hope?"

"Sometimes it burns your fingers," answered Trot, "but that's about the
worst it can do--'cept to blow out when you don't want it to."

Cap'n Bill shielded the flame with his hand and crept into the hole. It
wasn't any too big for a grown man, but after he had crawled a few feet
it grew larger. Trot came close behind him and then the Ork followed.

"Seems like a reg'lar tunnel," muttered the sailor-man, who was
creeping along awkwardly because of his wooden leg. The rocks, too,
hurt his knees.

For nearly half an hour the three moved slowly along the tunnel, which
made many twists and turns and sometimes slanted downward and sometimes
upward. Finally Cap'n Bill stopped short, with an exclamation of
disappointment, and held the flickering candle far ahead to light the
scene.

"What's wrong?" demanded Trot, who could see nothing because the
sailor's form completely filled the hole.

"Why, we've come to the end of our travels, I guess," he replied.

"Is the hole blocked?" inquired the Ork.

"No; it's wuss nor that," replied Cap'n Bill sadly. "I'm on the edge of
a precipice. Wait a minute an' I'll move along and let you see for
yourselves. Be careful, Trot, not to fall."

Then he crept forward a little and moved to one side, holding the
candle so that the girl could see to follow him. The Ork came next and
now all three knelt on a narrow ledge of rock which dropped straight
away and left a huge black space which the tiny flame of the candle
could not illuminate.

"H-m!" said the Ork, peering over the edge; "this doesn't look very
promising, I'll admit. But let me take your candle, and I'll fly down
and see what's below us."