THE HIDDEN VOICE.
FOR a few minutes Charley was almost a prey to vague, suspicious fears,
which lie hidden deep in most of mankind. The suddenness of his chum's
disappearance, the ages-old stockade, the ancient fort, with its
grewsome occupants, all gave force to weird imaginings; but, with an
effort, the practical lad shook off his gloomy thoughts with the simple
logic that age is no more mysterious than youth, and that dead men are
less to be feared than live ones. But, in spite of his sound reasoning,
the worried lad could not imagine what had become of his chum. He was
not in the stockade; he was not in either clearing; he was not among
the orange trees; he was not back with the ponies, yet he had passed
out of the fort not five minutes ahead of himself, but at this point in
his reasoning Charley gave a start. He had found the flaw in his own
logic. He had no proof that Walter had passed out of the fort. Affected
as the lad had been by the grewsome sights, he might have fainted
before reaching the open air and he might well have passed him by in
the dim light without noticing him.
Hastily gathering some dry sticks, Charley held them in one hand and
fired the ends. As soon as his torch was blazing good, he entered the
fort, and, holding it aloft, inspected the lower chamber. Near the
middle of the chamber he found Walter's rifle lying on the stone floor,
but a close search showed no other trace of the missing lad. Puzzled,
he ascended to the upper chamber, but here he found everything as he
had left it, and he descended again to the lower chamber, convinced
that in it must lie the key to the mystery, for he was certain Walter
would not have left the fort without taking his gun with him.
Walking around the stone chamber, Charley held his torch aloft and
inspected the solid floor and walls, in the vain hope of discovering
some clew to his chum's mysterious disappearance.
Suddenly he gave a frightened cry, and flung out his arms to save
himself, for something had given way beneath his feet, and he felt
himself sinking downward. Fortunately, his instinctive action had been
so quick that his extended arms caught on the stone floor and saved
him from sinking into the gaping black hole beneath him. Summoning up
all his strength, the lad drew himself up out of the trap into which
he had partly fallen, and, seizing the torch he had dropped, surveyed
the spot. A large stone slab was slowly lifting back into place. In a
flash, the lad grasped the situation. The slab had been so cunningly
contrived as to appear part of the solid floor, but, when a person
stepped on one end the slab would tilt down, sending the victim down to
the depths below, and, when his weight was removed, the slab would tilt
back into place again.
Charley was quick to act. Sitting down on the floor, he placed his
feet against the end of the slab and pressed downward. The end of the
stone immediately tipped downward, exposing the dark hole beneath, and
the lad shoved his rifle across the opening to prevent the slab from
lifting back into place. From below him came a call that sent his heart
bounding with joy: "Is that you, Charley?" it said.
"Yes. Are you hurt, Walt?" replied the delighted lad.
"Not much; some bruises, and a bump on my head, that's all. But, for
goodness sake, hurry and get me out of here. The air is so foul it is
making me feel faint. Get the ropes off the ponies, and fasten them
together. I do not believe this hole is more than fifteen feet deep.
But hurry, hurry!"
Charley was off like a shot and back in a few minutes with the halters
from the two ponies. Hastily knotting them together, he fastened one
end to a projecting stone in the wall, and let the other end down to
his chum, who, white-faced and shaken, crawled up it, hand over hand.
Pausing only to secure their rifles and the ropes, the two lads hurried
out into the open air.
"Gee!" said Walter, drawing long breaths of the sweet, pure air, "I
thought I was a goner that time. I kept calling and calling after I
fell, but when you did not answer I knew that you could not hear me.
When I was sure that my voice did not penetrate outside of the hole I
gave up hope, for I was positive that you would not find out the secret
of that slab unless you stepped upon it, and, if you did that, there
would be two of us buried alive, instead of one. Ugh!" he concluded,
with a shudder, "I know now what fear is--genuine, blind, unreasoning
fear."
