The Boy Land Boomer | Page 6

two on
the chin and the final pair on either side of Tucker's big and reddish
nose. The cavalryman, taken by surprise, let out a cry of rage and pain.
"You imp!" he screamed. "To hit a man in uniform! I'll show you what
I can do! How do you like that?"
With incredible swiftness he drew his heavy Sabra and leaped upon
Dick. The boy tried to retreat, but slipped on the wet ground and went
down. On the instant Tucker was upon him, and, with a fierce cry, the
infuriated cavalryman raised his blade over Dick's head.
CHAPTER III.
A CAVE AND A CAVE-IN.

Let us go back and see what happened to Pawnee Brown at the time the
lariat parted and he found himself going down into what seemed
bottomless space.
Instinctively he put out both hands as far as he was able, to grasp
anything which might come within reach and thereby check his awful
downward course.
The lantern fell from his fingers and jingled to pieces on a protruding
rock.
Then his right hand slid over the ends of a bush growing out of a
fissure. He caught the bush and held on like grim death.
The bush gave way, but not instantly, and his descent was checked so
that the tumble to the bottom of the hole, fifteen feet further down, was
not near as bad as it would otherwise have been.
Yet he came down sideways, and his head striking a flat rock, he was
knocked insensible.
Half an hour went by, and he opened his eyes in a wondering way.
Where was he and what had happened?
Soon the truth burst upon him, and he staggered to his feet to see if any
bones had been broken.
"All whole yet, thanks to my usual good luck," he thought. "But that's a
nasty lump on the back of my head. Hullo, up there!"
He called out as loudly as he could, but no answer came back, for Dick
and Pumpkin were already gone.
"Well, I always allowed that I would explore the Devil's Chimney some
day, but I didn't calculate to do it quite so soon," he went on. "What can
have become of those boys? Have they deserted me or gone off for help?
If I can read character I fancy that Dick Arbuckle will do all he can for
me--and, by the way, can his father's corpse really be down here?"

He brought forth a match and lit it. The battered lantern lay close at
hand, and, although without a glass, it was still better than nothing, and,
turned well up, gave forth a torch-like flame which lit up the
surroundings for a dozen feet or more. No body was there, nor did he
find any for the full distance up and down the dismal hole.
"The boy was mistaken; his father wandered elsewhere," was the
boomer's conclusion. "Poor fellow, he was in no mental or physical
condition to push his claims in the West. He should have remained at
home and allowed some hustling Western lawyer to act for him. If he
falls into the clutches of some of our land agents they'll swindle him
out of every cent of his fortune. I must give him and the boy the tip
when I get the chance." The great scout laughed softly. "When I get the
chance is good. I reckon I had best pull myself out of this man-trap
first."
He made a careful investigation of the rocks. At no point was there
anything which gave promise of a footing to the top.
"In a pocket and no error," he mused. "I wonder if I've got to stay here
like a bull-croaker at the bottom of a well?"
The rain had formed a long pool between the slanting rocks. He threw a
chip into this pool and saw that it drifted slowly off between two scrub
bushes growing partly under a shelving rock.
With the light he made an inspection of the locality, and a cry of
surprise escaped him. Beyond the bushes was the opening to an
irregular, but apparently large cavern.
The stream flowed along one side of the flooring to this opening.
"Must be some sort of an outlet beyond," he mused. "I'll try it and see,"
and in a moment more he was inside of the cavern and crawling along
on hands and knees.
He had not far to go in this fashion. Twenty feet beyond the cavern
became so large that he could stand up with ease. He flashed the light

above his head.
"By Jove! a miniature Mammoth Cave of Kentucky!" burst from his
lips.
On he went until a bend in the formation of the cavern was gained.
Here the stream of water disappeared under a