o 
 
 I/
 
 BIWV. OP CALIF. LH5 ART. LOi ANGELSfe
 
 THE LAND OF 
 
 WONDERS 
 
 BY 
 
 EDWARD S. ELLIS 
 
 AUTHOR OF "THROUGH JUNGLE AND WILDERNESS," 
 
 "A WAIF OF THE MOUNTAINS," "LOST 
 
 IN THE WILDS," ETC. 
 
 CHICAGO 
 
 GEO. M. HILL CO. 
 PUBLISHERS
 
 COPYRIGHT, i8gg, BY 
 THE MERSHON COMPANY.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER PAGB 
 
 I. THE HAUNTED ISLAND AGAIN, . . . i 
 
 II. IN THE TOILS, 12 
 
 III. COMPANIONS IN MISERY THE TRIAL AND 
 
 SENTENCE, 22 
 
 IV. CARRYING OUT THE SENTENCE, ... 32 
 V. IN THE CAVERN UNDERGROUND EXPLORA- 
 TIONS, 40 
 
 VI. AN IMPRESSIVE SIGHT NEW DISCOVERIES, 51 
 
 VII. FIGHTING AGAINST DESPAIR, ... 63 
 
 VIII. BLIND GROPING A WONDERFUL MESSAGE, 71 
 IX. STRUGGLING TOWARD THE LIGHT CALLING 
 
 NEXT DOOR, . . . . . .79 
 
 X. WALLED IN BY DESPAIR 88 
 
 XI. LIKE MANNA, 96 
 
 XII. A TERRIFYING DISCOVERY 107 
 
 XIII. WEARY DAYS AND NIGHTS 117 
 
 XIV. THE LANTERN OVERHEAD, . . . .125 
 XV. ON THE LAKE, 134 
 
 XVI. ANNIHILATION, 143 
 
 XVII. SURVEYING THE RUINS A VISITOR FROM 
 
 THE LAKE, 151 
 
 XVIII. A CURIOUS REGION THE RECONNOISSANCE, 162 
 
 XIX. WALLED IN BY FIRE, 170 
 
 iii 
 
 2129222
 
 iv 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER FAGB 
 
 XX. THE LAST DESPAIRING EFFORT, . . 176 
 
 XXI. FIRE AND WATER 185 
 
 XXII. A NARROW ESCAPE THE ENCAMPMENT BY 
 
 THE LAKE, *93 
 
 XXIII. PUSHING NORTHWARD, . . . .203 
 
 XXIV. OTHER ENEMIES 209 
 
 XXV. THE CAMP, 219 
 
 XXVI. THIEVES OF THE NIGHT, . . . .228 
 
 XXVII. THE YOUNG PRISONER, .... 239 
 
 XXVIII. CONCLUSION, 250
 
 The Land of Wonders 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 THE HAUNTED ISLAND AGAIN 
 
 IT will be remembered that at the close of 
 " Through Jungle and Wilderness," Senor Al- 
 fredo Alfiero, the uncle of young Jack Winch, by 
 turning his telescope in the direction of the 
 Haunted Island, discovered to his dismay that the 
 lad had gone thither. 
 
 " The very place of all others that I wished him 
 to avoid ! " exclaimed the alarmed gentleman ; 
 " how he can ever get away again is beyond my 
 comprehension." 
 
 He was half disposed to give it up and making 
 his way to the nearest town open negotiations for 
 the ransom of the lad, but fearing to do so, he 
 sent a shrill whistle across the lake in the hope of 
 
 i
 
 arresting the lad, but the distance was too great 
 to attract his attention. 
 
 Feeling that no time was to be lost the gentle- 
 man hurriedly searched along the shore until he 
 found a tiny canoe. Its buoyancy was barely 
 enough to sustain his weight, but carefully en- 
 tering it he took up his paddle and began cau- 
 tiously approaching the island. He could de- 
 tect no signs of life, and after some hesitation he 
 ran the frail boat against the land and stepped 
 out. 
 
 But the senor had made the mistake while 
 drawing near the Haunted Island to keep his at- 
 tention fixed upon that, without casting a single 
 glance at the shore that he had left behind him. 
 
 Meanwhile, Jack Winch had awakened early 
 and looked around for his uncle thinking he 
 might have arrived during the night. 
 
 " He isn't here," he said, after a brief search; 
 " and like as not he has got into some trouble, 
 and I will have to make the rest of the journey to 
 Vera Cruz alone, for Vega does not mean to 
 show himself any more. I guess he has some- 
 thing to do with the Haunted Island, or he
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 3 
 
 wouldn't be so anxious to keep us from going 
 there." 
 
 Making his way to the top of the observatory 
 rock he scanned the lake and the island as best he 
 could. 
 
 It is hardly worth while to say that he dis- 
 covered nothing of his uncle or his enemies. 
 
 " He must be there," thought Jack, " and I 
 made up my mind, last night, that if he wasn't 
 here by daylight I would go after him, and so I 
 will, if I can find any way of doing so." 
 
 Having settled into this determination, he 
 started out at once to carry it into execution. 
 
 But canoes were not so plenty along the shore 
 as he thought to find them, and the hunt for one 
 was so long that he became discouraged, and was 
 on the point of giving over the search when he 
 was fortunate enough to find one. 
 
 The boat was a small one, but it looked as if it 
 had been used recently, and the paddle was there 
 for whomsoever might wish it. 
 
 Jack did not hesitate, but stepped in and shoved 
 off. 
 
 He was not much of an adept in the use of the 
 oar, but where the boat was so slight and easily
 
 4 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 propelled, there could be no difficulty in keeping 
 the craft in motion in the direction of the island. 
 
 Jack Winch reached his destination at last. 
 
 Having gone thus far, he did not hesitate any 
 more, but drew the canoe up on the shore, where 
 he could reclaim it when he chose. 
 
 This done, he started for the " interior." 
 
 The whistle which was uttered at this moment 
 by the man for whom he was looking did not 
 reach his ears. 
 
 Little Jack found the central portion of the is- 
 land with rocks and dense undergrowth in abun- 
 dance, but as yet he saw nothing of any persons. 
 
 " I guess they don't know anything about my 
 being here," was the unreasonable conclusion to 
 which he came, in thinking over the matter, " for, 
 if they had, they would be down here, and I would 
 have had to give an account of myself." 
 
 After looking and listening and waiting for 
 some little time, Jack ventured to penetrate a 
 little further into the interior of the Haunted 
 Country. 
 
 As he was walking along, he was struck with 
 the hollow sound of the ground.
 
 THE LAXD OF WONDERS. 5 
 
 He was not long in concluding that it was due 
 to a cavern beneath. 
 
 Could he have suspected what an adventure his 
 uncle had met with in that place, he would have 
 gotten away with as little delay as possible. The 
 warning would have been sufficient. 
 
 The hollow sound continued, and he was pick- 
 ing his way with great care, fearful that he would 
 be precipitated into some abyss below, from which 
 he would not be able to extricate himself. 
 
 This tedious traveling continued some minutes, 
 when he was not a little alarmed by hearing per- 
 sons talking. 
 
 The voices were not intelligible, but they 
 sounded so distinctly as to tell him they were 
 quite close to him indeed. 
 
 Jack was so sure of this that he hastily re- 
 treated several steps and hid himself securely be- 
 hind a mass of stone. 
 
 The voices were directly in the front and not 
 more than a dozen feet off, despite which he was 
 not able to locate the precise point, or detect the 
 slightest agitation of the bushes, to indicate the 
 presence of the cause. 
 
 " That must be some of the ghosts," concluded
 
 6 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 the lad, with a tremor of dread, " for nothing but 
 ghosts could talk right by you without you see- 
 ing something " 
 
 He stopped abruptly, for just then he did see 
 something. 
 
 Two men came to view, rising as if from the 
 ground. 
 
 For a minute or two, Jack believed that such 
 was the manner of their appearance, but he dis- 
 covered the explanation a few minutes after. 
 
 The men whom he saw were coming up from 
 the cavern over which he was standing at that 
 very moment. 
 
 He saw by the movements of their arms that 
 they were helping themselves upward. 
 
 Still it did not seem to be very hard work, for 
 almost immediately they stood on the hard 
 ground above. 
 
 Here they waited for some little time, talking 
 together in such low tones that the boy could 
 catch nothing of what they said. 
 
 He was too much alarmed to attempt to learn 
 the subject of their conversation, for the second 
 glance at the couple made known the alarming 
 fact that they were the identical outlaws who
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 7 
 
 had stolen him from camp on the very first night 
 of his stay on shore. 
 
 He could not forget those two villainous coun- 
 tenances, and there they were, almost within 
 arm's length. 
 
 Aside from the fear which was excited by this 
 discovery, there was an element of the curious 
 about it. It was certainly singular that two men 
 who a fortnight before were cruising along the 
 Mexican coast should now be found climbing out 
 of a cavern on the Haunted Island. 
 
 It proved at least that whoever the men were 
 in that place, they were connected with other out- 
 laws or cutthroats who had their retreats in some 
 of the most inaccessible portions of the country. 
 
 Jack Winch had no desire to meet these fel- 
 lows, and he heartily wished, the moment he saw 
 them, that he was back on the mainland again, 
 where he was in less danger of falling into their 
 hands. 
 
 He recalled that they had assured him that if 
 he attempted to leave their boat without permis- 
 sion, they would kill him and he believed they 
 would carry out that threat, if they could lay 
 hands on him again.
 
 8 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 It was useless to try and get away so long as 
 they staid where they were. 
 
 The slightest movement on the part of Jack 
 would be likely to expose himself. 
 
 Fortunately for the little fellow, he was not 
 subjected to this nervous strain for any length 
 of time. 
 
 These two men, at least, could have no sus- 
 picion of the presence of the lad upon the island, 
 as they must have been underground at the min- 
 ute when he landed. 
 
 They soon moved away, taking a course that 
 led directly from where the boy was hiding. 
 
 When they were out of sight and hearing, Jack 
 breathed more freely, and he began to ask himself 
 whether he had not committed the greatest folly 
 of his life in venturing thus into the lion's den. 
 
 " I guess I'll leave here," he said, after a mo- 
 ment's thought over the matter, " and if I once 
 get on the mainland again, I'll stay there till 
 Uncle Frede comes to me." 
 
 He had not gone very far from the spot where 
 he landed, and he was confident he could return 
 to it without difficulty. 
 
 He had noticed the landmarks as he made his
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 9 
 
 way along, and he recognized them now when he 
 started back again. 
 
 The remembrance of the two outlaws whom he 
 had seen caused him to use still greater caution 
 than before in picking his way through the under- 
 growth and around the rocks. 
 
 But he was not to reach his destination with- 
 out another great scare. 
 
 The rustling of the undergrowth told of the 
 coming of some one, and he had just time to hide 
 himself, when he caught sight of a single man 
 approaching with rapid stride. 
 
 Had not the mind of the stranger been preoccu- 
 pied, he surely would have caught sight of the 
 boy crouching in the vegetation beside the path, 
 and looking out with a terrified countenance upon 
 him as he went by. 
 
 But, as it was, he failed to observe him, and 
 this peril also disappeared. 
 
 Jack Winch had seen enough to make him 
 heartily sick of his fool-hardiness. 
 
 " I don't know how I came to do it," he said to 
 himself. " Uncle Frede has warned me so many 
 times, and yet I forget to act as he wishes me, and 
 the only thing for him to do is to take me back
 
 io THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 home and wait till I get old enough to know bet- 
 ter." 
 
 This was a wise conclusion, and Jack was in 
 earnest in presenting it to himself. 
 
 The report of a rifle from some point on the 
 island was enough to keep him in a fever of ap- 
 prehension, and to cause him to imagine all sorts 
 of terrible things. 
 
 " Maybe they have shot at Uncle Frede, and I 
 shall never see him again, and then I will die of a 
 broken heart." 
 
 Great as was his fear and distress, he crept for- 
 ward, and was soon in so far along that he 
 caught the glimmer of the surface of the lake in 
 the bright sunshine. 
 
 The sight urged him to greater haste, and a 
 minute later he stood by the shore, on the very 
 spot where he had landed but a short time before. 
 
 But a great and overwhelming disappointment 
 awaited him. 
 
 His canoe was gone! 
 
 Some one had removed it during his absence. 
 
 What should he do? 
 
 It must be that somebody had discovered the
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS n 
 
 fact that he had landed, and was waiting close at 
 hand to capture him. 
 
 The thought filled Jack with such terror that 
 he instantly retreated several yards, and crouched 
 down among the undergrowth in hiding, as if he 
 had detected the stealthy approach of his enemies. 
 
 He listened, but hearing nothing, began, after 
 a while, to regain courage and to hope that the 
 means of his escape were not entirely cut off. 
 
 " There must be some other boat not far away, 
 and if I can find that I will get off yet in spite of 
 them." 
 
 Actuated by this hope, he began creeping 
 stealthily along the margin of the lake in quest 
 of a canoe. 
 
 The search was very difficult, for in many 
 places the shore was so steep with the rugged 
 rocks, that he was forced to withdraw some dis- 
 tance to continue the hunt.
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 IN THE TOILS 
 
 JACK WINCH worked his way along the edge 
 of the island in this manner until he had passed 
 something like a hundred yards, when he found 
 himself brought to a halt by a mass of rocks, to 
 flank which it was necessary to make a long de- 
 tour. 
 
 He sat down half discouraged with the pros- 
 pect. 
 
 Everything conspired to take his courage away. 
 
 The day was wearing away, and, uncertain as 
 to his gaining a chance to paddle back to the 
 mainland, he was asking himself whether there 
 was no means by which he could construct a raft, 
 to be used after dark. 
 
 There was an abundance of wood on the island, 
 and it needed but very little to float him. 
 
 He would as lief sink to his chin in the water, 
 
 12
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 13 
 
 and use the raft to carry his gun and to leave to 
 him merely the task of propulsion. 
 
 This was not the most agreeable way in the 
 world to get back to land, but it was far prefer- 
 able to remaining where he was. 
 
 " I guess that is better than staying here, and 
 there is too much risk in my walking and crawl- 
 ing around the island, without knowing where I 
 am going Hello! " 
 
 Jack was becoming accustomed to the sounds 
 of parties stealing through the undergrowth, and 
 when his ear caught the familiar rustling, he 
 merely shrank back, and lying flat on the ground, 
 where he was pretty well covered with vegeta- 
 tion, he was quite hopeful of escaping detection. 
 
 This assurance was somewhat shaken when 
 two men stepped forth and halted a dozen feet 
 away, with their backs turned towards him, and 
 began conversing. 
 
 That which caused Jack a thrill of misgiving 
 was the fact that these villains were the very two 
 men who were on the boat from which he ran 
 away, and who seemed to have been following 
 him up since his landing on the island. 
 
