ght; and now they were returning reluctantly to the cave.

"Wouldn't Gus be edified if he was in my place!" Lysander little thought
that _he_ was the one to be edified,--as he would certainly have been,
to an amazing degree, had he known the truth. "But we'll spoil their fun
in a few minutes!" he said to himself, as he crept back towards his
former position.

As for Carl, it was he who had been most astonished by the phenomenon.
No sooner had he invented a cave, than two phantoms made their
appearance, and walked into it! The illusion was so perfect, that he
himself was almost deceived by it. Only for an instant, however.
Continuing to gaze, he had another glimpse of the apparitions, when,
having merely passed behind the bushes, they came out beyond them, in
the direction of the real cave, and were lost once more in shadow.
Lysander, engaged in making his retrograde movement, did not notice this
very important circumstance; and the corporal was too intently occupied
in watching Carl to observe anything else.

The captain got behind the shelter of a cluster of thistles, and
beckoned for the two to approach.

"Corporal," said he, "hurry back and tell Ropes to bring up his men.
I'll wait here."

The corporal crawled off.

Carl heard the order, saw the movement, and felt thrilled to the heart's
core with joy. He was now alone with the captain. And he was no longer
unarmed. In creeping towards the thistles, he had laid his hand on a
wonderful little stone. Somehow, his fingers had closed upon it. It was
about the size of an apple, slightly flattened, rough, and heavy. "I
thought," he said afterwards, "if anything vas to happen, that stone
might be waluable." And so it proved. Lysander, considering that the
cave was found, had become less suspicious. "These Dutch are stupid, and
that's all," he thought.

"You vas going to shoot me," said Carl, with an honest laugh at the
ludicrousness of the idea.

"And so I would," said Sprowl, with an oath, "if you hadn't brought us
to the cave."

"That means," thought Carl, "he vill kill me yet if he can, ven he finds
out." He observed, also, that Sprowl, lying on his left side, had his
right hand free, and near the pocket where his pistol was. It was not
yet too late for him to be shot if he attempted an escape without first
attempting something else. The violent beating of his heart recommenced.
He felt a strange tremor of excitement thrilling through every nerve.
His hand st