CHAPTER X.

When there were none of the pirates in the cave, it was the custom of Lightfoot, and Hellena to spread their couch in the body of the cavern, and there pass the night. Such was the case on the night following the day on which Lightfoot had related to Hellena the sad history of her people.

It is hardly to be expected that the young girl's sleep would be very sound that night, with her imagination filled with visions, hob goblins of every form, size, and color.

During the most of the forepart of the night she lay awake thinking over the strange things she had heard concerning the cave, and expecting every moment to see some horrible monster make its appearance in the shape of an enormous Indian in his war paint, and his hands reeking with blood.

After a while she fell into a doze in which she had a horrid dream, where all the things she had been thinking of appeared and took form, but assuming shapes ten times more horrible than any her waking imagination could possibly have created.

It was past midnight. She had started from one of these horrid dreams, and afraid to go to sleep again, lay quietly gazing around the cavern on the ever varying reflections cast by the myriads of crystals that glittered upon the wall and ceiling.

Although there were in some portions of the cavern walls chinks or crevices which let in air, and during some portion of the day a few straggling sunbeams, it was found necessary even during the day to keep a lamp constantly burning. And the one standing on the table in the centre of the cave was never allowed to go out.

As we have said, Hellena lay awake gazing about her.

A perfect stillness reigned in the cave, broken only by the rather heavy breathing of the Indian woman who slept soundly.

Suddenly she heard, or thought she heard a slight grating noise at the further side of the cavern.

Can she be dreaming? or can her eyes deceive her? or does she actually see the wall of the cavern parting? Such actually seems to be the case, and from the opening out steps a figure dressed like an Indian, and bearing in his hand a blazing torch.

Hellena's tongue cleaves to the roof of her mouth, and her limbs are paralyzed with terror. She cannot move if she dare.

The figure moves about the room with a step as noiseless as the step of the dead, while the crystals on the walls seem to be set in motion, and to blaze with unnatural brilliancy as his torch is carried from place to place.

He carefully examines everything as he proceeds; particularly the weapons belonging to the pirates, which seemed particularly to take his fancy. But he carefully replaces everything after having examined it.

He now approaches the place where the two women are lying.

Hellena with an effort closed her eyes.

The figure approached the couch; for a moment he bent over it and gazed intently on the two women; particularly on that of the white maiden. When having apparently satisfied his curiosity, he withdrew as stealthily as he had come.

When Hellena opened her eyes again, the spectre had vanished, and everything about the cave appeared as if nothing unusual had happened.

For a long time she lay quietly thinking over the strange occurrences of the night. She was in doubt whether scenes which she had witnessed were real, or were only the empty creations of a dream. The horrible spectres which she had seen in the fore part of the night seemed like those which visit us in our dreams when our minds are troubled. But the apparition of the Indian seemed more real.

Could she be mistaken? was this, too, only a dream? or were the two scenes only different parts of one waking vision?

To this last opinion she seemed most inclined, and was fully confirmed in the opinion that the cavern was haunted.

Although Hellena was satisfied in her own mind that the figure that had appeared so strangely was a disembodied spirit, yet she had a vague impression that she had somewhere seen that form before. But when, or where, she could not recollect.

When in the morning she related the occurrences of the night to Lightfoot, the Indian expressed no surprise, and exhibited no alarm. Nor did she attempt to offer any explanation seeming to treat it as a matter of course.

Although this might be unsatisfactory to Hellena in some respects, it was perhaps after all, quite as well for her that Lightfoot did not exhibit any alarm at what had occurred, as by doing so she imparted some of her own confidence to her more timid companion.

All this while Black Bill had not been thought of but after a while he crawled out from his bunk, his eyes twice their usual size, and coming up to Hellena, he said:

"Misses, misses, I seed do debble last night wid a great fire-brand in his hand, and he went all round de cabe, lookin' for massa Flint, to burn him up, but he couldn't fine him so he went away agin. Now I know he's comin' after massa Flint, cause he didn't touch nobody else."

"Did he frighten you?" asked Hellena.

"No; but I kept mighty still, and shut my eyes when he come to look at me, but he didn't say noffen, so I know'd it wasn't dis darkey he was after."

This statement of the negro's satisfied Hellena that she had not been dreaming when she witnessed the apparition of the Indian.

On further questioning Bill, she found he had not witnessed any of the horrid phantoms that had visited her in her dreams.

As soon as Hellena could do so without attracting attention, she took a lamp and examined the walls in every direction to see if she could discover any where a crevice large enough for a person to pass through, but she could find nothing of the sort.

The walls were rough and broken in many parts, but there was nothing like what she was in search of.

She next questioned Lightfoot about it, asking her if there was any other entrance to the cave beside the one through which they had entered.

But the Indian woman gave her no satisfaction, simply telling her that she might take the lamp and examine for herself.

As Hellena had already done this, she was of course as much in the dark as ever.

When Captain Flint visited the cave again as he did on the following day, Hellena would have related to him the occurrences of the previous night, but she felt certain that he would only laugh at it as something called up by her excited imagination, or treat it as a story made up for the purpose of exciting his sympathy.

Or perhaps invented for the purpose of arousing his superstition in order to make him leave the cave, and take her to some place where escape would be more easy.

So she concluded to say nothing to him about it.