Fitz was fond of exploiting a big word, although he never succeeded in pronouncing much more than three-quarters of it.
Presently the brave little lad disappeared, for the darkness had swallowed him up.
The cave at its other end turned to the right and then to the left, so that although Fitz lit his fire it could not be seen by those left behind.
Ransey and Nelda were becoming quite uneasy about him, when suddenly his voice was heard in the dark distance, coming nearer and nearer every moment, till he once more stood in the broad glare of day at the main entrance to the cave.
“So glad you’ve come back, Fitz,” cried Ransey, “for we had almost given you up; we thought the ’gators had swallowed you.”
Nelda, too, was glad, and so was honest Bob. He ran round and round him, barking.
The echo of the far interior took up the sound and gave back “wowff” for “wowff,” much to the dog’s astonishment. He made quite sure that another dog was hiding away in the darkness somewhere, and promised himself the infinite pleasure of shaking him out of his skin some day.
But the story of exploration that Fitz had to tell was indeed a wonderful one.
He had found an interior cave, and when he lit his fire, the sight of it, he declared to Ransey, was far more beautiful than Paradise. All around him, he said, was a mass of icicles, but all of crystal, and on the floor were hundreds and hundreds of great crystal candles.
“I not can splain (explain) propah,” he said. “Too much foh one leetle niggah boy to splain, but all about me dat cave sparkle and shine wid diamonds, rubies, and rainbows.”