“Seize the rope, Rodman; seize the rope!”
All eyes were involuntarily drawn toward the woods across the moonlit opening, whence the voice had emanated, and at that instant Ralph Rodman, the doomed captive, arose from the ground, floated upward, upward, upward through the air—up along the face of the cliff; and when the savages again turned, they found he had vanished from their midst like mist before the morning sun—gone they knew not where; but, suddenly, a great black object leaped from the edge of the cliff overhead, and falling in their midst crushed half their number to atoms. It was a huge stone, rolled over the cliff by Ebony Jim, who had also saved Ralph by drawing him up with a rope made of the dead Indian’s buck-skin garments, and lowered at the moment that the savages’ attention was drawn toward the woods.
Thus Ebony’s “bright idea” had proved a success. While Willis remained in the woods to draw the attention of the savages, at the same time warn Ralph of their presence, the negro had crept around to the top of the cliff, and at the instant Willis called out he dropped one end of the rope, and as it fell plump on Ralph’s head, he had his friend’s command forcibly and instantly impressed upon his mind, and seizing hold of the rope he was drawn up to the top of the cliff—saved.
Without loss of time they hurried from the place, and two hours’ travel brought them to the mouth of a large cave, where they at once concluded to spend the night.
They ventured to strike a fire now, for they were wet and chilly with the heavy dew. They were just within the mouth of the cavern, and as the fire lighted up the surrounding gloom it revealed the dark opening back into the hill.
Ralph and Willis at once determined to explore the cavern. Ebony remonstrated, but as he could give no reason for his objections, the young adventurers procured a torch and set out, leaving the negro to stand guard at the entrance.
Led on by the increasing wonders and magnificence of the place, they threaded the winding passage for several hundred feet, when they emerged into a wide, capacious chamber.
Here they halted and held the torch above their heads.
“Hist! didn’t you hear footsteps?” exclaimed Willis, suddenly.
“Fudge! no; you’re getting nervous,” returned Ralph, “and imagine you hear the footsteps of ghosts. Come, let us look further, old boy. No superstition—Heavens!”