o," answered Ernest. "I can read."

Since his exploration of the day before Ernest had been longing to visit
once more the same portion of the cave. But he wanted to go alone. He had
a hope that through the aperture in the roof he might effect his escape.
It would not do to have Frank with him, as this would interfere with his
plan. Now the longed-for opportunity was almost at hand.

He took a volume from the bookshelf and sitting down beside the bed began
to read. But his mind was not on the book, though at another time he would
have enjoyed it. He watched Frank and in less than fifteen minutes saw
that he was fast asleep.

Then he left the room, Juba being occupied in the kitchen. He secured his
hat, as he would need it in case he effected his escape.

As he passed through that apartment in the cave where there were trunks
and boxes it occurred to him to open one of them. He was rather surprised
that it should be unlocked.

It was filled with a miscellaneous assortment of articles, but on top to
his surprise and joy he recognized the envelope containing the bonds that
had been taken from him.

If he left the cave he would want these, and therefore he had no
hesitation in taking them. He put them in the inside pocket of his vest
and kept on his way.

In a short time he reached the spot lighted by the aperture in the roof.

The opening was large enough for him to get through, but the difficulty
was that it was fifteen feet above the floor of the cave. Ernest was
something of a gymnast, but it was out of his power to reach the opening
through which he could obtain deliverance.

He looked about to see if there were any articles he could pile upon one
another to attain the aperture. But the cave was quite empty of articles
of any description, nor could he find any that he could move in the
portions which he had already traversed.

It was aggravating to be so near freedom and yet unable to obtain it. Just
above him, he could see the blue sky and the cheerful sunshine, while he
was a prisoner in a dark cavern.

Was there no way of reaching the opening? he asked himself.

If he had to give up hope he would feel obliged to return the envelope to
the box from which he had taken it. Were its loss discovered he would of
course be searched and kept in stricter seclusion than before.

In the room used by the outlaw as a sitting-room he might be able to find
what he needed. But he could not remove anything without bein