And here we might lay down our pen, and call our story finished, did we not think that justice to the reader, required that we should explain some things connected with the mysterious, cavern not yet accounted for.
How the Indian entered the cave on the night when Hellena fancied she had seen a ghost, and how she made her escape, has been explained, but we have not yet explained how the noises were produced which so alarmed the pirates.
It will be remembered that the sleeping place of Black Bill was a recess in the wall of the cavern.
Now in the wall, near the head of the negro's bed, there was a deep fissure or crevice. It happened that Bill while lying awake one night, to amuse himself, put his month to the crevice and spoke some words, when to his astonishment, what he had said, was repeated over and over, again.
Black Bill in his ignorance and simplicity, supposed that the echo, which came back, was an answer from some one on the other side of the wall.
Having made this discovery, he repeated the experiment a number of times, and always with the same result.
After awhile, he began to ask questions of the spirit, as he supposed it to be, that had spoken to him.
Among other things he asked if the devil was coming after master.
The echo replied, "The debil comin' after master," and repeated it a great many times.
Bill now became convinced that it was the devil himself that he had been talking to.