erns,
held high, beat back the gloom for a few yards. Ichi shouted orders to
his men, and his words were hardly audible above the deep, rhythmic
moan that rose steadily from somewhere beneath their feet. Martin
peered into the cavern; it was huge, he knew, but he could not even
guess its dimensions.

But it was not the length or breadth of the windy cave that fastened
his regard. It was the depth. There, at his feet, plainly revealed by
the lanterns' light, was the "deep place," the "bottomless hole." It
was a crack in the floor, its width and length lost in the gloom. Its
near edge was but a couple of feet inside the cavern entrance. It was
from this half revealed gaping slit that the wind came rushing; it was
from somewhere in that hole, down, down, an immeasurable distance, that
the eerie wailing came.

The lanterns revealed white vapors swirling upward out of the hole.
Everything was wet, water dripped from overhead, the black walls
glistened with moisture, underfoot was wet and slippery as a waxed
floor. Martin's clothes were wet through.

The four sailors huddled fearfully together, peering into the chasm.
Ichi's orders finally aroused them to action. The man with the tackle
slipped it from his shoulder, and, with the aid of another, overhauled
it. Martin had supposed the tackle was to be used in recovering the
treasure, but now he saw it was intended for another purpose. This was
not Ichi's first visit to the cave of winds, and he came prepared.

The opening in which they stood was near the left hand wall of the
windy cave. A ledge, no more than six feet wide at the widest, ran
between the wall and the edge of the pit. It sloped towards the gaping
hole, and it was wet and shining like the walls. Martin could see it
must be a most treacherous footing, and he knew from the words of the
code--"windy cave--2 port--aloft"--that they must travel that dangerous
path.

It was here, on this ledge, that the blocks and tackle were to be used.
The man who carried the second lantern, took the head block in his free
hand, and stepped onto the ledge. He sidled along, hugging the wall,
dragging the rope behind him.

A few feet inside he crept past the first opening in the wall. A score
of feet beyond, man and lantern melted into the wall, and Martin knew
the second opening was reached. In a moment, man and lantern
reappeared, and the fellow sang out.

The sailor in the entrance, who held the foot block,