Polly of Pebbly Pit Part 32

"Oh! Oh, thank goodness!" gasped Polly. "I shoved the torch ahead! I'd have fallen headlong into this abyss."

"What is it, Poll?"

"A pit ever so wide, and I can't see how deep it goes down. It's right in the tunnel ground, cutting off all further investigations."

"It'll cut off investigations of a wild beast, too, won't it?" asked Eleanor with relief in her tones.

"Of course--there isn't a chance of anything coming in this way. I can hear water rushing, too, way down at the bottom, and the wind blows up from this pit, so there must be an opening down there where the subterranean river rushes out."

"Maybe this tunnel was a river, once, and emptied down into that pit,"

ventured Eleanor.

"I don't care if it was! I'm anxious to go back and eat, now that we know the worst," replied Polly.

"We won't need both torches now, Poll, so drop yours in the pit and see how deep it may be," suggested Eleanor.

"All right, but for pity's sake don't let yours go out!"

Polly waited to steady the flame and then dropped the torch. It fell straight down and flared up showing the rocky sides of the pit, then suddenly it "sh-isshed" in water and all was dark once more.

The girls then wormed their way back to the gold cave (as they termed it) and sought for nuggets in the dust and dirt of ages that covered the rocky floor. Eleanor found a few pieces the size of walnuts and Polly secured a handful of small bits.

"How can we tie them up if we have to crawl back?" asked Eleanor.

"Got a handkerchief?"

"No, I gave it to Bob out of meanness," laughed Eleanor.

"Hum! Well, we might put them in our middy blouses, only we take a chance of losing them in squirming back through that tunnel," remarked Polly.

"I've heard of folks smuggling things in their shoes."

"I have it! Take off our shoes and put the nuggets in, then tie the shoe-strings tightly about the top and fasten them about our necks!"

exclaimed Polly.

This being a good plan, both girls soon had their precious ore well-tied in their mountain boots, and were ready to proceed. As the two discoverers neared the cave where the others were, Polly shouted excitedly, and Eleanor joined in the clamor.

Anne and Barbara had become so frightened at the prolonged absence of the two girls that Anne was about to crawl in to find them, while Barbara realized how much she really loved her younger sister. The moment they heard the awful sounds issuing from the tunnel, however, they were certain a wild beast had attacked them and the victims were fighting a way out.

Anne grabbed the ax and held it aloft ready to strike, while Barbara stood wringing her hands in despair. By this time Polly stuck her head out of the opening, but neither Barbara nor Anne recognized the black face--her voice alone told them it was Polly.

"Oh, my dear child! Are you badly hurt?" screamed Anne, dropping the ax and pulling Polly forth, Eleanor crawling directly after her.

"Gold! Gold! GOLD! See--lots of it! Mountains of it!" yelled Eleanor, trying to drag her nuggets from the boot without untying the strings.

"Oh, Anne, we found a gold mine! A great big cave full of gold!" cried Polly, managing to untie the strings.

"Poor children! Are you daffy?" exclaimed Anne, not sure whether to cry or laugh.

"You'll go daffy when, you see that cave--all shining gold!" laughed Eleanor, handing her nugget to the curious sister.

"See here, Anne, isn't this gold?" asked Polly, working the large chunk of ore from her shoe.

"It looks like it, Polly, but I'm no judge."

"Oh, let's crawl in and see the cave!" now begged Barbara eagerly.

"You know you'd get stuck in that narrow tunnel, Bob! Besides, I'm starved," said Eleanor.

"Moreover, you wouldn't go when there seemed to be danger for the girls, and I'm sure I'm not going to try it now!" added Anne.

"Dear me, won't any one go with me?" complained Barbara, who stooped to gaze in at the tunnel, and seemed too fascinated to leave the spot.

"Bob, the gold has been there for centuries and it isn't likely to melt away while we eat supper!" declared practical Eleanor, following Anne to the opening of the cave.

As they went to the place where Anne had spread the supper, Polly told them of the magnificent sight when they crept out of the dark hole and saw the glimmering of the gold. Over and over, the two girls had to tell minutest details of the cavern, Barbara sighing, frequently, to think she was not small enough to crawl in and see for herself.

While the two adventurers washed their faces and hands with melted snow, Anne fried the fish over some red-hot embers sc.r.a.ped out of the fire. This done, they sat down to eat.

As they ate, they talked continually of their mine not so far from the festive board.

"Well, Polly, you surely were born with a silver spoon in your mouth!"

sighed Anne, smilingly.

"What makes you say that?"

"You can see for yourself, can't you? First you fall into a family that owns no end of wealth in jeweled cliffs, and now you fall into a gold mine," replied Anne.

"But Nolla owns half of this mine, and I'm not so sure but you and Bob come in for your share!"

The other girls stared at Polly's generosity, as they had never thought of holding any interest in the mine.

"Anyway, n.o.body owns it yet! It legally belongs to the first one who files a claim, so what we must do is to hurry back to Oak Creek and register the mine," said Barbara, businesslike.

"My! Gold has brought Bob's brains uppermost!" teased Eleanor.

"Who knows but this claim has been staked years ago!" said Anne, meaningly.

Polly and Eleanor exchanged glances. But Barbara wondered.

"What do you mean?" asked she.

"Well, look out in front: there's a ledge cleft in the side of the mountain wall. Between it and the other lower ledge is a canyon that might be the one Montresor found on his up-climb. Yonder the slope meets the chasm and above is the steep sides leading to Top Notch Trail. Could not the land-slide have buried this wall and then a great wash-out have cleared it again? If we only had a gushing mountain stream pouring from the cliff-side the setting would be complete!"

Barbara gasped, but Polly clapped her hands. "Nolla, that's it! The subterranean stream we found in there. Some big upheaval changed its outlet, or maybe this gold vein runs clean through and Montresor's claim is staked opposite this side--just where the river pours out. We must look over that side to-morrow."

The two younger girls then told of the pit and the river and all agreed that it might be the stream found by the prospector before the landslide covered his claim.