there have been
times when I have wondered whether it wouldn't have been better for
me to have been something else. But I have chosen my profession, and
I suppose I must be faithful to it. We will start immediately on our
search; but first I must put the cave in order, for the old man will
be sure to come up while I am gone."

So saying, the Pupil opened an old parchment book at a marked page,
and laid it on a flat stone, which served as a table, and then placed
a skull and a couple of bones in a proper position near by.

The two now started off, the Pupil first putting a line and hook in
his pocket, and pulling out a fishing-rod from under some bushes.

"What do you want with that?" asked the Stranger, "we are not going
to fish!"

"Why not?" said the Pupil; "if we come to a good place, we might
catch something that would be a real curiosity."

Before long they came to a mountain brook, and here the Pupil
insisted on trying his luck. The Stranger was a little tired and
hungry, and so was quite willing to sit down for a time and eat
something from his bag. The Pupil ran off to find some bait, and he
staid away so long that the Stranger had quite finished his meal
before he returned. He came back at last, however, in a state of
great excitement.

"Come with me! come with me!" he cried. "I have found something that
is truly astonishing! Come quickly!"

The Stranger arose and hurried after the Pupil, whose long legs
carried him rapidly over the mountain-side. Reaching a large hole at
the bottom of a precipitous rock, the Pupil stopped, and exclaiming:
"Come in here and I will show you something that will amaze you!" he
immediately entered the hole.

The Stranger, who was very anxious to see what curiosity he had
found, followed him some distance along a narrow and winding
under-ground passage. The two suddenly emerged into a high and
spacious cavern, which was lighted by openings in the roof; on the
floor, in various places, were strongly fastened boxes, and packages
of many sorts, bales and bundles of silks and rich cloths, with
handsome caskets, and many other articles of value.

"What kind of a place is this?" exclaimed the Stranger, in great
surprise.

"Don't you know?" cried the Pupil, his eyes fairly sparkling with
delight. "It is a robber's den! Isn't it a great thing to find a
place like this?"

"A robber's den!" exclaimed the Stranger in alarm; "let us get out of
it as quickly as we can, or the robb