ON AN EXPLORING EXPEDITION--A FIND IN A CAVE--THE
SEPULCHRAL VOICE--THE EXPLANATION--DESMOND
GETS SQUARE ON A TRICK--STRANGE LONGINGS--THE
FINDING OF A NUGGET.
It was about midnight when the older men lay down on their blankets to
sleep. Creedon had a big silver bull's-eye watch, and he said he always
kept it going.
Desmond pretended to lie down and go to sleep also, but his head was
filled with visions of the Mexican's hidden gold. He had an idea that
Creedon's investigations might have been very superficial; he determined
to make a thorough and systematic search, and he actually believed he
would find the hidden gold.
Brooks and Creedon were good sleepers; both were very weary and they
were soon in a sound slumber, and then Desmond arose, stole on tiptoe
over beside Creedon and secured the mask lantern. A strange, weird scene
was certainly presented. There had been a big fire; the embers were all
aglow and illuminated the cave. There lay Brooks and Creedon, looking
picturesque in their hunting garb, and there was Desmond stealing on
tiptoe under the glare of the firelight to secure the mask lantern.
Having secured the lantern the lad moved away and made for a crevice
which promised the best results. He knew enough of rock conformations to
go forward very carefully, always flashing his light ahead and studying
the path in advance, and so slowly, carefully, and surely he moved along
until he had traversed, as he calculated, a distance of two hundred and
fifty feet, when suddenly his flashlight revealed a solid wall in front
of him.
"Here we are," he muttered, "and no mistake."
Desmond saw that his explorations in that direction had ended. He
retraced his steps and selected a second crevice along which he made his
way, and at length he landed in a pretty good sized inner cave.
"Well, I reckon we've got it here."
The lad proceeded to search around with the care of a detective looking
for clues. He did find evidences of some one having been in the cave; he
found the handle of a dirk, a small bit of a deerskin hunting jacket,
and finally a little bit of pure gold. He examined the latter under his
lamp, satisfied himself that it was a nugget of real gold in its natural
state, and his heart beat fast.
"I've got it at last," he muttered; "yes, I thought I knew how to carry
on this search. Creedon must have done it too hurriedly."
Desmond felt quite proud of his success; he had struck it sure, as he
believed, and he continued his search, and was intently engaged when
suddenly he heard a sepulchral groan at the instant he had plunged into
a sort of pocket and was feeling around; but when he heard that groan he
started back into the cave and stood as white as a sheet gazing around
in every direction, and there was a wild terror in his eyes. He stood
for fully two minutes gazing and listening, and finally he said:
"Great Scott! what was that I heard--a groan?"
Desmond, although brave and vigorous, after all was but a lad of less
than eighteen. He could have faced a grizzly bear, but when it came to
the supernatural he was not equal to it. The fact was he was dead
scared, and, then again he believed he had really struck the hidden
recess where the old Mexican's gold was secreted.
The young are more susceptible to superstitious fears, as a rule, than
older people; they are not skeptical.
Desmond listened a long time, and as he did not hear the noise again,
and feeling an intense desire to find the hidden treasure, he again went
to the rock pocket and plunged in, but immediately there came again the
groan, clear, distinct, and unmistakable, and also a voice commanding:
"Go away, go away; do not disturb my gold."
The lad leaped out into the main cave again, and he trembled from head
to foot. He had never received such a shock in all his life; he had
never really believed in ghosts--never thought much about them
indeed--but here he had at least evidence that the dead did watch their
treasures. Still, the desire to secure the wealth was strong upon him;
naturally he was, as our readers know, very nervy, and he determined to
argue with the ghost. He reasoned that the hidden wealth could be of no
benefit to the spirit where he was, and he thought he might talk him
into keeping quiet.
It was in a trembling voice that Desmond asked:
"Is the spirit here?"
The answer came:
"I am here."
A more experienced person than Desmond would have gotten on to the fact
that it was very strange that the spirit should answer him in such good
English, it being supposed to be the spirit of a Mexican, but spirits
probably can talk any language. At any rate, Desmond did not stop to
consider.
"Do you own the gold?"
"Yes."
"Why can't I have it? I've found it."
"You get away as quick as you can or I'll seize you."