 A sharp suspicion flashed over him that they
 
 I 4 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 were on his trail, and had tracked him to the 
 spot. 
 
 His alarm was not lessened by what he heard 
 passing between them. 
 
 " The little cub surely came this way," said 
 one, " for his tracks show that very plainly." 
 
 " He must be hiding somewhere," replied his 
 companion, " and if we make search we shall be 
 sure to find him." 
 
 Jack could not doubt who the person was that 
 this referred to, and he peered stealthily around 
 to see whether there was no way by which he 
 could effect a retreat from the place. 
 
 Nothing inviting offered. 
 
 Meanwhile the conversation continued, with 
 one of the most attentive and absorbed audiences 
 that speaker was ever favored with. 
 
 " What will we do with him when we catch 
 him?" 
 
 " We told him if he ran away we would punish 
 him as we do all such runaways. We will put 
 him to death, but not as we would have done had 
 we been able to lay hands on him then." 
 
 " What shall we do ? " 
 
 " Put him in the cavern, where so many of the
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 15 
 
 men that have come here have been put and never 
 heard of again." 
 
 " That will be good ; he will have time to think 
 over his foolishness in running away from us as 
 he did." 
 
 " Then, too, we'll soon have the man, and he 
 will go to keep him company." 
 
 " It will be more pleasant for them to be to- 
 gether ; they will have occasions to talk with and 
 console each other, and they will need them, too, 
 when they fall into our hands." 
 
 The reader may imagine with what a beating 
 heart Jack Winch, from where he was crouching 
 in the corner, listened to these words. 
 
 " I don't know as there is much use looking for 
 him," said the one who had first spoken. 
 
 "And why not?" 
 
 " He is already in our hands, for he cannot es- 
 cape ; he will soon come into our camp, and with- 
 out our making wearisome search for him. The 
 lad is a fool to venture to our home in a small 
 boat at midday." 
 
 Jack Winch, when he heard this remark, 
 thought it was as truthful an utterance as he had 
 ever listened to.
 
 16 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 " He might have known that we would see 
 him all the time." 
 
 " Where was his senses, as you say, in believing 
 that he, of all others, could come into the place 
 without our discovering him ? We know that the 
 man has been here." 
 
 " And that he is to become a prisoner of ours. 
 We shall have him within the next half hour." 
 
 ' You said that the lad was in hiding some- 
 where close to us. Do you believe that it is 
 necessary to make hunt for him? " 
 
 " Why do that, when we know where he is hid- 
 'ing?" 
 
 "Where is that?" 
 
 " A few yards off, just behind us, where we 
 have him so secure that he cannot get away! " 
 
 Young as Jack Winch was, he understood 
 what those two remarks signified. 
 
 These outlaws had known where he was all the 
 time, and had been talking in his hearing for their 
 own amusement. 
 
 They were like cats. They wished to toy and 
 trifle with their mouse before crunching his bones. 
 
 The conviction smote the lad, with the first 
 significant comment, that the men had followed
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 17 
 
 him, and had seen him crawl into the place which 
 he had vainly hoped would offer him safe, conceal- 
 ment until the danger should pass by. 
 
 So well satisfied was he on this point that he 
 abandoned his crouching position on the ground, 
 and sat upright, in plain view, where, the moment 
 the two should turn, they would see him. 
 
 Thus he waited until they were ready to claim 
 him. 
 
 He was not kept waiting long, for only a few 
 words were said in addition to those already 
 given, when the outlaws faced about and stood 
 for a minute or two gazing silently at him. 
 
 There could be no doubt that this was the kind 
 of a triumph they enjoyed. 
 
 Jack could see that they were grinning at his 
 discomfiture. 
 
 He sat still and looked here, there, and every- 
 where. 
 
 He was resolved that they should be the first 
 to break silence. 
 
 There was no possibility of escaping, and he 
 therefore did not make the attempt. 
 
 When the two villains had grinned until they
 
 1 8 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 were satisfied, they walked slowly toward the lad, 
 and one motioned him to rise. 
 
 Jack, as a matter of course, obeyed without 
 any sullenness. 
 
 Then the tallest approached still closer and laid 
 his hand on his head in a patronizing way. 
 
 " Why did you run away? " 
 
 " I wanted to go to my friends, and they 
 wanted me to come to them." 
 
 " If you had staid with us we would have let 
 you go." 
 
 This assertion agreed with the theory of Al- 
 fredo that the lad was stolen for the purpose of 
 ransom. 
 
 " You didn't tell me that," replied Jack, hoping 
 to conciliate the men, who were talking in kinder 
 tones than they had formerly used toward him. 
 
 " But we told you that if you tried to run away 
 we would kill you." 
 
 The young prisoner could not deny this. 
 
 He therefore remained silent while the ruffian 
 continued. 
 
 " We always keep our word, as you would 
 have found if you had staid with us. When we 
 found you on the beach, we said to ourselves:
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 19 
 
 * Here is a fair-faced boy, whose friends will pay 
 gold to get him back again.' So we took you 
 away, and if they had not come forward with the 
 gold we would have let you go ; but you chose to 
 run away and you must take the consequences of 
 doing wrong." 
 
 " I don't think I was wrong," was the apology 
 the lad made, " for you had no right to take me 
 away. I had not done you any wrong, and when 
 you stole me I had the right to try and get back 
 to my friends." 
 
 These were brave words for such a little fellow 
 to say to such characters; but they could not in- 
 jure him, as he had been told that his fate was 
 already determined, and nothing could be said or 
 done to change it either way. 
 
 His words and explanations were thrown away 
 upon such scamps as stood before him. 
 
 It was the fable of the lamb talking to the 
 wolf. 
 
 " We own this country," was the blustering 
 response of one of the outlaws, " and all that come 
 into it must first get our permission." 
 
 " Did you get permission from any one." 
 
 " Yes."
 
 20 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 " Do you know where your father is ? " 
 
 " He is at Panama," was the answer of Jack, 
 who did not see that they had made a blunder. 
 
 " We mean him that was with you." 
 
 " Oh ! he's my uncle; I s'pose he's over on the 
 land somewhere. I haven't seen him since last 
 night." 
 
 " We'll soon have him here, for he will look 
 for you, and when he does that, then we shall 
 have him sure. I s'pose you would like to have 
 him with you." 
 
 " I don't know whether I would or not," said 
 Jack, who was truthful in thus referring to his 
 quandary. 
 
 " Well, you can come along with us, and then 
 we will go out or send some one to hunt him up." 
 
 As he spoke he led the way toward the interior 
 of the island, the lad following obediently after 
 them. 
 
 He looked around as he picked his way along 
 to see whether there was any possible chance of 
 giving them the slip. 
 
 But, naturally ardent and hopeful as he was, 
 he could not detect the slightest opportunity that 
 could tempt him to make an effort.
 
 THE LAND. .OF WONDERS^ 
 
 21 
 
 "Who was it?" 
 
 " My father." 
 
 The two men laughed at this unexpected reply. 
 
 " Your father hasn't anything to do with this 
 part of Mexico; it belongs to us. And beside 
 that, we might have allowed him to pass through 
 without questioning if he hadn't persisted in com- 
 ing to the Haunted Island after being warned." 
 
 " Who warned him away? " 
 
 " Vega ; he had heard of the place and knew all 
 about it before he came in sight of it a few days 
 ago. Shall I tell you a truth about the Haunted 
 Island ? " asked the outlaw, stooping down and 
 peering into the face of the lad with a significant 
 expression. 
 
 " Yes," was the answer. 
 
 " No visitor to the Haunted Island has ever 
 gone away again, and what is more, no visitor 
 ever will." 
 
 There could be no doubt what these awful 
 words meant. 
 
 Although Jack had expected it from the be- 
 ginning, yet the announcement caused him a 
 shiver of horror as it fell upon his ear. 
 
 He said nothing, but stood still with his eyes 
 resting on the ground, awaiting their pleasure.
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 COMPANIONS IN MISERY THE TRIAL AND SEN- 
 TENCE 
 
 SCARCELY half an hour had passed after the 
 capture of Jack Winch when his uncle landed on 
 the Haunted Island. 
 
 Had he looked behind him, he would have dis- 
 covered that a boat, scarcely larger than his own, 
 was not far away, and the single man whom it 
 held was only a few minutes later in effecting a 
 landing. 
 
 Alfredo penetrated at once into the interior of 
 the island. 
 
 He was debating his best course, when his at- 
 tention was arrested by the sound of trickling 
 water, similar to that which struck his ear when 
 in the cavern. 
 
 Search showed that it was near by, the stream 
 being very small, while the spring from which 
 it issued was no more than a rod away. 
 
 22
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 23 
 
 The water looked so clear and sparkling that 
 Alfredo persuaded himself that he was thirsty. 
 
 Placing his gun on the ground, he lay down 
 and took a long draught. 
 
 There was nothing worthy of note in this very 
 natural proceeding, but when he rose up and 
 reached out for his gun it wasn't to be found ! 
 
 He suspected the truth, and instantly sprang 
 to his feet and attempted to draw his revolver. 
 
 But several swarthy forms leaped forward 
 from the undergrowth and disarmed him before 
 he could pull the trigger. 
 
 He had been captured as cleverly as it could 
 have been done, being taken completely off his 
 guard, and before he could do the least thing in 
 the way of defending himself. 
 
 As soon as he was pinioned he looked about 
 and found that he had been seized and bound by 
 three as villainous scoundrels as ever went un- 
 hung. 
 
 There was the gleam of exultation and triumph 
 in their faces, as they might very well be over the 
 exploit they had performed. 
 
 They had caught the man and boy who were 
 presumptuous enough to believe they could place
 
 24 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 foot on the Haunted Island and then go away to 
 tell of it. 
 
 Alfredo said nothing at all when he realized his 
 situation, for he knew it was useless, and there 
 was a certain dignity about the man which he 
 could not forget entirely on any occasion. 
 
 The vagabonds must have been expecting him, 
 for they were prepared, and he was no sooner re- 
 ceived than he was made secure by being deprived 
 of his pistol as well as his rifle, while his arms 
 were fastened together at the back, the elbows 
 being united by the strongest of buffalo-thongs. 
 Thus secured, Alfredo felt as though his situation 
 was as desperate as it could be. 
 
 When his captors had tied and retied, and made 
 sure the prisoner was so well bound that he could 
 not possess the least possible chance, they ven- 
 tured to address him. 
 
 " No one can come to the Haunted Island and 
 go away alive." 
 
 " There you are wrong," was the reply of Al- 
 fredo, " for I was here within the past twenty- 
 four hours, and went away again ; and, more than 
 that, I rode in your own canoe, and had your 
 own people to paddle me ashore."
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 25 
 
 As these two Mexicans were in the boat which 
 carried the speaker to the mainland, they could 
 not deny the truth of what he said. 
 
 The most they could do was to prevaricate a 
 little, with a view of parrying his thrust 
 
 " The fates which led you away have brought 
 you back again, and here you will stay on that 
 you may depend." 
 
 " Perhaps you speak the truth," said Alfredo, 
 avoiding everything like braggadocio or a cring- 
 ing spirit. 
 
 " There is no perhaps about it ; it is the truth." 
 
 " God rules," said the captive, reverently ; " it 
 is not for man to say what shall and what shall 
 not be." 
 
 The area of the Haunted Island prevented any 
 very lengthy march, and they needed to go but a 
 short distance when they reached the end of their 
 journey. 
 
 This was in a place as near the center of the is- 
 land as could well be. There was a small, cleared 
 space, not more than fifty feet broad, inclosed by 
 a circle of stones, within which stood and leaned 
 about a score of brigands or revolutionists. 
 
 The spot was overshadowed by shrubbery and
 
 26 
 
 vegetation, and in the middle burned a small fire, 
 which had served the purpose of cooking the 
 noon-day meal. 
 
 Several of the men were sitting on the tops of 
 these boulders, and on one of them sat Jack 
 Winch. 
 
 The instant he saw his uncle he leaped down, 
 and running forward, threw his arms about the 
 face of the man, and kissed and cried as did the 
 prodigal son. 
 
 " Oh, Uncle Frede," he sobbed, " I was so in 
 hope that you would not come here. I told them 
 they couldn't get you, though they tried to make 
 me think they had you already." 
 
 The tears trickled down the cheeks of Alfredo, 
 and he could not dash them aside, as he was de- 
 prived of the command of his hands. 
 
 " Keep up a brave heart, Jack," said he; " we 
 have been in bad situations before, and God has 
 never forsaken us. He will not desert us now." 
 
 There was a sincerity in these words which did 
 much to encourage the boy, and which could not 
 fail to impress the brigands themselves. 
 
 They looked stoically on, but said nothing, and 
 made no essay to interfere.
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 27 
 
 Alfredo was hungry, and he knew the boy 
 must be, unless he had already been fed. 
 
 Finding that he had received no nourishment, 
 the uncle asked that he might be provided with 
 some. 
 
 There was no response. 
 
 There was food within sight of the prisoners, 
 who were known to be in sore need of it, and yet 
 no one offered to furnish it them. 
 
 " You have the use of your hands," said the 
 uncle, addressing the nephew ; " therefore do you 
 slip over and eat all you want." 
 
 The suggestion was acted upon, the outlaws 
 offering no opposition. 
 
 Jack made sur e lie had enough, not only for 
 himself, but for Alfredo as well, and he lost no 
 time in feeding it to him. 
 
 This course was necessary, as the hands of the 
 man had not been freed. 
 
 While the novel proceeding was under way, the 
 Mexicans looked sullenly on, and one of them 
 made some remark to a companion which caused 
 him to watch the proceedings more closely, and 
 to grin as though there was something very hu- 
 morous about it.
 
 2 8 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 As it was, the prisoners secured a good sub- 
 stantial dinner, during which Alfredo encouraged 
 his young friend with the belief that there was 
 some slight hope for them. He had a project in 
 mind. 
 
 This group of outlaws were assembled for the 
 most serious kind of business. 
 
 They were so well acquainted beforehand with 
 the movements of Alfredo and Jack Winch, that 
 they unhesitatingly met together in the manner 
 mentioned to receive and pass judgment upon the 
 prisoners. 
 
 The singular meal was no more than finished 
 when the trial began. 
 
 This was of the briefest and most summary 
 character. 
 
 The leader informed the adult captive that it 
 had been a law among them for years that every 
 person found trespassing upon the Haunted Is- 
 land should be punished with death. 
 
 They could not accept the plea of ignorance, 
 for, if once admitted, it would be always used 
 against them. 
 
 Such being the situation, Alfredo was asked
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 29 
 
 whether he had anything to say why judgment 
 should not be passed upon him. 
 
 What could he reply? 
 
 Jack was sure he could only bow his head in 
 silent submission. 
 
 But, without any trepidation or appearance of 
 fear, Alfredo Alfiero made this proposition: 
 
 That the outlaws should be paid a heavy ran- 
 som on condition of setting both their prisoners 
 free. 
 
