The American family Robinson

by D. W. Belisle

"Very well; but we must beware of the gulf by our dim light, or we shall all be in it in a twinkling," said the trapper, as he prepared his torch.

Again they were moving on. Sometimes the cavern presented a low, narrow defile, with hardly ten feet of rock to pass on; then it again widened and grew lofty, until they could not make out its size by the rays of their lights, which illumined out a few feet around them. After proceeding about a mile further, they came to an abrupt halt, for a barrier was in their track. The gulf extended across the cave from side to side, and so wide that they could not see the opposite shore. Here was a barrier, indeed, which they knew not how to overcome. They could all swim, for that is an accomplishment that our borderers, of either sex, never fail of acquiring. But they had great objections to plunging into water of an unknown extent or depth.

"I will explore it," said the chief, throwing off his moccasins and tunic; and with a torch in one hand, he let himself down with the other, and then moved cautiously out into the unknown lake.

The chief was an adept in swimming, and made good headway with the only hand at liberty. After swimming about twenty rods, his feet touched a pebbly bed, and in a moment more he was in shallow water enough to obtain footing; and wading a little further on, he came to land. Astonished beyond measure, he looked around, and at a little distance saw what looked as though large masses of rock had been cut away—the bottom of which was about two feet higher than the ground; and in the centre of this slight elevation, stood a single tripod, like the one they had seen in the niche that they had passed. This was also filled with the singular liquid that burned; and on the chief's touching it with his torch, the cavern around was illumined in an instant.[⁵ ] A shout of exultation burst on the air from those on the other shore, as the brilliant light showed them that the chief had gained his object.

After lighting the tripod, the chief saw, a little way up the shore, three objects that, from their resemblance to a canoe, attracted his attention. Going close to them, he found the largest ten feet long, and four wide in the middle, oval at the bottom, and tapering to a point at the ends. They seemed to be made of metal, for, though quite strong, they were covered inside and out with corroding rust. A thought struck the chief that, perhaps, they were canoes, and might still be used. To settle the point was but a moment's work; and he dragged one to the water, when, lo! it floated in a handsome style, and jumping in, and using his hands for paddles, with wild delight beaming from his bronzed features, he gained the other shore. As he approached, they laughed and shouted with pleasure. One at a time was conveyed over, until all, in a little while, were landed safely on the beach. Here the water evidently terminated; but the sides were still precipitous, although the cavern was of much less height than formerly, and they had some hope that they were near the outlet. The shore was covered with smooth white pebbles, that shone brightly in the light, and had much the appearance of quartz worked by the constant action of water. The children, who were eager to find something that they could convey away without the knowledge of the chief, searched eagerly among these pebbles; nor was their labor lost, for every few minutes one or the other found a "star stone," as the chief called them, and adroitly placed them in their pockets. In this way they had made quite a collection by the time they were called to move on. They found, also, at this spot, piles of what had evidently been of some importance, but so much decayed by time, as to defy the possibility of telling their original compositions.

On they moved, but, still, they came to no outlet. The bottom had the same pebbly appearance, the sides precipitous, the top low; and, for more than a mile, there was not the slightest variation in the appearance of the cavern.

"This is a long cave," said Howe, "and the strangest I ever saw. And that is saying much, for a trapper gets in all sorts of places."

"Strange enough, that is true," said Sidney, "I wonder if there is an end?"

"I guess so," said Edward, "everything that has a beginning has an end, I believe; but, whether we shall find it, is another question."

"I propose we halt and rest," said Jane. "For one, I am exhausted, I think it must be far into the night."