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THE GOLDEN CAVES.
By CHARLES B. LEWIS.
THE SUNNY SOUTH, ATLANTA, GEORblA, DECEMBER 10, 1892.
ft
M. QUAD.”
Copyrighted 1892.
came to the ears of the living. Each
ghostly figure stood out separate and
distinct, but not a face could be seen.
“We are doomed men!” groaned Har
kins, as he covered his face with his
hands to shut out the sight.
‘‘Aye! We shall never leave this spot
alive!” added Joe.
“Hush, men!” whispered the captain
as he raised his hand. “They are dead,
true enough, but they are the dead of a
thousand years ago—of the cave dwell
ers and the Aztecs. 1 have seen them
twice before, and they brought no bad
luck. Here they come on the other side!”
The three were seated on a rock in the
center of the rift. The head of the
spectral procession had gone down the
canyon several hundred feet and then
turned to come back on their left, pass
ing them again within a few feet.
March! March! March!
Chant! Chant! Chant!
Soft and low and sweet came the
notes—like the murmur of the August
breeze in a forest pine. The feeling of
awe was crowded out of the hearts of
the living, and a feeling of sadness and
reverence crept in.
It was the dead burying its dead!
March! March! March! Never the
echo of a footfall, never the touch of
skeleton foot to the flinty rock. The
ear caught no sound but that of the
ghostly voices chanting in unison.
And of a sudden he who headed the
spectral procession swerved to the left
and disappeared into the solid wall and
was followed by the long lines until the
last had been swallowed up and lost
sight of. And then, as silence and dark
ness reigned again, the captain said:
“Men, w t o have a treasure here. Ex
amine that wall and you will find an
opening to a cave behind it.”
CHAPTER XX.
“Were we awake or asleep?” asked
Joe, as he rubbed his eyes.
“Very wide awake,” answered the
captain.
“And was it a procession, and did we
hear music?” asked Harkins.
“Yes. I saw and heard the same
thing once in the Rocky mountains, and
once again in an old ruin in Arizona. 1
have met several men who have also
seen and heard.”
“There is no opening in the cliff,” said
Joe as he held the torch aloft; “not a
crevice where they came out—not a hole
where they went in. We have been
fooled by the darkness.”
“You and Harkins return to the wagon
for crowbars, and while you are gone 1
will collect wood and build a tire to
work by,” answered the captain.
His seeming confidence inspired them,
and without waiting for a closer inspec
tion of the cliff they headed down the
canyon for the tools. Upon reaching
the wagons all was quiet, and the que
ries of the men regarding the use the
crowbars were to be put to were made
fight of, as it was deemed best not to
raise hopes which might be disap
pointed.
The captain had a bright fire blazing
against the cliff as the men returned,
and in response to their looks of inquiry
he put his hands on the rocks and said:
“See this line running here, and up
this way, and to the right, and down
and back? A great stone has been set in
here and cemented in its place. The
work was done so long ago that the ce
ment is as hard as the rock and almost
the color of it. One of you begin at that
Bide, while 1 take a hand here.”
Ten Minutes’ work proved what he
had asserted—that a large stone had
been fitted to an opening—but the work
of drilling out the cement was like
drilling into the stone itself. When
noon came they had made a consider-
ble impression, but fully realized that
they had undertaken a laborious task.
The forenoon had passed with those at
camp without alarm. The sentinels
thought they heard the reports of rifla*
down the valley, but were not certain.
Not an Indian had shown himself, and
it was hoped that they had been thrown
off the scent and would leave the val-
le ^rom the first the two girls had been
drawn to each other, and Lizzie found p
deep sympathizer in Bess. When brought
into camp by Harkins the poor girl was
in a truly forlorn condition, as may be
imagined. While she still labored with
the grief which choked her every time
she thought of the sad fate of her par
ents, she had been made very presenta
ble in appearance, and more than one of
the warronmen felt his heart beat faster
atsigSFof her sweet, sadYace.
As the trio returned to camp from
their labors up the canyon, Bess beck
oned her father aside and said:
“Our friend is worrying and wants to
talk with you.”
“Yes, I want to ask you about my
mother,” added Lizzie.
