complete success of the expedition. The soldiers were furious on
hearing that three of their comrades had been killed, and two of their
officers badly injured.

"Sergeant," Ralph said, "bring four of your men into the cave with me.
Now," he continued when they entered, "there is a pile of blankets in
that corner; take one of them and fasten it across two of the men's
muskets, so as to make a litter. Then we must lift Captain O'Connor
carefully and put him on it and get him outside. It will be a
difficult business getting him through the narrow entrance, but we
must manage it as well as we can. But first let us thoroughly examine
the caves; there may be another entrance somewhere."

Searching carefully they found a passage behind the stack of kegs. It
was some eight feet high and as much wide. They followed it for a
short distance, and then saw daylight. Their way was, however,
speedily blocked by a number of rocks piled over the entrance.

"This was evidently the original entrance to these caves," Ralph said,
"but it was covered up when the rocks came down from above. That would
account for the place not being known to the coast-guards. I thought
the passage we came in by looked as if it had been enlarged by the
hand of man. No doubt it was originally a small hole, and when the
entrance was blocked the men who made up their minds to establish a
still here thought that it would be the best way to enlarge that and
to leave the original entrance blocked.

"Well, it's evident we must take Captain O'Connor and the wounded out
by the small entrance. It would be a tremendous business to clear
those great rocks away."

Captain O'Connor and the two wounded men were with great difficulty
taken through the narrow passage. The soldier who was alive was the
one who had received the charge of the blunderbuss in his legs; he was
terribly injured below the knee, and Ralph had little doubt that
amputation would be necessary. The other man lived but a short time
after being brought into the air.

Ralph now turned to the peasant who had saved his life by grappling
with the Red Captain at the moment he was about to discharge his
blunderbuss, and who had by his orders been left unbound. He was
sitting a short distance from the other prisoners.

"Your name is Denis Moore?" he said.

"It is, your honor," the man replied in surprise; "though how you came
to know it beats me entirely."

"I heard it from your wife last night," Ralph