CHAPTER VI.
When the crew of the schooner woke up on the morning following thenight in which we have described in a previous chapter, they were byno means the reckless, dare-devil looking men they were when theyentered the cave on the previous evening.
For besides the usual effects produced on such characters by a night'sdebauch, their countenances wore the haggard suspicious look of menwho felt judgment was hanging over them; that they were in the handsof some mysterious power beyond their control. Some power from whichthey could not escape, and which sooner or later, would mete out tothem the punishment they felt that they deserved.
They had all had troubled dreams, and several of them declared thatthey had heard that terrible groan during the night repeated ifpossible, in a more horrible manner than before.
To others the ghosts of the men they had lately murdered, appearedmenacing them with fearful retribution.
As the day advanced, and they had to some extent recovered theirspirits by the aid of their favorite stimulants, they attempted tolaugh the matter off as a mere bugbear created by an imagination overheated by too great an indulgence in strong drink.
Although this opinion was not shared by Captain Flint, who hadcarefully abstained from over-indulgence, for reasons of his own, heencouraged it in his men.
But even they, while considering it necessary to remain quiet for afew days, to see whether or not, any harm should result to them, inconsequence of their late attack on the merchant ship, none of themshowed a disposition to pass another night in the cave.
Captain Flint made no objection to his men remaining outside on thefollowing night, as it would give him the opportunity to investigatethe matter, which he desired.
On the next night, when there was no one in the cavern but himself andthe two who usually occupied it, he called Lightfoot to him, and askedher if she had ever heard any strange noises in the place before.
"Sometime heard de voices of the Indian braves dat gone to the spiritland," said the woman.
"Did you ever hear anything like the groan we heard last night?"
"Neber," said Lightfoot.
"What do you think it was?" asked the captain.
"Tink him de voice ob the great bad spirit," was the reply.
Captain Flint, finding that he was not likely to learn anything inthis quarter that would unravel the mystery, now called the negro.
"Bill," he said, "did you ever hear that noise before?"
"Ony once, massa."
"When was that, Bill?"
"When you trow my--"
"Hold your tongue, you black scoundrel, or I'll break every bone inyour body!" roared his master, cutting off the boy's sentence in themiddle.
The boy was going to say:
"When you trow'd my fadder into the sea."
The captain now examined every portion of the cavern, to see if hecould discover anything that could account for the production of thestrange sound.
In every part he tried his voice, to see if he could produce thoseremarkable echoes, which had so startled him, on the previous night,but without success.
The walls, in various parts of the cavern, gave back echoes, butnothing like those of the previous night.
There were two recesses in opposite sides of the cave. The larger oneof these was occupied by Lightfoot as a sleeping apartment. The other,which was much smaller, Black Bill made use of for the same purpose.
From these two recesses, the captain had everything removed, in orderthat he might subject them to a careful examination.
But with no better success than before.
He tried his voice here, as in other parts of the cavern, but thewalls gave back no unusual echoes.
He was completely baffled, and, placing his lamp on the table, he satdown on one of the seats, to meditate on what course next to pursue.
Lightfoot and Bill soon after, at his request, retired.
He had been seated, he could not tell how long, with his head restingon his hands, when he was aroused by a yell more fearful, if possible,even than the groan that had so alarmed him on the previous night.
The yell was repeated in the same horrible and mysterious manner thatthe groan had been.
Flint sprang to his feet while the echoes were still ringing in hisears, and rushed to the sleeping apartment, first, to that of theIndian woman, and then, to that of the negro.
They both seemed to be sound asleep, to all appearance, utterlyunconscious of the fearful racket that was going on around them.
Captain Flint, more perplexed and bewildered than ever, resumed hisseat by the table; but not to sleep again that night, though thefearful yell was not repeated.
The captain prided himself on being perfectly free from allsuperstition.
He held in contempt the stories of ghosts of murdered men coming backto torment their murderers.
In fact, he was very much inclined to disbelieve in any hereafter atall, taking it to be only an invention of cunning priests, for thepurpose of extorting money out of their silly dupes. But here wassomething, which, if not explained away, would go far to stagger hisdisbelief.
He was glad that the last exhibition had only been witnessed byhimself, and that the men for the present preferred passing theirnights outside; for, as he learned from Lightfoot, the noises wereonly during the night time.
This would enable him to continue his investigation without anyinterference on the part of the crew, whom he wished to keep in utterignorance of what he was doing, until he had perfectly unraveled themystery.
For this purpose, he gave Lightfoot and Black Bill strict charges notto inform the men of what had taken place during the night.
He was determined to pass the principal portion of the day in sleep,so as to be wide awake when the time should come for him to resume hisinvestigations.
Fire Cloud; Or, The Mysterious Cave. A Story of Indians and Pirates. Page 6