The boys stopped at the orange trees only long enough to fill their
game bags with the golden fruit, and hastened on to their ponies,
fearful that, with no halters on, they might have turned back for
Indiantown, but, much to their relief, they found the two animals
browsing contentedly by the roadside. Each slung a turkey from one side
of his saddle and a loaded game bag from the other, and, mounting,
they rode on for their goal, the great lake. About four o'clock they
rode out from a heavy growth of timber into full view of the broad,
shining blue waters, and a few minutes later reined in their mounts on
a high, grass-covered bank, shaded by big live oaks. Here they staked
out their ponies to browse upon the sweet, tender grass, and, after a
plunge in the cool waters of the lake, began their preparations for the
night. Walter gathered great bunches of moss, and made soft beds at
the base of a huge live-oak tree. Charley lit a big fire of live oak
and pine, and, while it was burning down into a bed of glowing coals,
he dressed and cut up the two turkeys, and soon had them frying and
stewing in the pan and kettle they had brought with them. While Charley
tended to the cooking, Walter gathered armfuls of dry wood and placed
them in a circle around the oak, where he had made the beds. Before
night fell everything was ready, and the boys sat down to a delicious
meal of fried and stewed turkey and the eatables they had brought with
them. They had eaten nothing since morning, and, when the meal was
over, they were full enough and tired enough to be content to lie upon
the grassy bank and simply gaze out at the glories of the sunset on the
waters of the lake. When at last the light began to fail they watered
their ponies and staked them in a fresh place, close to where they were
going to sleep. This done, they started up the circle of fires around
the tree and stretched out on their soft moss bed with a pleasant
feeling of security, knowing that the slow-burning live-oak wood would
keep the fires burning all night and protect them from all snakes and
wild animals.
"I have been wondering why that hole was made in that old fort," said
Walter, as they lay on their backs gazing up at the stars. "It isn't
deep enough for a well or a dungeon."
"Maybe it was a hiding place for their treasures," suggested Charley,
idly.
"By Jove, I believe you've hit it," Walter exclaimed. "And that reminds
me that I picked up something for a souvenir of my adventure before I
climbed out. I couldn't see what it was, for the hole was dark and I
had no matches. It was something hard, round and heavy. I have got it
in my game bag now."
"Get it out and let's see what it is," said Charley, interested.
Walter rummaged in his game bag and brought out a round object, about a
foot long and ten inches in circumference.
"Looks like a piece of petrified wood," he said, as he handed it over
for his chum's inspection.
Charley took it, and, drawing near the fire, examined it closely. "Too
heavy for petrified wood," he commented, as he took out his knife and
scraped away at the green encrusted object. "By Jove! Look here," he
exclaimed a moment later.
Walter bent over and looked at the place where his chum had been
scraping. A reddish-brown color appeared where the green crust had
been removed.
"Is it gold?" he asked, excitedly.
"No," Charley replied. "It's copper. Let's scrape the balance of this
verdigris off, and see if we can get an idea what it was intended for."
Laying the cylinder on the ground between them, both boys set to
scraping away the green crust, and in a short time they had it all
removed, leaving exposed the bright metal beneath it.
"Looks like there was a crack running around it near that end," Walter
observed, as Charley held the cylinder down by the fire for closer
examination.
"There is," agreed his chum, excitedly. "I believe the thing is hollow.
That this end is nothing but a close fitting cap. Shall I see if I can
knock it off?"
"Sure," agreed Walter, and Charley hammered against the end with his
hunting knife. Suddenly the end gave way and out on the ground before
the boys fell a shower of gold coins and jewelry.
Charley picked up one of the coins and held it to the light. "It's a
Spanish doubloon," he announced breathlessly. "Let's count them and put
them back in the cylinder. This is almost too good to be true."
The gold coins were gathered up from the ground and counted. There
proved to be a thousand dollars' worth altogether. Besides the coins,
there were some twenty gold rings set with gems, but these the boys
were too inexperienced to tell the full value of. They, as well as the
gold coins, were put back into the cylinder, and it was replaced in the
game bag.
"I expect there are more where those came from," Walter remarked.
"I doubt it," said his chum, thoughtfully. "Even what we have found
would have been considered a big amount in the days of those Spaniards.
We can look when we go back to-morrow. Meanwhile, I am going to get me
a good night's sleep. To-morrow is going to be another hard day."