“I am sure I saw father lying on the
ground, and have no doubt the rene
gades killed him as the first part of
their plan. Mother and I both got away
and she was not overtaken. What
would be her fate?”
“It is hard to say,” replied Harkins
after reflecting on the matter. “If she
got through the night all right she may
have found the trail of the wagons in
the morning and overtaken the party.
We must hope that she did. It may
Also be that your father was only stun
ned by the blow, and is ere this all right
again and with his friends.”
“Do you think there is even the
faintest hope?” she tearfully asked.
“Ido.”
“Thank God for that! I shall almost
cease worrying under that hope. And
now what of myself?”
“You are to remain with us, of
course.”
“But for how long?”
“We cannot even guess. We may
head hack for civilization in a week—
perhaps not for three months. It de
pends on our luck as gold hunters. It
is more than likely that some of the
party to which you belonged will be en
countered soon, and who knows what
good news we may receive. You are
thrice welcome to all it may be in em
power to do for you.”
Meanwhile Bess had whisperingly in
quired of Joe what chances the mother
had of escape.
“God help her—none!” he answered.
“She was wild with fear when she ran
from the wagon, and she would grow
wilder. Before morning came she was
a maniac, but I doubt if she lived to see
another day.”
“Indians?” gasped Bess.
“No—wolves. At that distance from
the mountains a man loaded down with
firearms could hardly have kept them
off all night. Encourage the girl all
you can, but don’t hope in your own
heart that there is one chance in a mil
lion that she will ever see her mother
again.”
As the pair stood together apart Har
kins observed them with a start and
whispered to himself:
“Well, well, but I do really believe
that my Bess has taken a liking to that
chap! How queer!”
He might more truthfully have said,
“How natural,” and he might have used
the word “love” for ‘ ‘liking. ” And when
the man looked upon the sweet face of
the orphan he had so gallantly rescued
at the peril of his life, and felt his heart
beating faster, he might have discovered
another queer thing—that somebody else
had “taken a liking.”
The captain had given the men to un
derstand that he was prospecting np the
canyon for gold, but had said nothing of
the discoveries made. When dinner was
finished and the trio were ready to re
turn he renewed his caution about keep
ing a steady lookout for danger, and
ordered that no one was to leave camp
on any pretext till his return. Then the
three set out for the scene of their labors
and began work immediately upon their
arrival. They had no fear of their fire
being seen or their blows overheard, and
men who work to solve a mystery do not
tire.
After three hours of hard work the
crowbars secured such a grip on the
stone that it moved. One nnited effort
would heave it out of the opening. It
was then that the captain stepped back
and sat down and said:
“Let us take a breathing spell now,
and let us prepare ourselves to be disap
pointed.”
“What do you think is behind the
stone?” asked Joe.
4> A cave of some sort.”
’‘And what shall we find in the cave?”
asked Harkins.
“The shriveled bodies of dead Aztecs.
That lost race always buried their dead
in caves, and when the place would hold
no more it was walled np. I have helped
to open three or four.”
“But why go to all this trouble to
open a cave of bone and dust?” petulant
ly queried Harkins.
“As the Indian of today places the
property of the dead warrior beside him
that he may have an outfit in the happy
lan^beroiuL so the Azfeca placed tfee
wealth ofTEerr dead beside them in
these caves. I have seen many orna
ments of gold and silver which came
from such caves.”
“Then let us to work!” exclaimed Joe
as he seized a bar.
“We shall find a cave of dead if not a
cave of gold,” added Harkins.
The bars were inserted on the left
hand side of the stone, each man drew a
long breath and at the word each threw
his weight on his lever. The stone trem
bled, moved forward, hung a moment
and then fell to the earth with a heavy
thud, and an opening appeared into
which a horse could almost have walked.
CHAPTER XXI.
And how fared the renegades?
The girl Lizzie had been cut loose
from the tree to which she was bound
within thirty feet of them so carefully
that Harkius had her a quarter of a mile
away before she was missed. A rush
and a search was made, and no one
questioned that she had got off alone.
They consoled themselves with the
thought that the wild beasts would have
her life before morning, and when Bob
strolled down the valley it was with the
expectation of finding some evidence of
her death.