 He named a large sum, in the hope of exciting 
 their cupidity, and explained how it would be 
 placed in their hands without the least personal 
 peril to them. 
 
 The proposition was an honest one, for he who 
 made it was abundantly able to carry out all its 
 provisions. 
 
 The leaders withdrew a short distance, as if for 
 consultation. 
 
 At the end of ten minutes or so, they came 
 back and refused his proffer. 
 
 Alfredo was prepared for this, and he immedi- 
 ately increased it, naming a sum which might 
 have tempted a prince.
 
 30 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 To his dismay, this was not even considered as 
 was the other. 
 
 They did not withdraw, nor did they exchange 
 a word upon it. 
 
 Alfredo thought that perhaps they believed he 
 did not possess the ability to carry out his own 
 proposition. 
 
 He therefore devoted a few minutes to demon- 
 strating that he was able to do all that he prom- 
 ised, and he showed how it could be managed in 
 such a way that the advantage would be entirely 
 on the side of the Mexicans. 
 
 The leader then explained that if all this had 
 taken place on the mainland, the offer would 
 probably be accepted. 
 
 But the man who managed to reach Haunted 
 Island necessarily secured more knowledge than 
 was safe for him to carry away. 
 
 That was the reason for the law that no one 
 discovered upon it should ever be allowed to 
 leave it. 
 
 The fact that Alfredo had succeeded in doing 
 so in one instance was the first exception that had 
 ever occurred. 
 
 The pledges of the captive that their secret
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 31 
 
 should be kept were received with dubious shakes 
 of the head. 
 
 Self-preservation forbade they should run any 
 such risk. 
 
 The decree, therefore, was that the two prison- 
 ers should be put to death !
 
 CHAPTER IV, 
 
 CARRYING OUT THE SENTENCE 
 
 THE outlaws having decreed that their prison- 
 ers Alfredo Alfiero and Jack Winch should 
 die, it was left for the latter to take their choice 
 between drowning, shooting or starving. 
 
 Alfredo inquired by what means the starvation 
 was carried out. 
 
 The leading bandit replied that they lowered 
 the condemned into a cavern, so deep that there 
 was no possibility of escape therefrom, and then 
 left them. 
 
 This method had been adopted in several cases. 
 
 It was natural that Alfredo, after his experi- 
 ence on this island, should accept the proposition 
 of starving to death. 
 
 He was not without a faint hope that they 
 would be placed in the same cavern from which he 
 had made his escape. 
 
 3*
 
 THE LAND OF. WONDERS 33 
 
 At any rate, the proposition deferred death for 
 a time. 
 
 " Go into the cavern" whispered Jack, stepping 
 close to him. 
 
 " The boy prefers to enter the cavern," said Al- 
 fredo, as though the whispered words of the lad 
 had settled the debate going on in his mind, " so 
 we will accept that." 
 
 The prisoners having decided, there was no un- 
 necessary delay in carrying out the sentence. 
 
 One hundred yards from where the court had 
 sat, the mouth of the cavern was reached. 
 
 This entrance was no more than a yard in di- 
 ameter, and looking down, nothing but blank 
 awful darkness met the eye. 
 
 Alfredo's arms were still fastened behind him 
 at the elbows, and he asked that they might be re- 
 leased, as the thongs pained him; but the request 
 was refused. 
 
 " Let me go down first," said the boy. 
 
 " No, it is proper that I should go down 
 first," said his uncle, kindly. 
 
 The buffalo-rope, of immense length, was 
 fastened to both, and preparations made to lower 
 them into the pit together.
 
 34 
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 A horrible suspicion flashed upon Alfredo that 
 they intended to cut the rope after starting them 
 downward, so as to cause them to be dashed to 
 pieces on the rocks far, far below. 
 
 No words can describe the awful emotions of 
 the two prisoners when at last the rope was fast- 
 ened to them, and they were swung over the black 
 abyss. 
 
 Swinging thus in the breathless darkness, man 
 and boy were slowly lowered into the bowels of 
 the earth. 
 
 The depth might be fifty or five hundred feet. 
 The bottom of the yawning pit might be water or 
 hard rock. 
 
 " Are you there? " asked Alfredo, when the two 
 were separated for a few minutes. 
 
 : ' Yes. Don't you feel me ? " asked Jack, with a 
 cheeriness wonderful in one of his years. 
 
 " Keep a good heart ; we shall reach bottom one 
 of these days, and then there may be a chance for 
 us to do something." 
 
 " S'posing there ain't any bottom to it ? " sug- 
 gested the lad. 
 
 " That cannot be."
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 35 
 
 " It may go through the earth to the other side 
 of the world." 
 
 " Then we will come out somewhere in the 
 neighborhood of China ; but there is no possibility 
 of that." 
 
 " Can you tell me how fast we are going? " 
 
 " That is impossible, but they began quite rap- 
 idly, and they will be likely to keep it up till we 
 reach something to stand on. Hark! " 
 
 Out of this solemn murmur could be detected a 
 faint, grating sound above their heads. 
 
 "What is that?" asked Jack. 
 
 " That is the friction of the rope on the edge of 
 the opening." 
 
 " S'posing it wears off? " 
 
 "Then our troubles will end very quickly." 
 
 Both looked up, but nothing could be seen but 
 the orifice through which they were being low- 
 ered info the unknown depth of the cavern. 
 
 The opening looked small, like the dim moon 
 when discerned through the clouds on a misty 
 night. 
 
 " They haven't left us our guns," said Jack, 
 whose mind, perhaps naturally enough, was filled 
 with the wildest ideas of escape.
 
 36 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 "And what of that ? Of what use could a gun 
 be to us in such a world of night as we are enter- 
 ing?" 
 
 " There may be wild animals there that we can 
 shoot." 
 
 " Ah, no," said his uncle, sadly. " That cannot 
 be ; in such a region as this no living thing can ex- 
 ist." 
 
 " Then how are we to live ? " was the horrified 
 inquiry of the lad. 
 
 " We are in the hands of Heaven," was the 
 gentle reply; for Alfredo felt unequal to the task 
 of breaking the heart of the boy just yet. 
 
 Let him wait before the whole frightful truth 
 should dawn upon him. He must learn it soon 
 enough. 
 
 " They didn't untie your arms, did they? " con- 
 tinued the little fellow. 
 
 " No ; I asked them, but they refused. It mat- 
 ters not, however." 
 
 " Wait till we stop and then I will fix that all 
 right. I have the use of my hands, and there is 
 my jackknife in my pocket." 
 
 " That will be all we want," said Alfredo, de-
 
 " SWINGING THUS IN THE BREATHLESS DARKNESS, MAN AND BOY WERE 
 SLOWLY LOWERED INTO THE BOWELS OF THE EARTH." PAGE 34.
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 37 
 
 termined to keep up as good a heart as did the 
 boy. 
 
 " Don't they hurt you I mean the ropes that 
 they have used to tie you fast ? " 
 
 " They don't feel very comfortable, but I can 
 stand it very well till we reach the ground be- 
 low." 
 
 The grating sound which they had noticed 
 from the first kept growing fainter till it was 
 hardly audible. 
 
 They were getting well down into the bowels 
 of the earth. 
 
 It was difficult work to make suitable answers 
 to the questions of Jack, who was still scarcely a 
 moment. 
 
 He asked all sorts of outlandish things, and re- 
 peated them till his companion made some kind of 
 a reply. 
 
 The Mexicans, in tying the lad, did it in such a 
 manner that he was as much at ease as was possi- 
 ble, and he was without that awful depression of 
 spirits which almost forced the life out the body 
 of the man. 
 
 As the distance increased, the bodies of both 
 began to rotate, slowly at first, but soon with a
 
 38 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 speed which became so annoying that Alfredo 
 called out : 
 
 " Throw your arms around me and see whether 
 that won't stop us." 
 
 The boy did as requested, and the plan was 
 found to work well. 
 
 They soon became stationary, so far as the re- 
 volving movement was concerned. 
 
 More than once Alfredo regretted that he had 
 not chosen the other alternative of execution by 
 the gun or the strangling water. 
 
 There would have been but the single brief 
 struggle, and all would have been over. 
 
 Had he possessed the hardihood to choose that, 
 all prolonged misery would have been averted. 
 
 Ere this they would have been enjoying the last 
 eternal sleep. 
 
 But regrets were useless, and he prayed that he 
 might teach the noble little fellow to meet the in- 
 evitable like a man. 
 
 Jack Winch had been silent several minutes be- 
 fore his uncle noticed it. 
 
 At last he asked : 
 
 " What makes you so quiet ? " 
 
 " Do you know what I think ? "
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 39 
 
 "No; what is it?" 
 
 " We ain't going lower; they have been holding 
 us still for some time! " 
 
 " How long since you noticed it? " 
 
 " Quite a while." 
 
 " What makes you think so ? " 
 
 " 'Cause you can't hear anything more of that 
 rope." 
 
 " That may be because we are so low down." 
 
 " No, that ain't it. I was listening to it a while 
 ago, when it stopped all at once. I noticed it right 
 away, and was waiting for it to start again." 
 
 Alfredo listened some time and became con- 
 vinced that Jack was right. 
 
 The downward movement had stopped. 
 
 The length of the rope was reached, and they 
 could go no lower with its help. 
 
 Here was as frightful a quandary as imagina- 
 tion can depict. 
 
 Suspended in midair, like wretched aeronauts 
 by midnight, unable to tell whether the earth was 
 within a few rods or whether it was a mile below 
 them. 
 
 And there was no means of learning the truth. 
 
 Was there anything they could do to end the 
 awful suspense?
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 IN THE CAVERN UNDERGROUND EXPLORATIONS 
 
 THERE was a faint hope that the stoppage in 
 the descent was only temporary, and that the 
 bandits would soon resume the lowering of the 
 prisoners into the cavern. 
 
 Alfredo told Jack to wait and listen for the 
 grating of the cord against the rocks above their 
 heads. 
 
 " Put your ear against the rope," said he, " and 
 if they begin it again you will hear better." 
 
 Both did this, but the stillness was not dis- 
 turbed in the least, and the conclusion was inevit- 
 able that they had reached the limit of their re- 
 spective ropes. 
 
 " Can you see anything of the opening? " asked 
 Alfredo, peering upward through the gloom. 
 
 "It looks like the moon up there ; very faint, but 
 I can see it." 
 
 " Hark! " whispered his uncle; " I think some 
 
 one called." 
 
 40
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 41 
 
 Both listened attentively, and, sure enough, the 
 voice of one of the desperadoes was heard coming 
 down to them from the sunlight and life of the 
 earth above. 
 
 "Jump!" was the first word that was distin- 
 guished, followed instantly by the others ; " we 
 have reached the end of the rope! " 
 
 These were awful words, indeed, and they sent 
 a shiver of horror through man and boy. 
 
 The former felt no doubt that the thing had 
 been arranged from the beginning. They always 
 let their prisoners down in this manner, until they 
 reached such a point, when they were left to them- 
 selves. 
 
 The command to jump was a strange one, in- 
 asmuch as they were not holding on by their 
 hands, but were tied in such a way that they were 
 not at liberty to do anything for themselves. 
 
 "Jack," said Alfredo, "you have the use of your 
 hands, and you told me a while ago that your 
 knife was in your pocket; take it out and cut 
 these thongs that hold my arms." 
 
 " Why didn't you tell me to do that before? " 
 asked the lad, as he complied. " I might as well 
 have done it as not."
 
 4 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 The buffalo thongs are among the toughest in 
 the world, and the sharpest knife has great diffi- 
 culty in severing one of them. 
 
 But Jack was working more for love than any- 
 thing else, and he persevered until the arms of his 
 uncle were once more free. 
 
 ' There ! " said the man, with a sigh of relief ; 
 " I feel like a new person, though I'm a little 
 cramped." 
 
 " What are you going to do now ? " 
 
 ' They can't lower us any further, and we 
 might as well jump." 
 
 " But it may be a hundred feet ! " said the hor- 
 rified Jack. 
 
 " I can't help that. Lend me your knife a min- 
 ute." 
 The implement was passed over. 
 
 As soon as it was placed in the hands of Al- 
 fredo, he began cutting the thong around his 
 waist, so that when he was ready he could allow 
 himself to drop. 
 
 This done, he told Jack that he meant to do the 
 same thing for him. 
 
 The little fellow made no objection, for he be-
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 43 
 
 lieved that whatever his uncle did could not but be 
 right. 
 
 " Now, hold on," admonished Alfredo, " and 
 don't let go till I tell you you may do so." 
 
 " All right; I will do as you tell me." 
 
 The task was one of the most fearful of Al- 
 fredo's life. 
 
 He was compelled to let go and fall downward, 
 no one could guess how far. 
 
 Imagination, left to itself, conjured up all sorts 
 of horrible visions of what was before him. 
 
 He saw themselves spinning downward 
 through the blackened abyss, striking the crags, 
 and bounding from side to side, until they reached 
 the bottom, hundreds of feet below, shapeless 
 masses of what had once been human beings. 
 
 While these and other horrid visions were 
 seething through the brain of the man, he so far 
 forgot himself as to loosen his grasp. 
 
 The first warning he received was the slipping 
 of the thong through his hands. 
 
 He attempted to recover himself with all the 
 desperate power at his command, but he was too 
 near the end of the thong, and was unable to do 
 so.
 
 44 
 
 While he was still striving, with the cold per- 
 spiration streaming from every pore, the rope 
 passed swiftly through his closed palms, and he 
 dropped downward in the darkness. 
 
 Alfredo uttered a gasping howl of terror, like 
 that of a strong man when seized by the last great 
 conqueror of all. 
 
 The cry, one of the most fearful that can be 
 heard, rang through the cavern, and before Jack 
 Winch could ask his uncle what the matter was, 
 he was gone ! 
 
 As nearly as could be estimated, Alfredo fell 
 about six feet. 
 
 He struck in an upright posture and did not 
 lose his balance, nor was he conscious of an un- 
 comfortable jar. 
 
 It took him about five minutes before he could 
 realize his deliverance from death. 
 
 Then he called out : 
 
 " Let go, Jack ; there isn't anything to fear. 
 You are close to the bottom, and I am standing on 
 it." 
 
 The next minute there was a dull thump and the 
 boy was at his side, reaching out his hand and 
 feeling for his uncle.
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 45 
 
 " Oh, here you are," he said, as he grasped his 
 hand ; " I can't see anything, and I didn't know 
 where to feel for you." 
 
 Alfredo warmly pressed the hand of the boy, 
 and thanked God that they were not separated as 
 yet. 
 
 Ay, the bottom of the cavern was reached, but 
 the question remained as to what they should do. 
 
 Here they were in a world of darkness, not 
 knowing which way to turn or what to attempt to 
 do. 
 
