As soon as Hellena could do so without attracting attention, she took a lamp and examined the walls in every direction to see if she could discover any where a crevice large enough for a person to pass through, but she could find nothing of the sort.
The walls were rough and broken in many parts, but there was nothing like what she was in search of.
She next questioned Lightfoot about it, asking her if there was any other entrance to the cave beside the one through which they had entered.
But the Indian woman gave her no satisfaction, simply telling her that she might take the lamp and examine for herself.
As Hellena had already done this, she was of course as much in the dark as ever.
When Captain Flint visited the cave again as he did on the following day, Hellena would have related to him the occurrences of the previous night, but she felt certain that he would only laugh at it as something called up by her excited imagination, or treat it as a story made up for the purpose of exciting his sympathy.
Or perhaps invented for the purpose of arousing his superstition in order to make him leave the cave, and take her to some place where escape would be more easy.
So she concluded to say nothing to him about it.
CHAPTER XI.
About a week after the occurrence of the events recorded in the last chapter, Captain Flint and his crew were again assembled in the cavern. It was past midnight, and they evidently had business of importance before them, for although the table was spread as upon the former occasion, the liquors appeared as yet to be untasted, and instead of being seated around the table, the whole party were sitting on skins in a remote corner of the cavern, and conversing in a suppressed tone of voice as if fearful of being heard.