Well it was for the girl and the wagon-
men that Taylor had been kept in igno-
ronce of her rescue and arrival. Had
the renegades known she was in camp
they would have shed blood to recapture
her. Having no suspicion that she had
been seen or heard of, they had no par
ticular animosity against the gold hunt
ers. When Taylor, burning for revenge,
wanted to head a raid to steal the horses
or attack the camp, Bob met him with
expedition, and witlun an Tidur they had
discovered the cave. Indeed, Taylor
scarcely hesitated in walking directly to
the ledge and pulling himself up.
The opening to the cave was large
enough to admit the body of an ox. To
the left of it rested a large stone which
had been cut to fit the opening, but
which had never been placed in position.
Saunders had said to the right of
Custer’s peak. He had been mistaken.
Here was the cave to the left.
The men hesitated to enter the open
ing, although provided with torches to
dispel something of the inky darkness.
In spite of their wicked hearts, a feeling
of awe and reverence held them spell
bound for a time. By and by Bob shook
it off sufficiently to say:
“This is the place. Thar can’t be no
doubt of it, for it’s the location we both
got from different men. I’m now a-won
dering what’s inside.”
Taylor thought this a fitting oppor
tunity to decide a matter which had
worried him not a little, and he said:
“In case the gold is here do we five
share and share alike?”
“Sartinly,” was Bob’s prompt reply.
“You go first and let’s see if we hev
cum on a wild goose chase.”
Taylor knocked his torch against the
rocks to make it burn up more brightly,
and holding it ahead of him passed into
the opening, slowly followed by Bob.
They found themselves in a rock lined
room about twelve by sixteen feet in
width and length, while the incline was
from six to eight feet in height. Nature
had made the cave, but man had en
larged and improved it.
I For a moment the men looked about
them in wonder, and fearful that a griz-
THE STONE FELL TO THE EARTH.
the reply:
‘‘They drove you out, and I reckon
they did right, but we don’t propose to
burn our fingers to help you git back at
em. We cum yere fur that gold, and
the fust hard work we do will be to look
for it. If we don’t trouble that gang
they won’t trouble us.”
Taylor had to be satisfied with that.
His standing among them was not pleas
ant. His excuses and explanations did
not go down. He was looked upon as a
traitor who had received his just deserts,
and he very soon realized that he was
being endured for the sake of what he
might know about the cave of gold.
This know-ledge imbittered him, and
the hour he rode by the camp hidden in
the wagon he gritted his teeth and whis
pered to himself:
“These outlaws want me to help find
the gold, but what will happen then?
They won’t stickle to shoot me down
like a dog. They have no notion of di
viding with me. They own the team
and will have all to say.”
And then he took an oath that if he
saw the first sign of treachery in his
new found friends every man of them
should die by his hand. It was no idle
oath. He had a terrible weapon in store
for an emergency.
The outlaw party reached the canyon
below the peak without incident and the
wagon was pulled well out of sight of
any one passing up and down the valley,
and the camp was pitched with a view
to defense. They were men who knew
the perils of the Indian country and were
both brave and cautious. On the morn
ing after their arrival Bob and Taylor
set offjjp thg canyon on an exploring
zly'bripuma might be “there to'receive
them. The place was untenanted, and
Taylor moved to the right, thrust his
torch into the darkness and hoarsely ex
claimed:
“We’ve hit it—we’ve hit it! Here is
the gold!”
Yes, the gold was there, and silver as
well. It was in crude lumps and pigs,
each a heavy weight for a man. And
there were crosses and spearheads and
anklets and bracelets, all rudely fash
ioned from the precious metals. Bob
did not trust himself to say a word until
he had lifted half a dozen of the pigs
and cut away at some of the smaller ar
ticles with his knife. Then he said:
“Thar’s no room fur doubt! It’s
treasure!”
“And it is share and share alike, re
member!” cautioned Taylor.
“Of—of course,” stammered Bob.
Avarice, doubt, selfishness, thoughts
of murder were creeping in before the
discovery was ten minutes old.
“The fool—to expect us to divide with
him!” growled Bob to himself.
“Let ’em lookout! I may take all!”
hissed Taylor as he held up a lump of
gold.
Who had placed that treasure there?
Men of the race who peopled the west
before Columbus landed! The ores had
been reduced and metal turned out in
crude form, but the wealth was there.
