"I wonder why it was they made their guns so long?" he inquired.
"The reason was, probably, that the quality of powder was so bad that the bullet would get out before all the powder was consumed. All the ancient pistols were very inefficient, because of the short barrel. Even down to the time of the American Revolution the guns on board of war vessels were not capable of throwing shot very far, and the most effective ones were those with long barrels."
"In what respect is the powder of to-day more powerful than in olden times?"
"Particularly in the fact that formulas have been devised which make a higher expansion, or give a greater volume of gas. The other feature of value is, that chemical means have been discovered whereby the moment a sufficient amount of heat has developed in the powder it instantly burns—not a slow fusing, like the old powders—but the combustion is instantaneous. These two factors working together have greatly improved even the black powders."
After their return the interest in the articles was so great, and the inventory took so much time, that the disappearance of Angel had been entirely forgotten. All remembered him going along, and no one had seen him enter the cave. None of them believed he could be induced to go in, hence no particular notice was taken of his movements.
An hour after the return, Harry saw Angel coming over the field at the east of the Cataract, dragging something after him laboriously. All stood and watched him as he neared home. He had a stick, apparently, but it seemed to be unusually heavy.
George ran out to assist him, and when he came up he gravely handed to article to George. It was the barrel of a gun, with part of the flintlock still attached, but it was rusted almost beyond recognition, the bore completely filled with dirt, accumulation and rust.
"Where do you suppose the little rascal found this?"
The Professor examined it. "Outside of the cave, undoubtedly. The curious part about it is, that this weapon is of an entirely different and more modern pattern than those we have samples of."
Harry took the gun and ran in to where the others were deposited, and true enough, it was not only shorter, but it had a smaller bore, and what is more, the outside of the barrel was octagonal, whereas the barrels of those inside of the cave were all round.