 They were impressed by that deep, solemn still- 
 ness which reigned here as it had doubtless 
 reigned for thousands of years. 
 
 Looking upward, they were able to catch the 
 faintest glimmer of the opening over their heads. 
 
 It seemed to them as if they were a mile from 
 the surface of the earth. 
 
 " Hark ! " whispered Jack, " I hear something." 
 ' You seem to possess keener ears than I do ; I 
 haven't noticed anything, so tell me what it 
 sounds like." 
 
 " Don't you hear it? It is the noise of water." 
 
 Now that it was mentioned, Alfredo was able
 
 46 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 to recognize the trickling of some tiny stream or 
 " leak " near at hand. 
 
 Recollecting that they were far below the lake, 
 it seemed to him that it was more likely that what 
 they heard was the dropping of water through the 
 rocks which formed the roof of the cavern. 
 
 " Is it anything to be scared at? " asked Jack, 
 who was not certain how the matter should be 
 looked at. 
 
 " No, I cannot say that it is ; it would be a 
 blessed thing for us if the whole cavern should be- 
 come filled from the lake, for don't you see that it 
 would float us to the top, and we might swim 
 out." 
 
 " It don't seem to me that there would be much 
 chance for that ; I think the water would come in 
 with such a rush that it would bang us all to 
 pieces against the rocks, or it would be so slow 
 about it that we would drown before it would do 
 us any good." 
 
 Alfredo felt that this was a very sensible view 
 of the whole thing, though he said nothing to that 
 effect. 
 
 " We both have matches in our pockets," said 
 the man ; " let us hunt for wood, and it will be a
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 47 
 
 great blessing if we can start a fire down here, so 
 that we can find use for our eyes." 
 
 In saying this, Alfredo Alfiero named the 
 greatest dread which he had experienced since the 
 descent into the cavern commenced. 
 
 It was the dwelling in utter darkness until the 
 system should succumb and should die the death 
 of agony that always follows such unnatural ex- 
 istence. 
 
 No one excepting him who has been deprived 
 of the wonderful sunlight of Heaven is fitted to 
 appreciate its glory. 
 
 It requires a sick man to value health, and it is 
 the prisoner who has lingered in the dungeon for 
 years with occasional glimpses of the golden rays 
 which straggled into his cell who can realize what 
 he has lost. Alfredo believed that before starva- 
 tion should come, his brain would yield and he 
 would become a raving lunatic. 
 
 And that end was what he dreaded more than 
 all others. 
 
 Jack was as eager as he to find out all he could 
 about the great, gloomy place in which he ex- 
 pected to spend a few days, and most probably 
 all his life.
 
 48 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 His uncle cautioned him to be careful about 
 tumbling into some hole, and at the same time he 
 joined in the hunt for fuel. 
 
 It was certainly remarkable that while they 
 were so far below the surface of the earth they 
 were in such a dry region. 
 
 There was no dampness at all, and the only evi- 
 dence they had discovered up to this time of the 
 presence of water was the trickling already re- 
 ferred to. 
 
 The bottom of the cavern was mostly rock, 
 with a dry, dusty layer in some places, which 
 seemed to have been drifting for years through 
 the opening above. 
 
 The floor was very uneven, and it required 
 great caution in moving about, to prevent severe 
 bruises. 
 
 Man and boy kept up a constant communica- 
 tion by talking, so as to escape the danger of be- 
 coming mutually lost. 
 
 It would be a terrible fate, indeed, for them to 
 lose each other in this world, where the only 
 solace was in being together. 
 
 " Don't move too fast," admonished Alfredo, 
 " for you may pass over the very things for which
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 49 
 
 we are looking ; feel around for the wood at every 
 step you take." 
 
 *' How could wood get down here? " was the 
 natural question of the boy, and which the man 
 had already asked himself a score of times. 
 
 " I can't understand how it could come about 
 myself, but it may be for all that " 
 
 "Hello, I've struck something !" called out 
 Jack, as his foot came in collision with some hard 
 substance. 
 
 " It is a rock, very likely," said his uncle, " for 
 they're all about here, but it may be something 
 else." 
 
 The boy was stooping over and examining the 
 object, whatever it was. 
 
 " I declare," said he, " if it don't feel like a stick 
 of wood." 
 
 " Bring it to me and let me see." 
 
 It was strange how intense the interest was in 
 this question. The task of finding fuel had be- 
 come literally -a matter of life and death to them, 
 and neither could have been more agitated were 
 the question whether they had discovered a way 
 out of the cavern into freedom. 
 
 Where all was complete and utter darkness, it
 
 50 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 necessitated some groping around in the gloom, 
 but Alfredo secured the object after some fum- 
 bling. 
 
 As soon as he ran his hand over it he called out : 
 
 " You are right, Jack; this is wood, indeed." 
 
 "Ain't that good? I wonder if there's more of 
 it." 
 
 " There is reason to hope so; the existence of 
 wood having been proven, it only remains to find 
 it. Hunt very carefully close to where you found 
 that." 
 
 The boy was already down on his hands and 
 knees, feeling here and there, and as eager as if 
 it were a prize of untold value for which he was 
 hunting. 
 
 " Hello ! here's another ! " was the cry that 
 went up from the young fellow within the next 
 five minutes. 
 
 " No," was the incredulous response of the 
 man, delighted as much as he, " it cannot be." 
 
 " You just see what that is,"- said the boy, 
 handing the stick up to his friend, who, being un- 
 able to see where it was approaching him, received 
 the end in his open mouth. 
 
 " Get out ! " he exclaimed, spitting the atoms 
 away. " That is wood, I am sure, for I tasted it."
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 AN IMPRESSIVE SIGHT NEW DISCOVERIES 
 
 WHERE the wood came from was as great a 
 mystery to the two as was the presence of the ap- 
 ple within the dumpling to the king. 
 
 But it was there, and that was sufficient. 
 
 They gathered all they could find, and then pre- 
 pared to start the fire. 
 
 The wood was dry, and seemed to be pieces 
 broken off some tree and cast down through the 
 opening. 
 
 With Jack's knife a lot of whittlings were 
 made, and when all was ready the match was ig- 
 nited. 
 
 A little careful nursing speedily fanned the 
 flame into a blaze, which increased until there was 
 a good roaring fire, which threw its glare for a 
 long distance through the gloom. 
 
 When this was done, man and boy rose to their 
 feet, and with the most inquiring interest looked 
 around in the darkness illumined by this flame, 
 5'
 
 52 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 the first, perhaps, that was ever kindled within the 
 cavern. There was not a great deal to see. 
 
 Here and there the jaggy points of some rock 
 were detected thrusting themselves into the light, 
 while, like the iceberg, the greatest portion of 
 them receded into invisibility. 
 
 Looking aloft, the same feature was observed. 
 
 There were patches of black rock visible, but 
 the greater part was so far off in the gloom that 
 the light of the fagots failed to reach and reveal 
 them. 
 
 The floor of the cavern was just as irregular as 
 the roof. 
 
 Had the two advanced but a short ways fur- 
 ther, they would have stumbled over some rough 
 splinters that seemed to have fallen from the roof 
 above. 
 
 Peering as far as the eye could penetrate, there 
 was little to be gained of the size and general 
 shape of the cavern. 
 
 They were unable to tell even in what direction 
 it extended, or its probable length and breadth. 
 
 While they stood turning around and staring 
 toward every point of the compass, it was noticed 
 that the fire was beginning to die out.
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 53 
 
 Jack was the first to notice and call attention to 
 it. 
 
 Alfredo threw the last stick on it. 
 " When that is burned," said he, " we shall have 
 to take the darkness again for our portion." 
 
 " Let's see whether we can't find some more 
 wood while we have the light to look for it." 
 
 The suggestion was acted on, each taking a 
 torch from the fire and moving about in the gloom 
 in quest of more of the fuel which had proven 
 such a godsend to them. 
 
 They were disappointed in finding the wood, 
 but they discovered something else. 
 
 There were bones, and the fragments of cloth- 
 ing, here and there, that must have been left by 
 those who had perished here in the years past. 
 
 Most of them were so far decayed that there 
 was scarcely any semblance of humanity left. 
 
 When touched they crumbled like ashes, and 
 were most impressive lessons, indeed, of the decay 
 of human life. 
 
 Alfredo came upon one which startled him. 
 
 Holding his torch above his head, he looked 
 down on a face so fresh and fair that it was easy 
 to believe the breath of life had just departed.
 
 54 
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 The countenance was a handsome one, and evi- 
 dently that of a military officer, who was young 
 in years. 
 
 The features were regular, the nose Roman, 
 the mustache black and of a silken texture, and 
 the contour of the face classic in its regularity. 
 
 Around the high, white forehead clustered a 
 mass of black curls, the military cap having fallen 
 to the ground beside him. 
 
 The posture of the man was suggestive of sleep 
 rather than of death. 
 
 He was lying partly on one side, with an arm 
 under his head, just as many persons do when 
 asleep, and the rest of his body and limbs were 
 disposed in the same easy positions. 
 
 While the two friends paused in silent survey 
 of the impressive picture, it was noticed that 
 something was in the right hand. 
 
 Alfredo stooped over and brought it forth from 
 between the rigid fingers. 
 
 "What is it?" asked Jack. 
 
 " A picture," was the softened reply, as his un- 
 cle stooped down and held the torch in front of 
 the treasure, so that the boy might contemplate it 
 as well as himself.
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 55 
 
 It was a small, oval painting of a little girl, 
 with a face of wonderful beauty, suggesting in its 
 marvelous loveliness some of the pictures of the 
 old masters, wherein are seen the countenances of 
 the angels and the glorified. 
 
 Man and boy remained for a long time bending 
 over the painting, and contemplating it in silence. 
 
 Alfredo thought that he could see a resem- 
 blance to the face of the body on the ground, and 
 the belief came to him that the representation was 
 of a little child of the dead man. 
 
 Though he died in the darkness, where he 
 could see nothing, yet he held the picture before 
 him, where, had there come but a single ray of 
 light, he would have caught sight of it. 
 
 Perhaps, in the last dread moment, there did 
 come such a torch which, with its illumination, 
 showed not only the features of the beauteous lit- 
 tle girl but that of others awaiting him on the 
 other shore. 
 
 Else why were those features of the man over- 
 spread with such a heavenly calm ? 
 
 The little painting was one of exquisite loveli- 
 ness, and Alfredo reverently closed the case and 
 placed it away in his pocket, intending to carry it
 
 56 THE LAND OF. WONDERS, 
 
 with him should he be permitted to leave the 
 cavern. 
 
 " Is he dead ? " asked Jack, looking doubtingly 
 at the body on the ground. 
 
 " Of course. Why do you ask the question ? " 
 
 " I thought I saw him move." 
 
 " It could not be." 
 
 And bending over him, Alfredo grasped the 
 arm and shook it quite vigorously. 
 
 It crumbled like ashes ! 
 
 The transformation was so extraordinary that 
 it seemed like some piece of enchantment. 
 
 Prompted by a strange impulse, Alfredo placed 
 his hand upon the face, which immediately gave 
 way and lost all semblance of humanity! 
 
 " It surpasses anything I ever saw ! " gasped 
 the man, drawing back with a feeling akin to hor- 
 ror. 
 
 "What was the cause of it? " 
 
 " It must have been dead a long time, perhaps 
 for years. The climate in this cavern has pre- 
 served it in that form, as it might have staid for 
 years to come had we not disturbed it. There was 
 no draft of air, no beating of the rain or storm to 
 injure it, and but for our visit it might be found
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 57 
 
 centuries hence precisely as we saw it a few min- 
 utes ago." 
 
 " But what about the picture ? " 
 
 " Time can scarcely affect that. The colors 
 would not become dim for many generations." 
 
 " It looks as if it might have been his daugh- 
 ter," said Jack, speaking in a hushed voice, as a 
 boy will do when greatly impressed with fear or 
 awe. 
 
 " I think I saw a resemblance in their faces, but 
 it is hard to tell whether there is such, when one is 
 a picture and the other a dead body. Whoever she 
 was, it is certain she was dearly loved by the 
 man." 
 
 " Maybe we can find the girl when we get back 
 to Vera Cruz." 
 
 Pathos and humor follow so closely upon each 
 other, that Alfredo laughed to himself at the ab- 
 surd suggestions made by the remark of the lad. 
 
 In the first place, if the original of the portrait 
 was living, she was certainly a woman grown. 
 
 Secondly, what warrant had Jack for suppos- 
 ing that they would ever see Vera Cruz again ? 
 
 The two had been put into this cavern that they 
 might die, and here was Jack talking as if they
 
 S 8 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 had merely halted for a little pleasure on their 
 way to Vera Cruz. 
 
 His remark was such as to show that he held 
 not the least doubt that they would reach there in 
 due time. 
 
 Alfredo did not choose to correct him. 
 
 It was a great thing if the little fellow could 
 keep up his courage at such a fearful time, and he 
 was glad to see these signs of it. 
 
 Alfredo did not think it necessary to tell Jack 
 all the thoughts that passed through his mind re- 
 garding what they had seen. 
 
 His theory was that the man had been on an 
 errand something like his own, and being simi- 
 larly unfortunate, was lowered into the cave and 
 left to die. 
 
 The evidence of the peaceful death which had 
 come to him gave color to the theory that he was 
 possessed of some subtle poison, to which he re- 
 sorted when he found there was no possible hope 
 of escape. 
 
 They were about moving away, when Jack di- 
 rected attention to his rifle, lying beside the body. 
 
 " Odd that I did not notice that before," said 
 his uncle, who immediately picked it up.
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 59 
 
 The action was followed by an exclamation of 
 amazement, for at the first grasp the stock crum- 
 bled to pieces and fell off. 
 
 " How strange ! " muttered the man. "There 
 must be something in the air which affects bodies 
 and other articles in this manner." 
 
 " How is it with the barrel? " 
 
 " That is all right, of course ; iron is impregna- 
 ble against it." 
 
 " What's the use of the iron when there is no 
 stock?" 
 
 " It may prove of some benefit, though not in 
 the way in which guns are generally useful. At 
 any rate, I will take it along." 
 
 With this, he freed it of the woodwork, which 
 was sure to come off sooner or later, and found 
 he had a formidable weapon at his command in 
 case of a personal encounter with anyone. 
 
 " What do you think you will use that for ? " 
 asked Jack, with some curiosity. 
 
 " I have no more idea than have you. It may 
 not be of the least use, and it may serve some im- 
 portant purpose. At any rate, I feel a strong im- 
 pulse to take it along. Just now the thought oc-
 
 6o 
 
 curs to me that it may be of help in breaking the 
 wood with which we make our fire." 
 
 " But we can't find any more fuel." 
 
 " How do you know that ? Have we searched 
 the whole cavern? " 
 
 " No; and we will never have time to do that." 
 
