"When you git to the top, you want to branch off this way--so. You'll
find a clearin' about there, and off to the east you'll see some high
hills. You want to make for them."

"And those hills, I suppose, is my destination."

"That's where the caves are. That's where you will find the gang if
they are hiding anywhere in that 'ere region."

"Now, tell me about the caverns. Tell me how to find them."

"They're easy enough to find--some of 'em is; others ain't. Wait a
minute."

He pushed that paper aside, and took a fresh one.

"Now, when you come to the hills, you will approach 'em at what we call
the Dog's Nose. So named because that's what it looks like. It's a rock
that sticks out right about here, and you can't miss it. It looks
exactly like a dog's nose, stickin' out and smelling things.

"You want to go right up under that there dog's nose; and when you git
there you'll see a hole in the rock that ain't no bigger than the lower
half of that window. It's a leetle bit of a hole, and it's as dark as a
pocket inside it, too. Nobody, even if they found the hole, would ever
think of going in there. It ain't invitin' to look at."

"How did you happen to go into it?"

"I didn't. I came out of it. I got lost in that cave for three days
once, when I was a boy, and when I found my way out I came out of that
hole. Nobody knows about that entrance but me, though I suppose lots of
folks knows it's there."

"And it communicates with the cave?"

"It does. It'll take you to any part of the cave; and there is only one
rule to follow in going through it. You'll want a light, though."

"I've got the light. What is the rule?"

"Always--no matter where you are in any of them caves, take the way to
the right. Never take a gallery to the left, goin' in either or any
direction. It's a rule that holds good in them caves. It's a sort of way
that nature provided so's you could find your way through there; and I
happened to discover what it was."

"It all sounds very simple and easy."

"And it is, if you've got the pluck and the sand. But it's a ticklish
place. There is a good many places in there that I ain't never explored,
and don't want to; and it's safe to bet that the hoboes ain't done it,
neither. I reckon, mister, that that's about all I kin show you--hold
on, though!"

"What now?"

"Well, there's one place up there which it might be handy for you to
know about, and I don't think anybody but me knows about it, eith