When assayed at the Denver mint later
on its purity was a source of wonder.
Why should the treasure have been left?
may be asked. Who can tell when and
why the Atzecs went? The ruins of
their cities are found all over the west,
bat tfee_race disappeare4_fl^the Xu» of
the earth before the Pilgrim falters
touched these shores.
“Bring along a chunk to show to the
boys,” said Bob, and each selected a
specimen and made haste down the
canyon.
The discovery was hailed with delight
by the three outlaws left on guard, and
plans were immediately made and dis
cussed for loading up the stuff and get
ting out of the valley. In the making
of these plans Taylor seemed to be en
tirely ignored, and when he put in his
boast of finding the cave Bob took occa
sion to remark:
“We didn’t need yer help in the least,
’cause we had the bearings all O. K.,
but it was white in you to offer yer
services, an we hain’fc the men to for
get it.”
“But I’m to have my fifth of course!”
hotly exclaimed Taylor.
The men looked at each other without
replying, but presently he was ordered
to stand guard at the wagon while they
went np together to bring down the first
load of treasure.
“They think they have caught a fool!”
hissed Taylor as he looked after them,
“but they are mistaken. They are play
ing with a tiger!”
CHAPTER XXII.
“Phew! But we have struck a cave of
the dead!” exclaimed Joe, who was
nearest the opening as the stone fell out.
A rank, musty odor issued from the
cave and drove the three men down the
canyon a distance of a hundred feet and
kept them sneezing and coughing for a
quarter of an hour. During this time
the captain prepared a couple of torches,
and by and by they advanced to find the
odor no longer perceptible. The cap
tain pushed his torch into the dark
opening for a took at the interior of the
cave, and after a moment he drew back
and said:
“We have got a find here, but there
will be some disagreeable work about it.
The cave is heaped with bodies of the
dead.”
The others looked in to find that his
words were true. It was a chamber
sixteen or eighteen feet square and ten
or twelve feet high, and it was solidly
packed with a grayish mass. That mass .
was the shriveled and mummified bodies
of the lost race—dead men, women and
children who had been laid away for
perhaps*two or three centuries.
“Well, we have had our labor for our
pains,” said Harkins as he stepped back.
“And we don’t want to discover any
more caves,” added Joe with a tinge of
bitterness.
“If they, followed the rule in burying
these dead we shall find a fortune in
here,” said the captain as he braced his
torch against a rock. “Let’s see what I
can discover.”
He entered the opening, thrust his
hand into the mass of dust, worked it
about for a moment, and then backed
out holding in his fingers an anklet
weighing at least four ounces. He
rubbed the metal briskly on bis sleeve,
and lo! the shine of gold caught every
eye!
“Worth at least seventy-five dollars,”
said the captain as he held it up, “and
there ought to be bushels of them in
there. Take it with you to camp and
give ’em the news, and send up two of
the men with shovels. Everything in
there has got to be thrown out.”
So will it be a century hence. The
dust of those who live today will be
treated as earthly clay in the search for
wealth.
At the end of the third day there was
a council of the wagonmen. The cave
had yielded an amount beyond the wild
est guess. It had been cleared of the
last shovel of dust, and every ornament
and relic had been carried to the camp.
Each member of the party would have
thousands of dollars, and the council
was called to determine what next step
should be taken. The unanimous de
cision was that the party should make
its way back to civilization as soon as
possible.
Since the Indians passed down the
valley not a redskin had been seen, and
it was hoped the way out was safe and
clear. It was a long and dangerous
journey across the plains, but if at
tacked the little band must make the
best defense possible. It was a peril
that must be encountered in any event,
and there was just a chance that the
train might be left unmolested. The
men were feeling exultant over their
good luck and the hope of a safe jour
ney when the lookout at the mouth of
the canyon, whose services had never
for a moment been dispensed with, sent
an alarm into camp that something was
wrong.
In five minutes every man was at the
barricade or wall. Opposite the month
of the canyon, across the narrow valley,
was a fine spring. A single Indian had
come galloping np to dismount, but five
minutes later a band of at least forty
arrived and prepared to cacop. Tfce
i (TO BE CONTINUED.)