250 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Feb. 12, i^o- 
an’ then with a feeble walk started back the 
way he came. We followed. I knowed there 
was somethin’ that dog had to tell if he could. 
We follered him on an’ down the side of a 
ridge, an’ turnin’ to the right, he went about 
fifty yards an’ laid down. Now, if you could 
’a’ seen the look he give me when I held him 
up—it was so earnest like; then his head fell 
over on my shoulder an’ Dutch an’ I parted 
company after bein' together so many years. 
“Judson says in a broken whisperin’ sort of 
voice: ‘Nathan, do you know what sort of 
ground we are on? That hound afore he died 
has brought us back to near where we slept 
last night.’ I jumped up in a hurry, an’ what 
do you think! If there wasn’t the very big 
rock what the man in the dark clothes had stood 
beside. ‘What made Dutch come here? ’Pears 
to me the old dog must know somethin’ an’ by 
the way he throwed his head up an’ looked at 
me he must have winded something or some¬ 
body. He knowed where the shot come from; 
it’s mighty queer an’ puzzles me.’ 
“I picked up Dutch an’ carried him back to 
where the bear was. The next afternoon some 
help come up the mountain an’ brought the bear 
in. I was all sort of broke up over the way 
things had turned out, an’ made up my mind 
to ask Judson to go with me an’ see if we could 
not find some clue to the death of the dog. 
“Judson an’ me started up the mountain in 
the mornin’, an’ the first place we come to was 
the cedar tree where we slept that night, an’ 
lookin’ up the ridge we could see the big rock, 
an’ as we looked I could a’most see that man 
cornin’ out as I had seen him that night. We 
looked all around the rock. Then I went down 
to the cedar tree an’ looked up at the rock. 
Then I noticed to the left of the rock some 
heavy bushes, an’ from where I was standin’ 
the place looked deep an’ dark. So I goes up 
and parts the bushes an’ walks in. They was 
as high as my head an’ the ground got lower. 
Then I noticed the bushes were sort of worn. 
I went a few feet further an’ then the ground 
sunk sudden an’ I felt a little cool air on my 
face. Peerin’ down, I looked in a hole big 
enough for a couple of men to crawl into at 
once. 
“I had found the entrance to a cave an’ pretty 
clear evidence as to how the man in black dis¬ 
appeared so sudden, an’ good evidence, too, that 
my seein’ him wasn’t no dream, an’ a tolerable 
idea as how the man what shot my dog must 
know more about that cave than me, an’ a 
mighty clear idea as to how me and Judson 
Frost would know a little somethin’ about this 
cave also.” 
Following Nathan Thorn’s account as nearly 
as possible I will describe the further actions 
of these two young men, who decided to boldly 
enter the cave and see what it contained. While 
Nathan remained close to the cave, Frost went 
home for a lantern, candles and matches. La‘e 
in the afternoon Frost returned. They lunched, 
and taking enough food for a couple of meals, 
filling a flask with water and cutting a stout 
stick six feet long, they entered the cave, and 
the lantern was lighted. For the first hundred 
feet a cool air was on their faces, but this was 
no longer felt when the tunnel broadened out 
into a large cavern. 
A piece of candle was lighted and placed on 
a rock where they stood, then fastening the 
lantern to the end of the long stick, one man 
carrying this and his rifle, while the other held 
his rifle for instant use, they followed the walls 
of the cavern to discover another outlet. They 
came to a high pile of rock over and around 
which could be felt a current of pure air. Giv¬ 
ing each other a significant look, they kept on 
around until in the dim distance like a star 
could be seen the piece of candle at the cavern 
mouth. 
Satisfied thus far that there were no other 
exits from the cavern, the candle was extin¬ 
guished, and they returned, and walking around 
the pile of rocks found themselves in another 
room similar to the one just left. It broadened 
out, apparently covering half an acre, and while 
pausing, a faint sigh or whisper broke the in¬ 
tense stillness. Instinctively they stood shoul¬ 
der to shoulder, with hearts stilled. Again came 
the faint murmur or soft echo of a human voice 
and so unmistakable as to cause Nathan to ex¬ 
tinguish the light. In total darkness they lis¬ 
tened, rifles ready for quick work. While thus 
standing, a faint halo of light was observed, 
seemingly a long distance away, having the ap¬ 
pearance of a reflection more than a light it¬ 
self. 
“Shall we see what that is?” asked Frost. An 
affirmative reply from Nathan and both moved 
forward with extreme caution toward the light, 
not knowing what they might encounter; pos¬ 
sibly death at the hands of outlaws—for they 
were now convinced that others than themselves 
were in the cave, and possibly there for work 
that would not bear investigation. Suddenly the 
shadowy light brightened and again that mur¬ 
mur of a human voice was audible. 
