XIX
AN INDIAN CAVE AND ITS OCCUPANTS
By January the boys had learned much about the woods and the wild creatures inhabiting them. They had also mastered most of the essential tricks of woodcraft, and Ben said they were graduated from the “tenderfoot” class with high honors. While there was no chance for any “official” examination, they were certainly qualified for “Boy Scout” honors by an actual experience in woodcraft, which few “scouts” can have.
They often made unaccompanied trips into the wilderness, and it was while on one of these journeys that they chanced to discover what seemed to be a large cave partly overgrown by bushes and completely blocked by drifted snow. Their attention was drawn to it by a tunnel-like hole through the drift. Poking into this with a long pole, they were surprised to find that the opening extended back some distance. They immediately scooped away the snow, and there, sure enough, was a great black hole—seemingly the entrance into the heart of the rocky cliff which towered above them.
They had never heard Ben speak of the place, and thought it strange, if a cave was really there, that he had not discovered it. Lighting a match—for Ben had long ago impressed upon them the necessity of always carrying several boxes when starting into the woods—Ed held it before him and crawled several feet into the opening. The match went out, and he lighted another and held it above his head, so that its light would not blind him. Taking advantage of the short-lived flame, he glanced quickly about. He saw that he was in a low, narrow passageway between two smooth walls of lichen-covered rock. This passageway apparently continued for some distance over a sort of loose shale-like trail. The young explorer wriggled a few feet farther in, but was at once urged to return by his anxious companion outside.
“I tell you this is a great find!” he cried, excitedly, when he had backed slowly out into daylight again. “We’ll explore it. I believe it runs ’way back into the mountain.”
“All right, only we must be careful,” warned George; “it may drop away into a pool or something. Say, suppose there’s a wildcat or a bear up in there!”
“So much the better,” laughed Ed. “We’ve met them both before, so they wouldn’t frighten us any. Tell you what we’ll do. When we go back we won’t say anything about it to Ben; we’ll keep it a secret. Then to-morrow we can bring a rope and some candles. I’ll tie the rope around my waist and crawl in. If I get stuck you can pull me out.”
“That’s a good idea; we’ll try it,” agreed George.
When they reached the cabin they said nothing about their find. They asked no questions which might betray their secret. When Ben said he might go over to see Tom Westbrook the following day, the boys looked at each other and winked. They politely refused an invitation to accompany him, on the plea that they had found something they wished to visit again. Ben smiled, but asked no questions.
Next morning, as soon as Ben had gone, they took a long length of rope, several candles, and a supply of matches, and started for the scene of their discovery. They also carried their rifles, for, as George had said, there was no telling what they might find at the end of the dark tunnel.
Eagerness gave speed to their feet, and they were soon before the entrance into the ledge. Ed shed his heavy hunting-coat, and tied the rope securely about his waist. Then he fastened one of the candles to the end of a long pole. He cautioned George to keep tight hold of the rope, and crawled boldly into the black opening.
Lest his friend might plunge over the edge of some hidden precipice and pull the rope out of his hands, George prudently took a turn of it around a near-by tree. Then, with a warning to be careful, he began letting out line, an inch at a time, as Ed wriggled into the inky depths of the unknown interior.
The rope went steadily into the hole, and George knew that his comrade was making easy progress. Then it stopped, and he became somewhat worried. Suppose it had become untied and had slipped from Ed’s waist!
George drew it gently toward him and, when he had taken up the slack, felt the weight of his friend at the other end. Then he slackened it, but the coil lay there, and the rope was motionless! Something was wrong! He waited a minute longer, and was about to pull with all his might in an effort to extricate Ed from any difficulty he might have got into, when again the rope began to slip forward into the cave.
Ed had found, as he advanced, that the passageway widened. He crawled slowly on, pausing now and then to hold the candle well out in front, so that he could see his path and safeguard himself against accident. The passage continued in a direct line; and, as he was already some distance in, Ed began to wonder if he would come to the end of his rope before he reached the end of the tunnel. If he did, he determined to cast loose and go on, for, now he had started, the lad made up his mind to find out where this dark alleyway led and what was at the end of it.
He was glad to find that the passage continued to broaden, for this promised him safe and easy return. Furthermore, should he suddenly find himself confronted by a wild beast, he would have room to use his rifle. Also he was able to make swifter progress, and he was anxious to reach the end of his journey and learn what awaited him there. The air began to grow close and stifling as he got farther in, and several times he felt a bit dizzy.
At last he came to the end of the rope, and felt it tighten and hold him back. Pushing the candle far in advance, he saw close at hand a circular cavern. Evidently the passage ended there. Ed determined to find out, and, reaching his arms around behind him, he untied the rope from his waist. Then, cautiously, he crawled forward toward the mysterious underground chamber.
When he finally crept into this large rock-bound room, Ed was surprised to find that he was able to stand erect. Even by raising himself on his toes and stretching his arms aloft he could not reach within several inches of the rocky ceiling. The place seemed to have no other occupant than himself; and, assured on that point, the lad set about to examine it carefully. Suddenly he exclaimed, for, as he turned, the light of his candle brought out some strange signs on the walls.
