Her first ascent was made slowly and with much toil and fear of falling, and when at last she had gained the rocky ledge in front of the opening, pushed aside the overhanging vines, and looked within, nothing but the blackness of darkness met her gaze, and she shrank back with a shudder, in terror of all kinds of venomous and savage creatures.
But quickly she nerved herself to enter, struck a match, lighted a candle, and sent a searching glance around from side to side and up overhead. It was a small, irregularly shaped room, the ceiling barely high enough to enable her to stand upright in it, the walls of solid rock showing no crevice wherein beast or even snake could hide.
She drew a long breath of relief, stuck her candle in a little niche in the wall, climbed down again to the base of the cliff, and gathering up the articles she had brought, made the ascent a second time, and deposited them in the cave.
She was compelled to refresh herself with rest and food before she could attempt any further exertion; it was near sundown when she again ventured to the vicinity of the raft, approaching with great caution till, from the shelter of a clump of bushes, she could obtain a view of it.
She had already heard the sound of human voices coming from that direction, so was not surprised, though very much disturbed, at sight of a crowd of men and boys, with here and there a woman or girl, upon it and the adjacent bank.
They seemed to be making free with whatever was to be found on board, and with a sigh and a muttered, “There won’t be nothin’ left o’ our goods and things; they’ll carry ’em all off or break ’em up; and oh, my, but won’t Himes be mad!” She dropped down upon the grass behind the bushes, and there waited and watched for their departure.
But the last did not leave till the glow of the sunset had quite faded from the sky, and night’s sable pall was slowly settling down over the earth. It was already too dark to board the raft with safety; almost too dark to make her way back to the cavern; but moving slowly and with extreme caution she accomplished the task.
She passed a most uncomfortable night; the blanket spread upon the rock made but a hard bed; the air of the cave was damp, close, and stifling; a guilty conscience, remorse, and terror were but poor bedfellows.
The hours dragged wearily along, seeming as if they would never end; again and again she pushed aside the overhanging vines and peered out to see if the dawn had not come; and with the first streak of light in the east she crept from her hiding-place and back to the raft.
She found it stripped of everything valuable. In fact, a part of the crowd she had seen there the previous afternoon were men sent by Mr. Himes to remove his goods and chattels to a place of safety.