e down
here?"

He brought forth a match and lit it. The battered lantern lay close at
hand, and, although without a glass, it was still better than nothing,
and, turned well up, gave forth a torch-like flame which lit up the
surroundings for a dozen feet or more. No body was there, nor did he
find any for the full distance up and down the dismal hole.

"The boy was mistaken; his father wandered elsewhere," was the boomer's
conclusion. "Poor fellow, he was in no mental or physical condition to
push his claims in the West. He should have remained at home and allowed
some hustling Western lawyer to act for him. If he falls into the
clutches of some of our land agents they'll swindle him out of every
cent of his fortune. I must give him and the boy the tip when I get the
chance." The great scout laughed softly. "When I get the chance is good.
I reckon I had best pull myself out of this man-trap first."

He made a careful investigation of the rocks. At no point was there
anything which gave promise of a footing to the top.

"In a pocket and no error," he mused. "I wonder if I've got to stay here
like a bull-croaker at the bottom of a well?"

The rain had formed a long pool between the slanting rocks. He threw a
chip into this pool and saw that it drifted slowly off between two scrub
bushes growing partly under a shelving rock.

With the light he made an inspection of the locality, and a cry of
surprise escaped him. Beyond the bushes was the opening to an irregular,
but apparently large cavern.

The stream flowed along one side of the flooring to this opening.

"Must be some sort of an outlet beyond," he mused. "I'll try it and
see," and in a moment more he was inside of the cavern and crawling
along on hands and knees.

He had not far to go in this fashion. Twenty feet beyond the cavern
became so large that he could stand up with ease. He flashed the light
above his head.

"By Jove! a miniature Mammoth Cave of Kentucky!" burst from his lips.

On he went until a bend in the formation of the cavern was gained. Here
the stream of water disappeared under a pile of loose stones, and the
opening became less than six feet in height.

"Checked!" he muttered, and his face fell. It looked as if he would have
to go back the way he had come.

Again he raised his light and gazed about him with more care than ever.

The loose rocks soon caught his attention, and, setting down the
lantern, he began to pull away first at on