This offer was at once accepted, and a party well armed, headed by young Billings, and guided by Jones Bradley, set out immediately.

CHAPTER XIV.

When Captain Flint made his escape from prison, it naturally enough occurred to him, that the safest place for him for awhile, would be the cave.

In it he thought he could remain in perfect safety, until he should find an opportunity for leaving the country.

The cave, or at least the secret chamber, was unknown to any except his crew, and those who were confined in it.

On leaving the cave, the last time, with a heartlessness worthy a demon, he had barred the entrance to the cavern on the outside, so as to render it impossible for those confined there to escape in that direction.

In fact, he had, be supposed, buried them alive--left them to die of hunger.

Captain Flint reached the entrance of the cave in safety, and found everything as he had left it.

On reaching the inner chamber where he had left the two women and the negro boy, he was startled to find the place apparently deserted, while all was in total darkness, except where a few rays found their way through the crevices of the rocks.

He called the names first of one, and then another, but the only answer he received was the echo of his own voice.

How was this? could they be all sleeping or dead?

They certainly could not have made their escape, for the fastenings were all as he had left them.

The means of striking fire were at hand, and a lamp was soon lighted.

He searched the cave, but could discover no trace of the missing ones.

A strange horror came over him, such as he had never felt before.

The stillness oppressed him; no living enemy could have inspired him with the fear he now felt from being alone in this gloomy cavern.

"I must leave this place," he said, "I would rather be in prison than here."

Again he took up the lamp, and went round the cave, but more this time in hopes of finding some weapon to defend himself with, in case he should be attacked, than with the hope of discovering the manner in which those he had left there had contrived to make their escape.

It had been his custom, lately, on leaving the cavern, to take his weapons with him, not knowing what use might be made of them by the women under the provocation, to which they were sometimes subjected.

The only weapon he could find was a large dagger. This he secured, and was preparing to leave the cavern, when he thought he saw something moving in one corner.

In order to make sure that he had not been mistaken, he approached the place.

It was a corner where a quant.i.ty of skins had been thrown, and which it had not been convenient for him to remove, when he left the cavern.

Thinking that one of these skins might be of service to him in the life he would be obliged to live for some time, he commenced sorting them over, for the purpose of finding one that would answer his purpose, when a figure suddenly sprang up from the pile.

It would be hard to tell which of the two was the more frightened.

"Dat you, ma.s.sa," at length exclaimed the familiar voice of Black Bill. "I tought it was de debil come back agin to carry me off."

"What, is that you, Bill?" said Flint, greatly relieved, and glad to find some one who could explain the strange disappearance of h.e.l.lena and Lightfoot.

"Where are the rest, Bill?" he asked; "where's the white girl and the Indian woman?"

"Debble carry dim off," said Bill.

"What do you mean, you black fool?" said his master; "if you don't tell me where they've gone, I'll break your black skull for you."

"Don't know where dar gone," said Bill, tremblingly, "Only know dat de debble take dem away."

Flint finding that he was not likely to get anything out of the boy by frightening him, now changed his manner, saying;

"Never mind, Bill, let's hear all about it."

The boy rea.s.sured, now told his master that the night before while he was lying awake near the pile of skins and the women were asleep, he saw the walls of the cavern divide and a figure holding a blazing torch such as he had never seen before, enter the room.

"I tought," said Bill, "dat it was de debble comin' arter you agin, ma.s.sa, and I was 'fraid he would take me along, so I crawled under de skins, but I made a hole so dat I could watch what he was doin'."

"He looked all round a spell for you, ma.s.sa, an' when he couldn't find you, den he went were de women was sleepin' an woke dem up and made dem follow him.

"Den da called me and looked all ober for me an' couldn't find me, an'

de debble said he couldn't wait no longer, an' dat he would come for me annudder time, An den de walls opened agin, an' da all went true togedder. When I heard you in de cave, ma.s.sa, I tought it was de debble come agin to fetch me, an' so I crawled under de skins agin."

From this statement of the boy, Flint come to the conclusion that Bill must have been too much frightened at the time to know what was actually taking place.

One thing was certain, and that was the prisoners had escaped, and had been aided in their escape by some persons, to him unknown, in a most strange and mysterious manner.

Over and over again he questioned Black Bill, but every time with the same result.

The boy persisted in the statement, that he saw the whole party pa.s.s out through an opening in the walls of the cavern.

That they had not pa.s.sed out through the usual entrance was evident, for he found everything as he had left it.

Again he examined the walls of the cavern, only to be again baffled and disappointed.

He began to think that may be after all, the cavern was under a spell of enchantment, and that the women had actually been carried off in the manner described by the negro.

The boy was evidently honest in his statement, believing that he was telling nothing that was not true.

But be all this as it might, the mere presence of a human being, even though a poor negro boy, was sufficient to enable him to shake off the feeling of loneliness and fear, with which he was oppressed upon entering the cavern.

He now determined to remain in the cavern for a short time.

Long enough at least to make a thorough examination of the place, before taking his departure.

This determination of Captain Flint's was by no means agreeable to the negro boy.