Drawing a steel from his pocket, he lit a torch of candlewood, with which, with that foresight that never abandons persons of his stamp even in the most critical circumstances, he had taken care to provide himself.
As soon as they could distinguish objects, the bandits uttered a cry of joy. What in the darkness they had taken for a simple excavation proved to be one of those natural grottos of which so many are found in these countries.
"Eh! eh!" said the captain, laughing, "let us see what sort of quarters we have got into; remain here, my men, and keep strict watch over your prisoners; I will go and reconnoitre our new domain."
After lighting a second torch, he explored the grotto.
It dipped deep under the mountain by a gentle descent; the walls were everywhere lofty, and sometimes they were widened into large compartments.
The cavern must have received external air by imperceptible fissures, for the light burned freely and the captain breathed without difficulty.
The farther the pirate advanced, the more perceptible the air became, which led him to conclude he was approaching an entrance of some kind.
He had been walking nearly twenty minutes, when a puff of wind came sharply in his nice and made the flame of his torch flicker.
"Hum!" he muttered, "here is a place of exit—let us be prudent and put out our lights, we know not whom we may meet with outside."
He crushed the light of his torch beneath his feet, and remained a few instants motionless, to allow his eyes to become accustomed to the darkness.