178 T^^E RED MOUNTAIN OF ALASKA. 
As soon as lie could steady his nerves^ and could leave 
the shuddering girl by herself, at the entrance of the 
gallery, the lieutenant proceeded to investigate. 
Repressing his strong feeling of revulsion, he moved 
across the room, and satisfied himself that this was really 
the end of the passage. The sound of the tempest was 
now more indistinct than ever, by which he gathered that 
they were farther below the surface than at any previous 
point in their walk. 
The room had evidently not been meant for permanent 
habitation. There was no apparent means for ventilation, 
and no arrangement for either cooking or sleeping. 
Rather, it might be a place of refuge in times of sudden 
attack ; of concealment of valuable property, were the 
safety of the fort threatened. Could that be the key to 
the excavation ? Was the man engaged in burying a 
hoard of treasure ? But, if so, why did he stop, and die ? 
It could not have been a violent death, for that easy sit- 
ting position would not have been taken. 
All these thoughts flashed through the lieutenant's 
mind as he gathered up the fragments of mouldy paper, 
and tried to decipher them by the dim light of the pocket- 
lantern. Nothing, however, could be made out, and he 
stuffed the papers into his pocket for future inspection. 
There was one piece of paper, j^ellow and tattered, 
toward which Richard felt an overwhelming repugnance; 
yet that might explain the man's errand in that dismal 
burrow, and might disclose information that would be 