Well, well, this was a great state of affairs; Desmond did not ask any
more questions. He seized his lamp and started to limp from the cave,
and he was white and trembling. He made his way to Creedon Hall and
beheld Brooks and Creedon standing over the fire. On the face of Brooks
there was an amused look, and on Creedon's an expression of real
jollity.
"Great sakes! Desmond," demanded Brooks, "where have you been? I awoke
and found you missing, and Creedon and I have been scared almost to
death."
Desmond tried to assume an indifferent air, and said:
"I wasn't sleepy, so I thought I would go and explore a little."
"You had better be careful how you explore around here."
"Why?"
"Well, that's all; I won't say any more, but be careful, or you may be
suddenly missing."
"What did you find, boy?"
"I'll tell you all about it in the morning."
The men retired to their blankets and Desmond also lay down, after
having promised that he would not attempt to explore any more that
night.
He did not sleep, however; the phantom voice, the treasure, and his
discovery kept him awake, and he lay thinking about ghosts and goblins,
and he muttered;
"Hang it! I never believed in ghosts;" then as he lay there, there came
to his mind a recollection of the jolly look that had rested on the face
of the guide, and there came to his mind a suspicion, and then a
certainty, that he had been fooled. He was a wonderfully sharp lad, and
he began to think the whole matter over, and he recalled the fact that
the ghost had spoken good English.
"Hang me!" he muttered, "if I don't believe I've been made a victim of a
huge joke, and Brooks and Creedon are both guilty in aiding to give me a
scare. All right, to-morrow we will see all about it; I'll get square."
Desmond did fall asleep at length, and when he awoke Brooks and Creedon
were eating their breakfast, and Creedon said as Desmond joined them:
"So you were exploring last night?"
"Yes."
"What did you find?"
"Gold."
"You did?"
"Yes."
"Oh, come off."
"I did."
"You think you did."
"I did, I'll swear I did."
"Where did you find it?"
"In a cave which one of those passages leads to."
"You found gold?"
"Yes."
"You will have to be careful."
"Careful?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"You'll strike the ghost."
"The ghost?"
"Yes."
"What ghost?"
"The ghost of the old Mexican."
"I did think I heard a groan. Tell me about the old Mexican."
"I've told you all I know about him, and I'll tell you that in my
opinion it will be dangerous to meddle with his gold, even if you found
it."
"Could that old Mexican speak English?"
"A little."
"Only a little?" repeated Desmond.
"Yes."
"Then it's just as I suspected; I tell you I was scared at first, but
when the old ghost answered me--"
"When the ghost answered you?" demanded Creedon.
"Yes."
"Did you see the ghost?"
"I heard him--that is, I thought I did--and I spoke to him, but he gave
me back such good English I made up my mind that you didn't know how to
play a joke. Next time stick to the broken English; you might have
scared the life out of me then."
Brooks and Creedon laughed, and the latter said:
"Well, you are smart, you are; but, lad, let me tell you something:
don't spend time looking for the Mexican's gold."
"Why not?"
"I've explored every nook and cranny in this mountain, and there is no
treasure hidden here."
"But I found some gold."
"You did?"
"Yes."
Creedon and Brooks stared.
"Are you in earnest?"
"I am."
"Where did you find it?"
"Well, I am going to consider awhile before I tell."
Brooks looked Desmond straight in the face, and asked:
"Boy, honest, did you really find gold?"
"Yes, I did."
The matter began to assume a very serious aspect, for Desmond spoke
seriously.
"If you found any gold, lad, you've beat me."
"I did find gold."
"On your honor?"
"Yes."
"Well, here we are on shares; tell us all about it."
Desmond laughed in turn; they had had their laugh and he had his laugh,
as he said:
"Here is what I found."
The lad produced the little nugget he had picked up and then Creedon
laughed, and said:
"By George! that is the bit of gold I lost, and I had a good hunt for
it."
Our hero had been impressed by Creedon's statement that he had examined
every nook and corner in the mountain, and yet he did feel a sort of
hankering notion that he could find the gold, and he said:
"I want to explore again."
"All right; it can do no harm, but I will relinquish all claim now to
any gold that you may find in this cave."
"I'll take you at your word," said Desmond.
Of course the youth had no real hope of ever finding any gold, but it is
a known fact that such finds have been made, and sometimes the skeletons
of the owners have been found bleaching beside their gold.