ve at once."

"Hold on, boy," cried Bumpus, "not quite so fast, (as the monkey said to
the barrel-organ w'en it took to playin' Scotch reels), we must have a
council of war, d'ye see? That black monster Keona may have gone right
through the cave and comed out at t' other end of it, in w'ich case it's
all up with our chance o' findin' 'em to-night. But if they've gone in
to spend the night there, why we've nothin' to do but watch at the mouth
of it till mornin' an' nab 'em as they comes out."

"Yes; but how are we to know whether they're in the cave or not?" said
Corrie, impatiently.

"Ah! that's the puzzler," replied Bumpus, in a meditative way; "but, of
course, we must look out for puzzlers ahead sometimes w'en we gets into
a land storm, d'ye see; just as we looks out ahead for breakers in a
storm at sea. Suppose now that I creeps into the cave and listens for
'em. They'd never hear me, 'cause I'd make no noise."

"You might as well try to sail into it in a big ship without making
noise, you Grampus."

To this the Grampus observed, that if the cave had only three fathoms of
water in the bottom of it he would have no objection whatever to try.

"But," added he, "suppose _you_ go in."

Corrie shook his head, and looked anxiously miserable.

"Well then," said Bumpus, "suppose we light two torches. I'll take one
in one hand, and this here cutlash in the other; and you'll take t'other
torch in one hand and your pistol in the other, and clap that bit of a
broken sword 'tween yer teeth, and we'll give a horrid screech, and rush
in pell-mell--all of a heap like. You could fire yer pistol straight
before you on chance, (it's wonderful wot a chance shot will do
sometimes), an' if it don't do nothin', fling it right into the
blackguard's face--a brass-mounted tool like that ketchin' him right on
the end of his beak would lay him flat over, like a ship in a white
squall."

"And suppose," said Corrie, in a tone of withering sarcasm, "suppose all
this happened to Alice, instead of the dirty nigger?"

"Ah! to be sure. That's a puzzler--puzzler number two."

Here Poopy, who had listened with great impatience to the foregoing
conversation, broke in energetically.

"An' s'pose," said she, "dat Keona and missy Alice comes out ob cave
w'en you two be talkerin' sich a lot of stuff?"

It may as well be remarked, in passing, that Poopy had acquired a
considerable amount of her knowledge of English from Master Corrie. H