Both men paused, and cocking their rifles ad¬ 
vanced slowly, and with extreme caution, for 
the rocky floor was uneven. Suddenly the light 
brightened a little, then they saw it was re¬ 
flected from the rocks directly in front of them 
and seemed to come from below. The explorers 
now crept forward on hands and knees, until 
stopped by a rock four feet high. They rose, 
and peering over this rock, looked with amaze¬ 
ment into a room twenty feet below them well 
lighted by candles. Two or three plain tables 
and four splint-bottom homemade chairs was all 
the furniture that could be seen. At one table 
were three men engaged in handling pieces of 
grayish paper of bank note size and conversing 
in low tones. 
The first glance at the scene below them so 
surprised and startled Frost and Nathan as to 
cause them to sink back behind the rock, for 
both had recognized the man with the pale face 
in the dark clothes. They had also seen a lad¬ 
der the top of which projected above the rock 
which screened them. Whispering, they decided 
to withdraw and hold a council. 
Nathan wanted to walk boldly among the 
men. He did not appreciate the danger of so 
rash an act. Frost, thinking deeper, told 
Nathan they would again watch proceedings be¬ 
low. The man with the pale face was holding 
in one hand a magnifying glass and slowly 
passing it over the oblong pieces of paper, and 
as he would finish his inspection, pass the piece 
to a heavy-set man at his left, who, glancing 
a moment at it, dipped a pen in ink, wrote 
rapidly on the gray paper and handed it to the 
third man who carefully held it a short distance 
above the flame of a spirit lamp, drying the 
ink, after which it was placed in a large leather 
book under a heavy weight—a very interesting 
operation. Frost and Nathan dropped behind 
the rock. Putting his mouth close to Nathan’s 
ear, Frost whispered, “Counterfeiters.” 
At the mention of the word both realized 
their peril. Silently withdrawing from the 
cave, they went to a spring nearby and con¬ 
versed in low tones as to the best policy to 
pursue with reference to the select party in the 
cave. Nathan wished to shoot into the gang. 
“That won't do,” said Frost, “there are three 
of ’em, and they’ll be too much for us; besides, 
that is like cold blooded murder—they ain’t 
done nothin’ in particular to us ’ceptin’ killin’ 
the hound. That was bad enough, I guess, but 
ain’t no account as how we should kill ’em.” 
“That’s all right, Judson, but don’t you see, 
if we shoot into ’em it’s pretty tolerable certain 
there’ll be only one man left and he won’t last 
long. I kin jist kill the man that shot poor 
innocent Dutch, if he stood right there afore 
me, and as there is no tellin’ which of them 
fired at the dog, ’pears to me we’d jist better 
walk into ’em.” 
“No, Nathan, that won’t do. I am thinking 
as how it would be best for us to go down to 
Glenham and see the constable, and likely as 
not something will be done.” 
“I’ll stay and watch the cave,” said Nathan, 
an’ you go for help—an’ don’t bring any more’n 
two men, the constable and one other. I guess 
four of us can manage them cusses. If you tell 
it all around the village, there will be a whole 
passel of men an’ boys up here by daylight a- 
whoopin’ an yellin’ an’ scare the game.” 
Frost would not agree to allow Nathan to 
remain, fearing he might be tempted to again 
enter the cave and do something rash. After 
some persuasion, Nathan started for the village, 
and Frost composing himself as best be could, 
waited for his companion’s return, revolving in 
his mind the best means of approach and at¬ 
tack on the counterfeiters’ stronghold. The 
first streak of dawn was appearing when Frost 
heard a low whistle in the direction of the cave. 
Dropping flat, he crawled toward the cave, 
reaching a position where he could command a 
view of the big rock. As daylight came on the 
bushes parted and the man in the dark clothes 
appeared. It was a strong temptation for Frost 
to cover him with his rifle and demand his sur¬ 
render. The man, who was tall and powerfully 
built, rested one hand on the rock, raised the 
other to his mouth and whistled. Almost im¬ 
mediately it was answered from the south. 
Then a second man appeared. They conversed 
eagerly for some moments, and then laughing, 
disappeared in the bushes. 
It was eight o’clock before Thorn returned 
with the constable and two other men. Nathan 
had quietly notified them of all he and Frost 
had seen and heard, and all were armed. 
The five men now held a consultation and 
agreed that they would enter the cavern, and 
on arriving at the rock overlooking the lower 
room, each to cover his man, and the con¬ 
stable to demand surrender. The lighted 
lantern was tied on the end of a stick and held 
in advance, while four men kept their rifles 
ready. They passed the pile of rocks, then put 
out the light. In front was the halo or 'pe-f 
fleeted light as observed before. Listening for 
the slightest whisper, they were not rewarded. 