 " We expect to have time to do a great deal, for 
 there is no strong prospect of our leaving very 
 soon." 
 
 " Let us try. Hello ! our wood is about used 
 up," exclaimed the boy, as there was a perceptible 
 diminution of the light around them. " What are 
 we going to do now ? " 
 
 The deprivation which Alfredo had dreaded so 
 much was upon them. 
 
 The last stick was thrown upon the fire some 
 time before, and that, as well as the rest, was 
 pretty well burned up. 
 
 The light must soon give way to total dark- 
 ness. 
 
 What should be done then ? was the question he 
 had been considering ever since awakening to the 
 fact. He was compelled to believe that the fuel 
 upon which they had been existing, as it may be 
 said, had come into the cavern accidentally.
 
 THE LAND OP WONDERS 61 
 
 In fact, he was sure of it, for there could be no 
 vegetable growth in such a place. 
 
 From some cause or other it must have been 
 precipitated through the opening above, and had 
 lain undisturbed until put to the present use. 
 
 The realization that the awful darkness was 
 creeping upon them brought a depressing feeling 
 to Alfredo, who viewed the coming of the " eter- 
 nal night " with unspeakable dread. 
 
 "Ain't that queer?" suddenly asked Jack, 
 whose eyes were of remarkable keenness. 
 " Haven't you noticed that? " 
 
 ",What do you mean?" asked the wondering 
 uncle. 
 
 " You see where those crags stick out from the 
 side of the cavern ? Well, they glisten and shine 
 so much that I would think they were gold if it 
 wasn't for one thing." 
 
 "What's that?" 
 
 " They're black as jet." 
 
 'Alfredo walked to the spot and knocked off sev- 
 eral chunks with the gun-barrel, and walked back 
 to the fire, that he might examine it more criti- 
 cally.
 
 62 
 
 He turned it over several times, rubbed, smelled 
 and tasted, and finally ended it by throwing it on 
 the blaze, where he carefully watched the result.
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 FIGHTING AGAINST DESPAIR 
 
 ALFREDO stood by the fire watching for several 
 minutes the black chunk that he had placed on 
 the coals and then he suddenly threw up his hat 
 with a loud, joyous hurrah. 
 
 " What's the matter ? " asked Jack, in amaze- 
 ment. 
 
 " Don't you see what it is? It is burning! It is 
 coal! And there are thousands of tons around us ! 
 We shall never be in want of a light now ; there is 
 enough to keep burning here for a hundred 
 years." 
 
 These extravagant expressions were founded 
 on truth. 
 
 The black, shiny masses that had attracted the 
 attention of the boy, just as they were on the point 
 of fading out in the darkness, and which, had they 
 remained unnoticed a few minutes longer, would 
 have continued unnoticed forever, were pure 
 stone-coal, seemingly of the very best quality. 
 63
 
 64 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 That which was thrown upon the blaze readily 
 took the flame and was soon all aglow. 
 
 Other pieces of stone were arranged so as to 
 form a kind of grate upon which the coal was laid, 
 and in a very short time the heat was such that 
 the couple were forced to move further away 
 from it. 
 
 The light from this was not so far-reaching as 
 that from the wood when it was all ablaze, but it 
 imparted a steady glow, which extended much 
 further than would be supposed, and when the 
 two looked around their vision reached a greater 
 distance than during the last hours of the wood- 
 fire. 
 
 " Let's have a drink of water," proposed Jack, 
 about the time they were fairly seated on the 
 
 ground. " I still hear it falling somewhere around 
 us." 
 
 " It is near enough to be seen," replied his un- 
 cle, pointing to their right, where it was plainly 
 observed as it trickled down the wall. 
 
 Both made their way te it, and found that it 
 collected in a small pool at the bottom of the cav- 
 ern, where it reached a depth of a few inches,
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 65 
 
 when it found an outflow into the deeper recesses 
 of the earth. 
 
 They were provided with water, light, pure air, 
 and each was in the best of health. 
 
 But they were hopeless prisoners. 
 
 And there was a grisly phantom creeping down 
 upon them. Alfredo tried to think of everything 
 else, but it intruded and forced away all other 
 thoughts. 
 
 He talked of other things, and for a minute or 
 two he succeeded in forgetting it, but when he 
 raised his eyes from the coals before him, there 
 stood the grinning phantom on the other side the 
 fire, gibbering and pointing its finger at him. 
 
 Then when he turned his head away and stared 
 hard at Jack, he saw it standing behind him, and 
 dancing with glee. 
 
 Though the little fellow saw it not, it con- 
 stantly flitted before the gaze of the man. 
 
 Whichever way he looked he was sure to en- 
 counter it. When he stared at the vast walls of 
 gloom that inclosed them round it was there, 
 dancing on the boundary line between the cavern 
 which was illuminated and the blank gloom be- 
 yond.
 
 66 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 It was always dancing, and never still. 
 
 When in despair he raised his eyes to the 
 vaulted roof, stretching away till lost in invisibil- 
 ity, he could not escape the fateful imp. 
 
 With one bound it leaped from the floor up to 
 some crag overhead, which it seized with its ra- 
 ven-like claws, where it hung on and kicked its 
 legs and swung its arms as if they would fly 
 from its hateful body. It seemed to be saying all 
 the time: 
 
 " You're trying to get away from me, but you 
 can't, you can't, you can't ! " 
 
 The two sat a while in silence and then the man 
 said: 
 
 " You see the advantage of a coal fire over one 
 made from wood; this will burn far longer, and 
 we shall not have to put any more fuel on for sev- 
 eral hours, unless we take the notion to do so. 
 The coal is of the best quality too." 
 
 He looked across for an answer to the remark, 
 but the boy was silent. A glance at his face 
 showed that his head was drooping and his eyes 
 were shut. 
 
 Jack Winch was asleep. 
 
 " Poor fellow," murmured his uncle, " would
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 67 
 
 that his sleep might last forever! it would be 
 mercy to him." 
 
 He contemplated him sorrowfully a moment 
 while the tears stole down his cheeks, and he called 
 on Heaven as he had done many a time, to succor 
 them now that the day of their calamity had come. 
 
 There was one thing which presented itself 
 constantly. That was to attempt a more detailed 
 exploration of the cavern. 
 
 There might be some outlet of which the ban- 
 dits knew nothing, and it was not impossible that 
 the same beneficent Providence that had favored 
 them so signally in the past might open the way 
 for them again. To sit down and fold his hands 
 was to give way to all the horrors of despair. 
 
 The dreadful feeling could be fought off only 
 by busying himself with something. 
 
 " It shall be done," he exclaimed, starting to 
 his feet. " I shall give up only when I haven't 
 the strength to do anything more." 
 
 But he was loath to start off alone, leaving the 
 boy behind, as he might be drawn so far that he 
 could not find his way back. If Alfredo was re- 
 solved on one thing, it was to keep the company 
 of Jack to the last.
 
 68 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 " I will wait till he awakes," he added, again 
 seating himself on the opposite side of the fire, 
 where he could look on the face of the boy ; " he 
 may not wake for hours, but I have the time and 
 I will wait patiently till he opens his eyes. 
 Hello ! " he added ,as the boy at that very mo- 
 ment awoke with a start. " Your nap was a 
 short one." 
 
 " I was dreaming," said Jack, " and it was an 
 odd dream." 
 
 " I thought we were talking about what we 
 should do for food, when an angel appeared and 
 told us to go that way," said the boy, turning his 
 head, and pointing behind him, " and we did as 
 he told us." 
 
 "What followed?" 
 
 " We hadn't gone far when we came to a table 
 spread with the best kind of food I ever saw. 
 There was everything meat, and puddings and 
 fruit, and pies, and oh! enough to last a life- 
 time." 
 
 "And you ate it?" 
 
 " No ; just as I reached out my hand and took 
 a whole pie, and opened my mouth to take the
 
 THE LAND OF. WONDERS 69 
 
 biggest kind of a bite big enough to take in half 
 the pie I woke." 
 
 " What a pity your dream didn't last a little 
 longer ! " 
 
 " That's what I thought when I woke and saw 
 you sitting there, though I would have felt bad 
 to think you couldn't have shared it with me." 
 
 " Very well, the next time we will go to sleep 
 together, and perhaps we will have the same 
 dream, and take a good square meal in our slum- 
 ber." 
 
 Although Alfredo spoke in this jesting man- 
 ner, it was all put on, for he was disturbed over 
 the fancy of the lad. 
 
 " Do you know," said the man, at last, with all 
 the vivacity he could assume, " that I have a hope 
 that there was something in that dream ? " 
 
 Jack looked at him in a way which showed he 
 did not understand his meaning. 
 
 " That may have been a sort of warning to us 
 that we must not give up yet. You have heard 
 your father, in telling of his many shipwrecks, 
 say that so long as there is life there is hope v 
 Who knows but what there is some way out of 
 this cavern unknown to the Mexicans who placed
 
 7 o 
 
 us here, and that Providence, who has favored 
 us so greatly in the past, will show us the way 
 to it?" 
 
 " Do you think so ? " eagerly asked the lad; 
 " let us look for it, then." 
 
 " Agreed," replied the man, rising again to his 
 feet; " come on and let us learn the whole truth."
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 BLIND GROPING A WONDERFUL MESSAGE 
 
 THE two started off on their exploring tour of 
 the cavern, without any well-defined idea of the 
 direction they ought to take. 
 
 Yielding to a rather curious impulse, however, 
 Alfredo followed the course which had come to 
 Jack in his dream. 
 
 They advanced with the utmost care, for it was 
 their intention, in case they made no important dis- 
 covery, to return to the camp, where they could 
 be sure of having a fire to lighten the oppressive 
 gloom. 
 
 It was therefore necessary that, so far as pos- 
 sible, they should keep their bearings." 
 
 " I will take the lead," said Alfredo, " and you 
 can keep as close behind as you choose, so that 
 you do not get too far off. We have plenty of 
 time at our command, and there is no need of be- 
 ing in a hurry." 
 
 71
 
 72 THE LAND OF, WONDERS 
 
 In this fashion they made their start, and a full 
 hour was spent in going less than a couple of hun- 
 dred yards. 
 
 The floor of the cavern was so uneven, and they 
 were in such fear of precipitating themselves into 
 some fathomless opening, that they advanced with 
 as much caution as if they were a couple of ele- 
 phants crossing a bridge for the first time. 
 
 All the while Alfredo was suffering torture of 
 mind more than of body, caused by the feeling that 
 his distressing hunger was steadily increasing. 
 
 It must be the same with Jack, he knew, and it 
 would continue to increase until its own intensity 
 would be deadened by the giving away of the 
 system. 
 
 The exploration was kept up for a couple of 
 hours without accomplishing anything. They 
 had done a great deal of tramping, and were in 
 need of rest. 
 
 Alfredo proposed, therefore, that they should 
 go back to the camp and rest awhile before com- 
 ing out again to look in another direction. 
 
 Jack was glad of the proposal, for he was so 
 wearied that he felt hardly able to walk back to 
 camp.
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 73 
 
 As they had a beacon to guide them, and they 
 had been over the ground once, it was not neces- 
 sary to use anything like the same caution in re- 
 turning, and they walked at a rate which took 
 them to their destination in less then half an 
 hour. 
 
 Poor Jack threw himself on the ground, too 
 wearied to go to sleep, while Alfredo gathered 
 some more coal and threw considerable on the 
 fire. 
 
 The boy had tried hard to keep up, but such a 
 feeling of " all goneness " came over him now, 
 that it was useless to strive against it, and he lay 
 motionless on the ground, looking into the fire 
 and saying nothing. 
 
 His relative was undergoing the same distress 
 himself, so he stretched out on the ground as if he 
 meant to go to sleep. 
 
 What was rather singular now took place; Al- 
 fredo expected to lie awake long after the lad 
 went off into the land of dreams, but, on the con- 
 trary, he went to sleep first. 
 
 The last recollection of the man was of seeing 
 the dark eyes of the boy fixed upon the fire with a 
 mournful expression that would have touched the
 
 74 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 heart of the most cruel. Thus Jack lay when his 
 friend sank into unconsciousness. 
 
 The boy noticed it, and was somewhat sur- 
 prised, but he was too wearied to think much 
 about it, and it was not long before he followed 
 him. 
 
 At this time it was night above, and the earth 
 was shrouded in a darkness scarcely less than that 
 which filled the cavern. As Jack Winch was the 
 last to go to sleep he was the first to wake up. 
 
 When he opened his eyes, the first thing he no- 
 ticed was that his uncle was still wrapped in slum- 
 ber, and the fire had sunk very low. 
 
 He sprang up and threw some coal on the em- 
 bers. 
 
 The crackling of the pieces and the snapping of 
 the small particles caused Alfredo to awaken. 
 
 When he saw what the boy was at he was 
 alarmed. 
 
 " Haven't you been asleep, Jack ? " he inquired. 
 
 " Oh, yes, I slept all I wanted to, and have been 
 awake only a few minutes." 
 
 " Have you had any more dreams ? " continued 
 the man, with a laugh.
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 75 
 
 " No, but I've seen something," was the unex- 
 pected answer. 
 
 " What do you mean? " asked his relative. 
 
 " I have seen something that is, there has 
 been somebody here in the cavern." 
 
 It was poor Alfredo now; when he heard his 
 young friend talk in this manner he knew some- 
 thing was wrong with him. 
 
 His tender years were not able to fight off the 
 approach of weakness, and he was already subject 
 to mental aberration caused by what he had al- 
 ready undergone. 
 
 The man was sure that this was what the little 
 fellow meant, or, rather, what his fancy meant. 
 
 " You have been dreaming again, and it has 
 been so vivid that you think it was real," said Al- 
 fredo, gently but firmly; "don't delude yourself 
 in that way, for I have seen such things before, 
 and know what they mean." 
 
 " But this wasn't any dream," persisted the 
 boy, with an impressive earnestness which, how- 
 ever, only increased the misgivings of his rela- 
 tive. 
 
 The latter preferred that he would not tell what 
 it was, for it could only cause distress to his lis-
 
 76 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 tener. But the lad was determined that all should 
 be known. 
 
 " It wasn't a dream, uncle, for I know the dif- 
 ference between seeing a thing with my eyes open 
 and with them shut." 
 
 " Dreams are often so vivid that the most care- 
 ful minds are deceived ; take my word for it that 
 it has been the same with you. Of course you 
 think differently, but it does not alter the fact." 
 
 Jack laughed in a way which had no mirth in it. 
 
 " I was lying right there," said he, " as sound 
 asleep as ever I was, when a little speck of hot 
 coal fell on my hand, and I woke in a hurry. I 
 gave a start and opened my eyes, and looked 
 about me, and what do you s'pose I saw ? " 
 
 " Nothing but the fire burning." 
 
 " There was a man moving about in the dark- 
 ness there behind you! You needn't shake your 
 head and smile, for it wasn't any mistake." 
 
