172 THE RED MOUNTAIN OF ALASKA. 
out of the face of the slab for its reception and partial 
concealment. The ring was covered and eaten into by a 
thick layer of rust, and when Mr. Button pried it out of 
its socket, and endeavored to raise the slab, the iron, 
nearly cut through by the rust, broke with such sudden- 
ness that the lieutenant sat down hard, at the feet of the 
startled Chloe, whose eyes had been growing rounder at 
every new development. 
" Laws, massa ! " she cried, her teeth chattering with 
dread and the chill dampness of the place, d-don't go no 
furder. Dat's an orful place, dar. Nobody knows what's 
in under dat stone. 'Pears like sumhn '11 jump up at us, 
jes' so soon as dat stone comes off." 
Dick added to the black woman's dismay by stamping 
on the slab, which gave out a dismally hollow sound. 
Don't you be afraid, auntie," said he, good-naturedly, 
seeing that she was really terrified by the combination of 
the storm, the strange land, and the mystery beneath 
their feet. " This is nothing but a sort of private cellar, 
I reckon, where those old Russians kept their wines and 
other property they didn't care to have their coppery 
neighbors get hold of." 
" And when the door was covered with ashes," added 
Flossie, who felt the importance of a first discoverer, " of 
course no one could ever find it." 
There was a delightful sort of Captain Kidd flavor about 
the whole thing, however, which urged them all to make 
further investigations. At the same time, each one felt 
