It was with mixed feelings that Sir Francis and Lady Vane stood by the side of these graves for the first time, and looked down on the flower-decked canopy which grew above the last resting place of the old, old man, who through so many lonely years had watched and tended the spot where all that he loved most on earth, lay sleeping away her last great rest. So often had Harry and Topsie recounted their first meeting with the hermit, the wonderful tale which he had related to them, and the tragic end of their voyage to the great gold mine of Or, that both their uncle and aunt seemed as if they had gone through the whole experiences themselves, and were looking again on scenes already witnessed.
Thus they had bivouacked on this lonely spot, taking care not to trample or destroy the flowers that blazed upon it in their many and variegated hues, flowers planted and trained by the old man’s hand, to beautify the grave of his darling.
The oppressiveness had made itself first felt that night, and with such force that every one threw off the fur capas in which they had rolled themselves to sleep. If they hoped for relief with the morning they were disappointed, for it continued as bad as ever beneath a cloudless sky. The eagerness and excitement to see the cave of gold had, however, buoyed the party up, and they had embarked once more upon the raft full of the keenest expectation.
“Do you see yonder bend ahead, Uncle Francis?” suddenly exclaimed Harry, who had been looking ahead for some time.
“Certainly, my boy,” answered his uncle.
“Well, round that corner the river ends, and the cave will face us.”
This announcement aroused every one to the highest pitch of excitement. Over and over again Willie, and Mary, and Freddy had dreamt about this wonderful cave, and now actually they were nearing it, and in a few minutes would look upon it in all reality.
The raft flew through the water, urged forward by the eager Indians, who were quite as keen as the children to behold the cave wherein their young chief and Cuastral had both so nearly met a tragic fate. Soon the bend pointed out by Harry was reached, and the corner turned, and then they looked and beheld the scene of that dangerous adventure.
And Sir Francis and Lady Vane and their children, as they, too, gazed thereon, felt that Harry’s and Topsie’s description thereof had been in nowise over-coloured or overdrawn, for there stretched the long lake-like termination of the river they had been following, cased in by the huge precipices, which culminated in the giant cave or mine of Or.
“Oh, how glorious! How splendid!” burst out Freddy enthusiastically. “Just look, Mary and Willie; such a cave! Won’t we have fun exploring it and carrying away the gold! Do you know, Harry and Topsie,” he added a little mischievously, “I never quite believed the cave was so splendid as you described it to be, but now I ask your pardon for my incredulity.”