 " I hope it wasn't, but I am none the less sure 
 it was." 
 
 " It was the burn on my hand which woke me, 
 and I looked at it. I saw the little blister just as 
 I see it now, and just as you can see it by look- 
 ing."
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 77 
 
 As he spoke he held out his hand and his friend 
 noted the little burned spot; just this did not con- 
 vince him, but it made the case somewhat clearer. 
 
 " He was close to the fire, and seemed to be 
 looking at us both. When I caught sight of him 
 he was stooping down and laying a piece of paper 
 on the ground. The fire was quite low, so that 
 I could just see his figure and not his face, and the 
 minute I moved, he darted back out of sight, and 
 was gone. There was only the one thing which I 
 noticed, and that was that he seemed to be trying 
 to keep his face turned away, so that I couldn't 
 see it ; and then he was gone so soon that I hardly 
 had time to know what he was doing when he was 
 out of sight." 
 
 " If he laid the paper there and did not take it 
 up again, of course it must be there still." 
 
 " There is the paper behind you," said Jack. 
 
 Had Alfredo felt the bite of a rattle-snake, he 
 could not have leaped more suddenly into the air 
 than he did when he heard this announcement 
 from Jack Winch, who instantly laughed and 
 added : 
 
 " I saw it there all the time I was talking to 
 you." 
 
 It was several minutes before Alfredo could
 
 78 THE LAND OF WONDERSi 
 
 master his emotions sufficiently to advance the 
 few steps necessary and stoop down to lift the 
 missive from the earth. Stepping closer to the 
 fire, he knelt down and saw that a number of 
 words were penciled thereon. 
 
 They were written in an excellent hand, and 
 read as follows : 
 
 " You will see an arrow drawn on the ground 
 behind the boy; it points the right direction for 
 you to follow. Follow that course and use your 
 eyes, and you will see something of importance." 
 
 Alfredo read this over and over until it was 
 burned in his brain, and then he handed it to 
 Jack without a word. The boy read it, too, and, 
 like any juvenile, jumped to the conclusion that 
 the message addressed them was one which would 
 lead them to safety and freedom. Stepping over 
 to the other side of the fire, they saw the figure of 
 the arrow drawn in the dust of the floor, a finger 
 having evidently been used with which to trace 
 it. A peculiar fact struck both. 
 
 The course indicated by the arrow was pre- 
 cisely the same as that of which the lad had 
 dreamed. 
 
 It was the same route also which they had tried 
 and found to be of no use to them.
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 STRUGGLING TOWARD THE LIGHT CALLING NEXT 
 
 DOOR 
 
 THEY had been over the same route to quite a 
 distance, during which they had used their eyes 
 to their fullest extent without discovering the 
 least encouraging fact. How, then, was it to be 
 done now ? 
 
 When Alfredo ventured to suggest some doubt 
 on this point, intending to check the enthusiasm 
 of the lad, the latter said : "I know why that 
 was." 
 
 "Well, why was it?" 
 
 " 'Cause it was night when we went before; 
 now it is daytime, and we have a better chance." 
 
 ' You sometimes show more sense, Jack," said 
 Alfredo, admiringly, " than I am able to gain in a 
 week's experience and meditation. I ought to 
 have thought of that myself, but I did not. That 
 is, perhaps, the very reason why we failed. Had 
 79
 
 go THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 there been any opening, we might have passed 
 within arm's length without knowing it." 
 
 " How did that man get down here? and where 
 has he gone now ? " 
 
 " That remains to be discovered. It gives me 
 more reason to believe that there is some avenue 
 which is unknown to all the bandits at least." 
 
 " Who was the man, do you think, Uncle 
 Frede?" 
 
 " Did you see any resemblance to Vega ? " 
 
 " Not a bit." 
 
 " He must be one of the Mexicans who was 
 struck with pity that we were condemned to die 
 in this way, and he has tried to conjure up some 
 plan of helping us." 
 
 "You don't think it is anyone trying to lead 
 us into a trap ? " asked Jack. 
 
 " Could there be any more complete trap than 
 the one in which we are? The worst he could 
 do can be no worse than this now." 
 
 This way of putting it seemed to satisfy the 
 boy. 
 
 Before starting they had heaped the fire up 
 well, to serve as a sort of compass to them in fol- 
 lowing the guidance of their unknown friend.
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 81 
 
 They now pressed forward and reached the last 
 point from which they could see the fire. 
 
 To pass on would compel them to cut loose, as 
 it were, from their anchor. They paused a min- 
 ute or two before doing so. 
 
 " From here forward," said Alfredo, " we must 
 walk with a great deal more care, for the way is 
 new to us. It may be, too, that the sun has not 
 risen so high as to shine on the earth above." 
 
 " You can use that gun-barrel as an elephant 
 uses his trunk feeling your way along." 
 
 " That's just what I mean to do," responded 
 the man, beginning the work at once. 
 
 The groping forward was continued with the 
 same caution that they had exercised from the 
 first time they attempted it. There was little 
 change in the character of the floor over which 
 they made their way. 
 
 But one very important fact was patent to both 
 before they had gone a hundred feet. 
 
 They were steadily ascending toward some 
 point. 
 
 " That's a good sign," said Alfredo ; " for so 
 long as we do that, so long are we approaching 
 the surface of the earth."
 
 82 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 " And if we keep at it long enough, we shall 
 reach that place after a while." 
 
 " Or bump our heads against the roof." 
 
 " That's it, precisely ; we must have been a 
 good ways down to enable us to ascend in this 
 manner, without reaching some outlet or some 
 sign of the daylight above." 
 
 They were using their eyes as best they could, 
 while they stopped at frequent intervals to listen 
 and look again and again, to make sure they had 
 not committed any error. 
 
 They had been a long time without any food, 
 and they were not capable of the task which they 
 would impose on themselves. And yet each en- 
 deavored to make light of his own fatigue. 
 
 " It won't take us long to recover our 
 strength," said the man, " and I want you to re- 
 member, my boy, that we have been doing some 
 hard work." 
 
 " I feel as if we had," said Jack, with a faint 
 laugh. 
 
 " We have come a good ways, and it has all 
 been up hill." 
 
 There was no disputing this, and after a few 
 more words, the man said :
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 83 
 
 "Jack, you have shown more than once that 
 your eyes are a great deal better than mine, and 
 you must bear in mind that I am depending on 
 you mainly. I have a dread of passing the place 
 where we ought to stop. Will you, therefore, 
 before we start again, take another good look on 
 every hand ? " 
 
 The boy did as requested, repeating a perform- 
 ance which he had gone through with a dozen 
 times already. He was so long at it that his rela- 
 tive asked the cause. 
 
 " Do you discover anything? " 
 
 " I don't know whether I do or not." 
 
 " Explain yourself." 
 
 " Two or three times when I looked off there 
 hold on, and let me point your hand in the right 
 way," said Jack, groping around in the dark, till 
 he had the right course impressed on his friend 
 " several times, I say, when I look off that way, it 
 has seemed to me that there was a spot which was 
 lighter than the rest. When I look steadily at it, 
 I don't notice the light, but when I come back to it 
 all at once it is very plain." 
 
 " Just as when you look at the ' seven stars ' in 
 the sky. At first you can see the seven, but when
 
 84 THE LAND OF. WONDERS 
 
 you try to count them, one or two persist in hid- 
 ing from sight." 
 
 " Can you notice any difference there? " 
 
 " I certainly do," said Alfredo, after a minute's 
 scrutiny, " and where it strikes us both there must 
 be something in it." 
 
 " Let us go and examine it," said the lad, in 
 considerable excitement. 
 
 " I will do so, but we must not forget our cau- 
 tion." 
 
 They began picking their way along with the 
 same care Alfredo had insisted upon from the be- 
 ginning. 
 
 The route was rougher and more difficult of 
 ascent than they had met yet, but the ground 
 steadily rose, and they were cheered by the belief 
 that every step was taking them nearer the sur- 
 face of the earth and into the sunshine. 
 
 They became well satisfied, too, that it was no 
 idle fancy of theirs respecting the light which the 
 boy believed he had discovered. 
 
 There was a portion of the cavern which 
 showed signs of a dull glow, which must in some 
 way or other come from the earth above. 
 
 This certainly did a good deal to raise their
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 85 
 
 spirits, and they pressed forward, even though 
 they were wearied and weak, and would gladly 
 have thrown themselves on the ground and en- 
 dured hunger and suffering for the sake of rest. 
 
 " It isn't far off," remarked Alfredo, after 
 pushing their way a little further forward ; " I 
 have been studying it closely for the last fifteen 
 minutes." 
 
 " So have I, and it don't seem any nearer nor 
 any further off. It's the queerest thing I ever 
 heard tell of." 
 
 " It isn't much further off." 
 
 A few minutes after these words were uttered, 
 Alfredo added : " We have reached the spot." 
 
 Jack would not have suspected it but for this 
 assurance, but an examination of their surround- 
 ings showed that he spoke the truth. 
 
 Immediately about them all was dark, but over- 
 head and to one side there was a dull glow, which 
 puzzled one to understand where it came from. 
 
 The case was peculiar. 
 
 They found they were standing close to a par- 
 tition of stone, in the upper part of which was a 
 fissure, which admitted the light that had first 
 drawn their attention in that direction. What
 
 86 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 was beyond was left to conjecture. After study- 
 ing the matter awhile, Alfredo was led to express 
 his belief on that point. 
 
 " There is light beyond where we are standing 
 enough to allow the rays to work their way 
 through the upper portion into this apartment. 
 Now if we could get into next door, as I might 
 say, we should have plenty of sunlight." 
 
 " Can't we get there?" 
 
 " Do you know of any way to pass through a 
 stone wall? " 
 
 " None, except by battering the wall down." 
 
 " I have thought of that, but we haven't the 
 means of doing it, unless," added the man, in 
 some excitement, " this gun-barrel is sufficient." 
 
 He began picking and hammering with it, ac- 
 tuated by a wild hope that the partition was so 
 thin that he might work his way through to the 
 next apartment. 
 
 It was hard to tell the prospect when they were 
 working against such a solid substance as stone, 
 but the latter was so soft and yielding, that they 
 were much encouraged by the progress made. 
 
 When Alfredo paused for a moment to rest,
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 87 
 
 Jack caught the iron from his hand and continued 
 the work. 
 
 " We mustn't lose any time," said he, in ex- 
 planation, " for I don't think either of us is very 
 strong." 
 
 He soon proved the truth of this, so far as it 
 concerned himself, for he speedily got out of 
 breath and was forced to sit down. 
 
 " I guess I can try it again," said his uncle, 
 taking up the barrel and striking into the rock 
 again. 
 
 He forgot that his own strength and endurance 
 had much to do with the settlement of that ques- 
 tion. 
 
 " I don't think we have a great deal further to 
 go," said he, as he toiled wearily at the primitive 
 pick. " I think I detect a hollow sound that 
 shows " 
 
 At that moment the wall gave way, and Al- 
 fredo fell forward with his head and shoulders 
 thrust through into the next apartment.
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 WALLED IN BY DESPAIR 
 
 JACK WINCH heard the fall and saw the light, 
 but for a minute did not know the cause of it all. 
 
 Then, as his uncle carefully crawled through 
 and rose to his feet, the lad understood that he 
 had worked his way through the partition, and 
 was already in the adjoining apartment. 
 
 He was somewhat bruised from the fragments 
 of stone which rattled down on his head and body, 
 but not enough to cause him any inconvenience. 
 
 They had emerged into another apartment, it 
 is true, and there was enough sunlight around to 
 allow them to see each other. 
 
 They grasped hands, and for a minute both 
 were too full to speak a single word. 
 
 There was a blessed happiness in seeing each 
 other's faces once more not by the ghastly re- 
 flection of the fire in the cavern, but illuminated 
 by the light of the sun itself. 
 88
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS $9 
 
 When their joy had subsided somewhat, they 
 congratulated themselves, and thanked God that 
 they had been able to do that much. 
 
 Then they devoted their time to finding out 
 what the precise situation was. 
 
 They found they were within a comparatively 
 narrow passageway, it being no more than a 
 dozen yards in width, while its length was indefi- 
 nite. 
 
 The roof was less than thirty feet in height, 
 and there were side crevices which admitted 
 enough light to impart a sort of twilight illumina- 
 tion to the place. None of these fissures afforded 
 a glimpse of the outside. 
 
 The walls were so smooth and perpendicular 
 that the most supple monkey could not have made 
 his way up to the top. 
 
 And it would have done him no good had he 
 succeeded in reaching the roof, inasmuch as there 
 was no means by which he could have gotten 
 to the surface of the earth above. 
 
 " Is there no means by which we can gain a 
 chance to get at some of those fissures overhead?" 
 Alfredo asked himself, looking up at the crevices
 
 90 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 through which the stray rays of light were steal- 
 ing. 
 
 He spoke in a low voice, intending to be heard 
 by no one but himself, but Jack, whose senses 
 seemed sharpened by their distressful situation, 
 caught the utterance, and rising to his feet, re- 
 sponded : 
 
 ' There isn't any way that we can do it by stay- 
 ing here; let's go further on." 
 
 " Come ahead, then, and we will not tire our- 
 selves by walking so fast as we did in coming to 
 this spot." 
 
 They started up the cavern, away from the 
 place where they had been resting and in the di- 
 rection in which their faces were turned at the 
 moment when they first stood upright in the sun- 
 lit place. For a time the ground, or rather rock, 
 was nearly level. This of itself was not discour- 
 aging, as they might have been nearing a more 
 favorable position while doing so. 
 
 But it was disheartening to observe they were 
 steadily entering a region of gloom which deep- 
 ened until they were unable to see each other. 
 
 When this point was reached, Alfredo stopped. 
 
 " There is no use in keeping on," said he,
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 91 
 
 " when we shall only put ourselves in a situation 
 where we cannot see to turn round." 
 
 " Let's go back and try the other way." 
 
 " That is all that remains to us." 
 
 They reversed their course without delay, and 
 in due time arrived at the place from which they 
 started a short time before. 
 
 Passing this, their experience was very similar 
 to what it was on their first venture. 
 
 They continued on longer than before, impelled 
 by the consciousness that it was their last chance. 
 
 Even after the gloom was so great that they 
 had to feel every step of the way, they groped 
 ahead, going downward and pausing only when 
 they found themselves on the margin of a chasm 
 into which they narrowly escaped falling. 
 
 It was apparent long before this that the two 
 had entered the new division of the cavern at the 
 most favorable spot. 
 
 Such being the fact, and that offering nothing 
 in the way of hope, what could they do ? 
 
 " Let us return and rest ourselves," said Al- 
 fredo, alarmed at the speediness with which they 
 succumbed to fatigue. 
 
 On going back to camp, as it may be called,
 
 9 2 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 they made one discovery which gave them some- 
 thing to speculate upon. 
 