Chiseled, or nicked, into the solid rock were strange figures and hieroglyphics, or picture-writings. Ed began to trace them with the tips of his fingers in an endeavor to make them out. There were many drawings or tracings of arrows. Again there were rude sketches of hands and feet. Then there were figures presumably intended to represent different birds and animals. All these were separated one from another by a series of straight and wavy lines.
Most of the drawings were over to one side of the cavern. From what he had read, Ed believed them to be the work of long-departed tribes of Indians. No doubt they had made use of this cave, and to reach it had wormed their way, as he had just done, through the dark, narrow passageway. The thought of it thrilled him, and he gave a half-startled, involuntary glance about the dimly lighted chamber, as though fearful that some of the prehistoric picture-makers still lurked in its shadows.
What he saw caused him to cry out in horror. He staggered back against the wall, his eyes fixed on the gruesome object before him. There, on the ground and but a few feet away, sat a whitened human skeleton, its back against the rough wall.
For a moment the shock of his startling discovery completely unnerved him. He dropped the pole, and his candle went out. Even in the inky blackness which followed, the lad could see, all too vividly, a vision of that awful thing against the wall.
Panic-stricken, Ed sank to his knees and began to crawl frantically toward the passageway. His breath came in quick gasps, and the air of the place suddenly became suffocating. If only he could find the entrance to the tunnel and escape! That was his one thought as he scrambled hurriedly along in the darkness. It seemed as though he had gone a much longer distance than necessary, and he knew he must have passed by it. Suppose he had branched off into some other alcove of the cave and lost himself! The possibility sickened him, and he halted irresolutely.
Then the lad recalled that in his wild, unreasoning fright he had left his pole and candle somewhere behind him. He remembered the box of matches, and brought it from his pocket with violently trembling fingers and tried to light one. For some time he was unable to do so, owing to his excitement.
At last one of the sulphur-tipped slivers blazed up. Sheltering the tiny flame with his quaking palms, Ed endeavored to peer about by aid of its flickering glow. The match dropped from his nerveless fingers, and he uttered an agonized groan, for there, within arm’s reach of him, lay another appalling white specter!
For a minute or so he was unable to move, and he sat nervously wiping the perspiration from his brow. Then once more he made an effort to escape from the tomb-like prison. Lighting many matches, he at last found his way to a side wall. Keeping within touching distance, he began to follow it along, hopeful in that way sooner or later to find the mouth of the opening through which he had come.
After he had followed the smooth rock wall for a long time without coming to the outlet, Ed began to fear he had wandered from the original chamber. If he had, he realized the improbability of ever being able to find his way back. He used up many precious matches in a vain endeavor to locate himself. Then he decided to hoard the balance of his supply for use later on. Once his hand, stretched forth in the darkness, came in contact with something smooth and hard, and he drew back with a shudder—it felt like a human bone!
His knees and palms were scraped and bruised from contact with the hard floor of the cave, and several times he bumped his head against sharp, projecting points of rock. The air was dank and stuffy; but after his first wild panic had passed, Ed found that he could breathe with little real difficulty. This caused him to believe that the passageway fed a supply of air into the chamber. The belief encouraged him to hope he had not wandered far from it.
When the lad had first entered the cavern and surveyed it by the light of his candle, the place had not appeared so large. Now, as he crawled around it in the darkness, it seemed absolutely interminable.
Ed began to suspect that he had gone around it many times, and in some way had missed the outlet each time. He fastened his handkerchief in a seam of the wall, so that if he was doubling on his trail his hand would find it on the next circuit.
Many times, as he crawled along, he blamed himself for having dropped the pole. He felt some satisfaction in the knowledge that, oddly enough, he had retained possession of his rifle. For a long time he was unaware that he held it clutched in his hand; and when at last he became conscious of it, it greatly increased his confidence.
Suddenly he halted, listening intently. From the opposite side of the chamber he heard what sounded like a smothered ejaculation. He remained motionless, and, though he could not see a yard before his face, he grasped the rifle, his finger on the trigger.
Straining his ears, he thought he detected a peculiar scraping noise near the source of the first sound. Then it ceased, and, except for the noise of his own quick breathing and the pounding of his heart, all was still, and black, and gruesome.
After listening in vain for a repetition of the noise, Ed started to crawl slowly forward again. Instantly the indistinct, phantom-like voice halted him. He shuddered and sank back against the rocks. The sound subsided, and was followed by the same peculiar scraping.
He was wholly at a loss to account for it. He was certain of one thing, however, and that was that whatever made it must have just entered the cavern. He felt positive that, had there been any living thing in the cave at the time he entered, he would have seen it when his candle was lighted.
Again he reasoned that if something had just come in it must have come through the passageway, which must be, therefore, on the opposite side from him. He determined to crawl toward it and defend himself with his rifle if necessary. Anything was preferable to remaining imprisoned in this dungeon with its silent white inhabitants.