 That was the evidence that this part of the cav- 
 ern had been visited by somebody else besides 
 themselves. 
 
 The proof of this was simple but conclusive. 
 
 At one side of the chamber-like passage 
 through which they were painfully picking their 
 way, the foot of Jack struck an obstruction which 
 upon examination, proved to be a Panama hat. 
 
 It being entirely different from that worn by 
 the guide, Vega, the friends were not warranted 
 in placing any hope on its being his. 
 
 " It may have been here for years, like those 
 dothes we found a while ago," said Jack. 
 
 " No," replied his uncle; " that hat has lain in 
 this place no more than twenty-four hours. I am 
 certain of that." 
 
 There was no doubt that he was right in this 
 declaration, for there were signs about the head- 
 gear which warranted him in declaring such be- 
 lief. 
 
 Such being proven, it followed that the man 
 who owned it must be possessed of the secret of 
 entering and leaving the cavern.
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 93 
 
 If he possessed it, what was to prevent its being 
 learned by those who were in such great need of 
 such knowledge? 
 
 " I guess the only way they could have got 
 here was as we did," remarked Jack. 
 
 " You mean by being lowered with a rope? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " But I cannot understand how that can be, as 
 we have been unable to discover any opening over 
 our heads." 
 
 " Couldn't there be one without our knowing 
 anything about it ? " 
 
 " Possibly there might, but it does not seem 
 likely. I am well persuaded that there is some 
 place hello! here is something which escaped 
 us." 
 
 This remark was caused by noting at this junc- 
 ture a fissure in the wall at their side, which ex- 
 tended backward in the darkness. 
 
 It was no more than six feet in width, and they 
 entered it with some hesitation. 
 
 Alfredo took the lead, and soon found himself 
 in such utter blackness of darkness that he was 
 forced to feel every inch of the way. 
 
 He had penetrated a distance of fifty feet, when
 
 94 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 he was brought up standing by running squarely 
 against the face of the solid rock. 
 
 Feeling round with both hands fpr some time, 
 he learned that he had reached the end of the 
 chamber. 
 
 It was impossible to advance a foot further. 
 
 " If there is any avenue here, how are we go- 
 ing to see it ? " 
 
 " If there was any, wouldn't it show itself when 
 the sun is shining? " asked Jack. 
 
 " Certainly ; so it follows that our search is in 
 vain, and we may as well return." 
 
 " Why not strike a match? " 
 
 " It is useless," said Alfredo, vainly striving to 
 hide the despair which now took possession of 
 him more completely than ever before. 
 
 Ah, if he had but struck the match, as the boy 
 proposed, he would have made a wonderful dis- 
 covery ! 
 
 " It is time thrown away," added the man, 
 groping back again. " There is no way of get- 
 ting out of this prison, and it is well for us to ac- 
 cept the fact." 
 
 Jack made no answer, for he could not but feel
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 95 
 
 much of the same gloom which crushed his rela- 
 tive to the very earth. 
 
 And so, without another word, they picked 
 their course back through the dimly-lit corridor, 
 until they arrived at the point where they had 
 made an entrance through the rent in the wall. 
 Here Alfredo threw himself helplessly down upon 
 the flinty floor. Never, until now, had he given 
 completely up to despair. 
 
 He had abandoned all hope, and was ready to 
 meet the fate which he now believed was inevi- 
 table from the first. 
 
 " What did the man mean by telling us to come 
 here?" 
 
 He was only trifling with us ; it was a part of 
 one of the most diabolical schemes of cruelty ever 
 perpetrated. They knew we would live a brief 
 while, and they planned this to add to our suffer- 
 ing. If it is any comfort to them, they may know 
 they have succeeded as far as they could wish." 
 
 " Look ! look ! look ! " suddenly exclaimed 
 Jack Winch, leaping to his feet like a madman. 
 " Look ! look ! Do you see that, uncle ? It isn't 
 time yet for despair ? "
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 LIKE MANNA 
 
 JACK WINCH was dancing and shouting like a 
 lunatic. 
 
 " Look ! look ! look ! Don't you see that, Uncle 
 Frede?" 
 
 The man appealed to in this wild fashion 
 sprang to his feet, and was about to seize the boy 
 to prevent his doing an injury to himself; but if 
 he was mad, there was surely method in it. 
 
 In reply to the wondering stare of his uncle, 
 Jack pointed to something over their heads. 
 
 Alfredo saw it, only a few feet away, and about 
 on a level with his own face. 
 
 It somewhat resembled an ordinary cap, and 
 with some hesitation, he thrust out his hand and 
 took hold of it. 
 
 " Thank God ! " was the fervent exclamation 
 which escaped him the next minute, and it was 
 96
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 97 
 
 the utmost he could do to restrain himself from 
 dancing about as extravagantly as did the boy. 
 
 But he succeeded in his effort at self-govern- 
 ment, and reaching up the knife of Jack, he cut 
 the thong above the object, and then sat down on 
 the ground with it in his lap. 
 
 " Come, let us eat," he said, and the lad took 
 his seat beside him, trembling with suppressed 
 excitement. 
 
 That which they had discovered hanging down 
 by a buffalo thong, was a piece of antelope steak 
 cooked to a turn, and a bottle of clear cold water. 
 
 It seemed as if they were sent from Heaven, 
 and the delighted sufferers could hardly realize 
 what was in their possession until they had swal- 
 lowed all they wished of the liquid, and began 
 upon the meat. 
 
 The latter was crisp, tender, and prepared by 
 some one who was a master of the art. 
 
 Ah ! what pen is able to tell the bliss that was 
 now the portion of Alfredo and Jack? 
 
 It was like a taste of Heaven, to be lifted from 
 the uttermost depths of despair into the sunlight 
 of happiness. 
 
 They ate and ate, and then drank again.
 
 98 
 
 Then the man, with a huge grin, reached over 
 and shook hands with the boy, just as if he had 
 landed only that moment from a foreign shore. 
 
 Then they ate and ate, and drank again. 
 
 After this, they concluded that this world was 
 not such a dreary place as some meddlesome folks 
 tried to make out 
 
 And then they ate and ate, and drank again. 
 
 When the vast hollows within began to feel as 
 if they were filling up with the luscious food, and 
 life and strength commenced to steal through the 
 weakened system, they were ready to conclude 
 that there were many worse forms of punishment 
 than being confined under ground, particularly if 
 some one was kind enough to give them all they 
 could want of the best kind of food. 
 
 And so they ate and ate and drank again. 
 
 Whoever expressed the meat to them must have 
 suspected the enormous appetites of which they 
 were the owners, for there was enough to furnish 
 several meals to ordinary men. 
 
 " Where did it come from? " asked Jack, when 
 he felt himself beginning to grow corpulent. 
 
 " From Heaven ! " was the answer of his uncle, 
 as he shoved in another juicy piece of the steak.
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 99 
 
 " Of course, every blessing comes from there ; 
 but who do you s'pose was used by Heaven to 
 bring it down to us? " 
 
 " Nobody brought it here ; it was let down with 
 a rope, just as we were lowered into these re- 
 gions." 
 
 " It must have been that man that I saw poking 
 round in the other part of the cavern, and that 
 left the directions for us to follow." 
 
 " The supposition is not at all unreasonable," 
 said Alfredo, disposing of some more of the meat, 
 and washing it down with the sparkling cold 
 water from the bottle. 
 
 " Can you see where it comes from ? " asked 
 the boy, looking up in the attempt to follow the 
 rope with his eye. 
 
 " I haven't time just yet to bother with such 
 nonsense," said his uncle, who continued to eat 
 like one who was indeed famished. 
 
 " How soon will you be through? " asked Jack, 
 looking wonderingly at the man. 
 
 " I feel that the greatest part is over, I am sorry 
 to say, and that we shall rest from eating before 
 many days. Don't be discouraged by any signs 
 of a different state of things."
 
 ioo THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 Jack had done, and leaving his relative to com- 
 plete his meal at his leisure, he used his eyes as 
 best he could in the attempt to trace the rope that 
 had let down the provision to them to its source. 
 
 The light was so faint that this was a difficult 
 task, and he could not be sure he was right. 
 
 The conclusion he came to, however, was that 
 it extended upward some thirty feet, until it 
 reached one of the fissures, which has been spoken 
 of as admitting the sunlight, and into this it dis- 
 appeared. This crevice, it will be borne in mind, 
 was in the upper part of the wall, instead of the 
 roof, so that nothing more than its existence 
 could be ascertained by the man and boy. 
 
 " That rope ain't strong enough to hold me, is 
 it ? " asked Jack, looking doubtfully at it. 
 
 " It might have done so before you ate that din- 
 ner," replied his uncle, " but it could not possibly 
 do so now after such a load as that, which would 
 snap it like yarn." 
 
 '' Then, it would take one of the cables they 
 used to have on the Mary Ann to hold you," re- 
 torted the boy, with a glance at his uncle. 
 
 ' There is no disputing that," said Alfredo, 
 who at last finished his meal, rose to his feet, and
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 101 
 
 brushed the fragments from his person. " Why 
 did you ask about the strength of the rope, Jack?" 
 
 " As it is hanging there still I thought I might 
 climb to the opening up there, and find how to get 
 out." 
 
 " It would be hardly the thing for us to do. 
 We are obeying the orders of some one who has 
 shown himself to be a friend, and it will not be 
 safe to disobey him. If we should make him 
 angry he might withdraw his friendship, and we 
 ain't ready for that." 
 
 " But he hasn't told us not to do that." 
 
 " Nor has he told us that we might ; which, un- 
 der the circumstances, is equivalent to a prohibi- 
 tion. Let us content ourselves where we are un- 
 til he notifies us that the time has come for a 
 change of base. That, you may depend, is the 
 only wise thing." 
 
 "Sh! Hark!" 
 
 Just then they heard a grating sound, with 
 which they had become familiar under more try- 
 ing circumstances. 
 
 They glanced upward and saw that the rope 
 was being pulled upward, and out of their sight. 
 
 Like a great serpent it looked hanging down
 
 102 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 from the crevice, over their heads and out of their 
 reach. 
 
 Shorter and shorter grew the long, black line, 
 until at last it whisked out of sight and was gone. 
 
 Much as the two had eaten and drank, there 
 was considerable water and food left. 
 
 " Which we will take good care of, in case of 
 accident." 
 
 " Don't you think he will send any more to 
 us?" 
 
 " Yes. I believe we shall be furnished with all 
 we can need; -and I have seen and felt enough to 
 teach me never to doubt Providence, who has be- 
 friended us so many times when we were ready 
 to despair." 
 
 This was a happy conclusion, and one not very 
 hard to reach after such a hearty meal. 
 
 It was shared equally by both, as it was natural 
 that it should be. 
 
 There was a theory which naturally came to the 
 man when considering all that had happened to 
 them during the past few days, and especially 
 since their descent into the cavern. 
 
 One of the Mexicans, controlled by pity or 
 avarice with the probabilities in favor of its be-
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 103 
 
 ing avarice had contrived a plan for saving the 
 wealthy prisoner. 
 
 The offers of the latter must have convinced 
 this man that the condemned was a man of 
 wealth, and in case one man should succeed in 
 saving him and the boy, he would be certain to 
 reward him most magnificently therefor. 
 
 Hence the attempts to extricate him from the 
 cavern. 
 
 He had descended into it during- the night to 
 learn how the land lay, and then had made his 
 plans. 
 
 The attempt to get the two to leave the place, 
 and to take up their quarters somewhere else was 
 to place them beyond the knowledge of the rest 
 of the band. Having located them in this spot, 
 no one else could learn of their situation, and 
 when everything was ready, he could use his own 
 pleasure and manner in extricating them. 
 
 His plan was doubtless to keep them where 
 they were until the bandits would conclude that 
 they were dead, and relax all watch of the cav- 
 ern. 
 
 Then, on some dark night, it would be no very 
 difficult matter to help them up from the depths
 
 104 THE LAND ^ WONDERS. 
 
 and to place them on the mainland, where they 
 would be able to attend to their own safety. The 
 man who did all this must run great risk of ven- 
 geance at the hands of his comrades, for it would 
 be hard to conceal the knowledge of the rescue 
 from the others. 
 
 Such was the theory of Alfredo Alfiero, con- 
 cerning the action and motive of their mysterious 
 friend. 
 
 A short while after the meal was eaten, they 
 noticed that this portion of the cavern was becom- 
 ing dark again. This of course signified that 
 night was approaching when they would once 
 more be shrouded in complete obscurity. 
 
 The gloom rapidly increased, until they were 
 unable to see each other, when they lay down with 
 the intention of sleeping until morning. 
 
 They felt so exceedingly well after what had 
 taken place, and were in such very good spirits, 
 that the slumber which came to them was like that 
 which spread its wings over their heads when they 
 lay down in the forest with no thought of dis- 
 turbance or trouble. 
 
 They slept the night through, and when Al- 
 fredo opened his eyes, the first thing he noticed
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 105 
 
 was the sunlight forcing its way through the crev- 
 ices overhead, just as it did when they first broke 
 into the apartment. 
 
 Jack Winch was scarcely a minute behind his 
 uncle in awaking, and he sprang to his feet and 
 asked : 
 
 " Where is our breakfast? " 
 
 " Are you hungry ? " 
 
 " I bet I am." 
 
 " We saved enough from yesterday's meal to 
 do us 
 
 "Hello! there she is!" 
 
 The boy had descried the morning meal coming 
 to them just as the meat appeared the previous 
 day. 
 
 As then, it was fastened to a string and slowly 
 descending from one of the crevices overhead, the 
 point being precisely the same. 
 
 As soon as it was within reach, Alfredo seized it 
 and found this time that it was a well-cooked fish 
 instead of meat. 
 
 The bottle of cool, refreshing water was there 
 also. The man was so grateful that he called 
 out: 
 
 " From the bottom of our hearts we thank
 
 106 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 you ! Give me the chance and I will pay you well 
 for this!" 
 
 There was no response to this singular recog- 
 nition, but just then Jack called attention to the 
 fact that there was a piece of paper fastened to the 
 fish, upon which there was some writing in pencil. 
 
 The light was so faint that Alfredo struck a 
 match and held up the piece to read. Thus it ran : 
 
 " Let not the senor enter the cavern a hundred 
 feet away, which runs back from the right as you 
 go to the main cavern, and let Senor Alfredo, 
 under no consideration, be persuaded to strike a 
 match anywhere near that place. REMEMBER ! " 
 
 There was no name signed.
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 A TERRIFYING DISCOVERY 
 
 ALFREDO and Jack carefully examined the little 
 slip of paper. 
 
 The admonition was certainly a strange one. 
 They were warned against doing what they never 
 dreamed of doing that is, lighting a match in a 
 certain part of the cavern. 
 
 Whoever their friend was, he took great pains 
 that no clue to his identity should be obtained. 
 