The sound was repeated more distinctly, and Ed started for it. All at once a weird, reddish glow shone forth. Involuntarily he drew back, for the light seemed ghostly and unreal.
“Ed! Oh, Ed!” came the muffled call, and he at once recognized the alarmed voice of his friend.
He uttered a cry of joy that made the cavern ring, and crawled rapidly toward the light, which he knew came from George’s candle.
“What on earth are you doing in here, and what sort of a place is it?” demanded George, when he had finally emerged from the passage.
“Wait! Put your candle right in the entrance,” urged Ed, anxiously. “I’ve been searching for that place for several hours. My, but I’m glad to see you! But say, let’s get out of here.”
“Why, what’s the matter? Now that I’m in I want to see what it’s like. Isn’t it a queer—What’s that?” shouted George, in an alarmed tone, when he spied one of the white forms.
“It’s a skeleton; there are several of them in here! Come on, let’s get out,” suggested Ed, crawling hastily into the tunnel.
“Hold on!” urged George. “They can’t hurt us.”
“I know it,” came back the stifled response from some distance up the passageway. “I’ve seen enough for me; you stay and look around.”
George held the candle high overhead and peered about the cave. He saw several bony white objects lying prostrate on the floor.
“Gee whiz, this is too blamed ‘spooky’ for me!” he cried, and quickly crawled into the tunnel after his friend.
When the lads emerged into the open air Ed told of his experience and what he had seen. For a long time they sat in front of the cave and speculated as to the fate of its silent tenants. Then they decided to hurry home and tell Ben about their discovery and ask him to accompany them on a second trip of exploration.
It was after dark when the guide returned from his visit to Westbrook. The boys showed by their manner that they had something of unusual interest to tell him. They waited impatiently while he drew off his heavy moccasins and mackinaw coat, and stood about restless and uneasy while he prepared for supper.
“Well, what is it, boys?” he laughed. “I know you have something to tell, so out with it.”
“We found a cave with a lot of skeletons in it!” George burst forth. “And Ed was in it, too; he got lost.”
For a moment Ben stood looking at them in silence. Then his eyes began to twinkle merrily, as though he suspected some sort of joke.
They noted his look of doubt, and at once hastened to reassure him.
“Honestly we did. It’s an awfully spooky sort of place, and there are a lot of figures and things carved in the rock.”
“And then those things on the floor,” added Ed.
Convinced by their earnestness, the guide frankly expressed his surprise at this unknown cave, and he asked many questions. He gave Ed a mild scolding for having ventured into such a place alone, but finally promised to go with them on the morrow.
Early next day they started for the cave. When they arrived before the entrance, Ben was puzzled to know how it could have existed for so long without his finding it. He said he had crossed over and by it many times but had never happened to notice the concealed opening.
Assured by his presence, the boys had left the rope behind as entirely unnecessary. Neither had Ben brought his rifle, for the lads declared they had seen no evidence of anything dangerous living there. The guide lighted a candle and crawled forward into the hole, closely followed by the boys.
When they reached the death-chamber, they arose and stood upright. They held aloft the lighted candles, and in the light from them were able to make out four white skeletons outlined against the gloom.
“Looks like there had been something going on here,” said Ben, as he made his way to the one propped against the wall. Ed and George did not follow him at once, and he stooped down and began examining the bony structure. “Yep, this poor fellow was plugged with three arrows,” he declared, holding up something between his fingers. “Two of them are in him, and here’s the other one on the ground.” And the guide exhibited a sharply pointed triangular-shaped piece of flint.
They examined the other forms and found evidences of wounds or arrows in each. By the side of the last they found part of a stone tomahawk, or battle-ax. Ben picked many arrow-tips from the floor of the cave and gave them to the boys for souvenirs. The boys showed him the picture writings on the wall, and he spent some time in studying them.
“Too bad we haven’t got Pete with us; he might be able to read them,” said Ben.
They found the pole and candle which George had dropped, and the guide laughed at him for having been badly frightened. Then they explored every nook and cranny. To the keen satisfaction of Ed, they found that there were no passages leading from the main room or chamber. His fears on the previous day had been groundless, had he but known it.
At last they crawled out and started for the cabin. On the way the boys plied Ben with all sorts of questions regarding the cave and the possible fate of its four occupants.
He declared that the picture-writings showed that the place had been used as a shelter by some unknown tribe of Indians many years ago. Ben thought that the four warriors whose skeletons rested in the cavern had been members of a hostile tribe. Having ventured within the borders of their enemies’ territory, they had no doubt been detected and pursued. In their flight they had accidentally come to the opening and crawled into the cave. Here, from all appearances, they had been followed and slain like rats in a trap. At least, this was Ben’s supposition, and the boys thought he was right.
The guide offered to report the find to the local paper. He promised that Ed and George should have full credit for their discovery, and declared it would probably be considered quite an important one by the State authorities.