 Neither of the notes was signed, and they con- 
 tained nothing that afforded the slightest hint as 
 to who it was that had taken such an interest in 
 them. 
 
 They sat down and ate their morning meal, 
 feeling like two prisoners who had been notified 
 of their pardon. 
 
 Now that this point seemed to be established, 
 
 and the friends had nothing on their hands except 
 
 to get through their business as best they could, 
 
 it could not be but that the hours should become 
 
 107
 
 io8 
 
 heavy, and both longed for the time when they 
 could bask in the full sunlight again. 
 
 As there was not likely to be any harm from 
 the thing, Alfredo made the attempt to open the 
 correspondence with the man who had taken them 
 in charge. 
 
 The string which let their food down generally 
 staid with them until some time during the night 
 that is, it had done so in the former instance, 
 when it was silently drawn up. 
 
 As the one which held the fish was yet sus- 
 pended over their own heads, the conclusion was 
 reasonable that the same custom would obtain in 
 the present instance. 
 
 Alfredo had no pencil, so he improvised one, 
 being compelled from the same cause also to use 
 the paper on which the words of the stranger 
 were written. 
 
 A piece of whitish earth served as a bit of 
 chalk. 
 
 He repeated his thanks in the most fervent lan- 
 guage, and intimated, in terms which could not 
 be mistaken, that whoever was engaged in this 
 business would be sure to find it the best specula- 
 tion of his life.
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 109 
 
 It was signed and fastened to the string which 
 still dangled above. 
 
 This served to afford them a theme for discus- 
 sion for a couple of hours, perhaps, which used it 
 up, and they were thrown on their own resources 
 again. 
 
 As a means of killing time, and with a view of 
 gaining some needed exercise, Alfredo proposed 
 they should make a sort of tour through the other 
 parts of the cavern. 
 
 " Of course we shall have to be careful about 
 it," said he, " and we have learned to do that, but 
 we shall have the light of this opening to guide us 
 back, and if we do not permit ourselves to go out 
 of sight of that, I do not see how we can go 
 astray." 
 
 The two set out to grope and stumble their way 
 through the cavern, in the rear of where they had 
 now spent some time. 
 
 The occupation was not altogether an unpleas- 
 ant one for awhile, but Jack became so fearful of 
 losing their way, that Alfredo accepted his pro- 
 posal to return and hold fast to the security which 
 they already possessed in the shape of the supply 
 of food.
 
 no THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 However, they had managed to knock them- 
 selves pretty well up in stumbling around the 
 darkened regions, and they were glad enough to 
 throw themselves on the ground and rest awhile. 
 
 Here they lay stretched for an hour, speaking 
 occasionally, but without anything of especial in- 
 terest occurring. 
 
 Jack Winch was lying flat on his face, looking 
 up in the dim light at the string which hung down 
 from some unseen fastening above their heads. 
 
 The part nearest them that is, within reach 
 was only dimly visible, but the upper portion, 
 owing to the increased light, was seen quite dis- 
 tinctly. 
 
 Jack had no suspicion of discovering anything, 
 but was merely resting his eyes on this, while he 
 indulged in all sorts of day-dreaming. 
 
 But he was suddenly roused from his reverie 
 by noticing an agitation of the string in the upper 
 part, where the man would be likely to agitate it 
 when he should take hold. 
 
 " I guess he's there," said the boy to himself. 
 "Anyway, somebody is there, and he's trying to 
 do something."
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS nt 
 
 This something, so far as he could judge, con- 
 sisted in nothing more than drawing up the 
 string. 
 
 It went up slowly and steadily until it disap- 
 peared altogether, when Jack waited to see what 
 was to follow. 
 
 " I guess he wants to get that letter/' he con- 
 cluded. " and as soon as he reads that, he will send 
 his answer." 
 
 Alfredo had not noticed what took place, and 
 Jack thought he would not say anything of it until 
 he had something definite to tell. 
 
 But minute after minute passed away without 
 the slightest appearance of what he expected, 
 and it began to dawn through his mind that there 
 was not likely to be anything of the kind for a 
 good while yet. 
 
 " Did you see that string as it went up ? " he 
 asked, in a low voice; but, receiving no answer, 
 he repeated it in louder tones. 
 
 Still there was no reply, and Jack rose and 
 looked over to see what the matter was. 
 
 As he expected, his uncle was asleep. 
 
 " Well, he ought to be able to stand it for a 
 week without once closing his eyes," was the
 
 Ha THE LAND OF WONDERS^ 
 
 conclusion of Jack. " Here I'm as wide awake 
 as ever, and he's dreaming again. Hello ! " 
 
 This remark was caused by his fishing out a 
 single match from his pocket at the time he was 
 only looking for his knife. 
 
 " Now that's queer," he added, alluding to a 
 thought which had entered his mind but a short 
 time before. " There's Uncle Frede sound asleep, 
 and there's a match, and there's the note that was 
 sent down with the fish, and it tells uncle not to 
 light a match in that dark place, but it don't tell 
 me not to do it. The only thing I'm afraid of is 
 that uncle will wake," he said to himself, while 
 debating the question ; " and if he should happen 
 to open his eyes and not see me, he would be 
 scared like everything; but I don't know as he 
 would know I had gone there. Yes, I believe 
 I'll try it." 
 
 He tested the depth of Alfredo's slumber by 
 calling his name several times in a loud voice ; but 
 not receiving any answer, he was quite sure that 
 he ran little, if any, risk. 
 
 Consequently, he started on the excursion, 
 which was to be one that he would remember all 
 his life.
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 113 
 
 He recalled the route so well, that he had no 
 difficulty at all in making his way to the place. 
 
 Here, it will be remembered, the darkness was 
 impenetrable, and he was forced to make his way 
 along, guided solely by his sense of feeling, it be- 
 ing his wish not to strike the lucifer until he was 
 at the extremity of the cavern. 
 
 He carried other matches in his pocket, and had 
 all that he desired in that respect. 
 
 Now that he was at the entrance, a strange feel- 
 ing came which caused him to stop and ask him- 
 self whether it was safe to do this in the face of 
 the prohibition. 
 
 That was not the question, however, so much 
 as it was a certain undefinable dread that some 
 awful calamity would be the payment. 
 
 A long time he stood thus debating the ques- 
 tion, but at last his curiosity won the victory. 
 
 He entered the midnight chamber. 
 
 Along this he groped his way, feeling along one 
 of the walls, until he was near the opposite end, 
 when he stopped. 
 
 " That's queer," he said to himself; " this don't 
 feel like rock all the way along here; it must be 
 something else."
 
 n 4 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 It was not long before he found himself at the 
 extremity, beyond which he could not go. 
 
 " Here is the spot," he whispered, as he trem- 
 blingly felt for his lucifers : 
 
 When he produced one, he stood a minute 
 longer, afraid to ignite it. 
 
 He was listening for something to tell him if 
 there was danger. 
 
 " S'pose he's standing near me, waiting to kill 
 me the minute I draw the match? " 
 
 The thought was a horrible one, and one which 
 might have palsied the arm of another boy, but 
 Jack rallied. 
 
 Running his hand about him until it rested on a 
 favorable spot on the wall, he drew the phos- 
 phorus swiftly over it. 
 
 There followed the tiny flame, and he waited 
 till it became strong enough, when he raised it 
 over his head. 
 
 On the left were the jagged masses of rock, 
 just as he had seen them many a time since his 
 arrival below ground. 
 
 On his right he was surprised to observe a 
 number of small kegs, arranged one on top of the 
 other, in a half-dozen rows and in regular order.
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 115 
 
 They extended a distance of a dozen yards 
 right and left. 
 
 At a rough estimate there must have been near 
 a hundred. 
 
 " What's in them ? " was the question he asked 
 himself, as he stood wondering and awed at the 
 sight. 
 
 Thus he remained till the flickering match told 
 him that the tiny torch was about exhausted, 
 when he threw it to the ground and struck an- 
 other. 
 
 This was held over his head in the same fash- 
 ion as the former. 
 
 " Kegs, kegs, and nothing but kegs," repeated 
 the lad to himself; " there ain't anything else, un- 
 less it's behind them." 
 
 He could not but be puzzled at the sight, for it 
 was a curious one to look upon so many of these 
 little barrels ranged so systematically at this 
 depth below ground. 
 
 Thus he stood perplexed and theorizing, when 
 again the match burned out, the first apprisal he 
 received being the scorching of his fingers that 
 held it. 
 
 Jack was so preoccupied that the sudden pain
 
 n6 THE LAND. OF. WONDERS 
 
 startled him, and with a sharp exclamation he 
 threw the match far from him. 
 
 The little blazing bit of wood went clean to the 
 casks, where it dropped on the top of one, burned 
 a few seconds, and then quietly expired. 
 
 As there was no prospect of learning anything 
 by standing where he was, he lit his third match 
 and walked up closer to the kegs with the inten- 
 tion of examining them more closely. 
 
 As he reached out, he noticed in one place 
 something like a mass of black sand that seemed 
 to have streamed from one of the casks. 
 
 Holding the match in one hand, Jack stooped 
 over and picked up some of this with the other. 
 
 One quick look at it was enough. 
 
 It was gunpowder! 
 
 At that moment, when he stood frozen with 
 terror, some one seized him with a grip of iron 
 from behind.
 
 "ON HIS RIGHT HE WAS SURPRISED TO OBSERVE A NUMBER OF 
 SMALL KEGS." PAGE 114.
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 WEARY DAYS AND NIGHTS 
 
 WHEN Jack Winch felt his arm grasped he was 
 only able to gasp in his terror, and to glance 
 around. 
 
 It was his uncle who had slipped up behind 
 him and seized his arm. 
 
 Before either spoke, the man reached out and 
 took the flickering match in the other, and closed 
 his palm around it. 
 
 It must have caused him pain, but having once 
 shut his fingers, he held them firmly closed till the 
 flame was completely extinguished, and all danger 
 was past. 
 
 " Let us pick our way out of here," said Al- 
 fredo, holding his hand, " and step carefully, for 
 a spark from our shoes may blow the whole 
 island into the heavens." 
 
 Jack made no answer, for he couldn't think of 
 117
 
 n8 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 anything just then which seemed very appropriate 
 to say. 
 
 That he felt about as " cheap " as a fellow can 
 feel must be apparent to our readers. 
 
 They picked their way along the corridor until 
 they reached the camp, where they sat down in 
 the light to talk it over. 
 
 Jack expected the sharpest kind of reproof for 
 what he had done, and he knew that he deserved 
 punishment. 
 
 His uncle, however, took a curious course. 
 
 " I don't know, Jack, but what I'm rather glad 
 you made that venture as you did, though you 
 can't understand the awful danger in which you 
 stood." 
 
 " What makes you glad I did it? " 
 
 " Because it told us a very important thing to 
 know, and no evil result is likely to follow." 
 
 " That was all gunpowder, wasn't it ? " 
 
 " Undoubtedly it was, and there is enough 
 there to blow the island to atoms. Just suppose 
 you had dropped one of those matches, what 
 would have happened, Jack?" 
 
 " That was the third match I had burned when 
 you caught my hand and put it out."
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 119 
 
 " Is it possible ?" exclaimed Alfredo, fright- 
 ened at the thought ; " and what did you do with 
 the other two? " 
 
 " One of them I threw on the floor right near 
 the powder, where it went out, and the other I 
 gave such a flirt that, though I didn't mean to do 
 it, it landed on the top of one of the powder-kegs 
 
 " Good heavens! are you jesting or telling me 
 the truth?" demanded his horrified uncle, rising 
 to his feet. 
 
 " Nothing but the truth. You noticed that the 
 way those kegs are put in rows, a part of each one 
 sets out so as to leave a little of the top in sight. 
 Well, one of the matches dropped on the head of 
 a keg, and there it burned for some time till it died 
 out." 
 
 " You make me shiver with horror at the very 
 thought. It may be that if either had burned a 
 single second longer, you and I and all on the 
 island would have been thrown into eternity." 
 
 " I don't think there was any more danger in 
 that match than there was in the one that fell on 
 the floor, for the ground is scattered all over with
 
 I2 o THE LAND OF WONDERS, 
 
 the powder, so much so that I could pick it up in a 
 dozen places. Providence alone prevented it." 
 
 " Did you bring any of the grains you had in 
 your hand ? " 
 
 " Yes, here they are now ; I haven't opened my 
 hand since." 
 
 Alfredo laid the few specks on the ground, 
 struck a match and touched it to them. 
 
 Instantly came the puff, a flash, and it was 
 gone. 
 
 " That shows what it is. It's the best quality of 
 gunpowder, and there are hundreds of pounds 
 there." 
 
 " How did you know I was there, uncle? " 
 
 " I must have waked up right after you left, 
 and the minute I saw you were away I suspected 
 it, and started off after you. I had no idea what 
 the danger was, or I would have been in more of 
 a hurry, and would have yelled to you to stop. As 
 soon as I caught sight of the match I moved along 
 softly, intending to give you a good scare by way 
 of punishment for your trick, but when I saw the 
 kegs I knew what it all meant, and I was more 
 scared than you were. All I wanted to do was to 
 extinguish the match in your hand, and that,
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 121 
 
 thanks to heaven, I managed to do. If I am not 
 mistaken, you are satisfied with your visit to the 
 powder-magazine, and do not propose to repeat 
 it; at any rate in the fashion you did it a while 
 ago." 
 
 " I don't think I will," said Jack, with a faint 
 smile. 
 
 And that was the only reproof the boy ever re- 
 ceived for his escapade. 
 
 Alfredo awoke early the next morning before 
 Jack was awake and his first proceeding was to 
 look not so much for his breakfast as for his let- 
 ter. 
 
 Both were there, the meal this time being in 
 the shape of some cooked meat and the usual bot- 
 tle of water. 
 
 The letter was strange, but unmistakable in its 
 meaning, for thus it ran : 
 
 " // you make any more attempts to communi- 
 cate with me I shall abandon you to your fate" 
 
 ' That looks as if he meant to hint that the cor- 
 respondence didn't suit him," said Jack, laughing 
 at the disappointed manner of his relative. 
 
 " It does look a little that way," was the lugu- 
 brious response of the man; " at any rate it is so
 
 122 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 open to such a construction that I shall decline to 
 write him further unless he requests it." 
 
 " I think if I had a little start," said Jack, " I 
 could reach the crack in the rock that that string 
 comes through." 
 
 " How do you mean to do that ? " 
 
 " The walls are pretty smooth down here, but 
 a little ways up they are so rough, that I am sure 
 I could hold on with my hands, and climb up to 
 the top." 
 
 " I doubt it very much," said his uncle, survey- 
 ing the ascent of stone ; " here and there are pro- 
 jections that might sustain you, but they are too 
 far apart to be of much assistance, and a monkey 
 would have hard work to clamber up." 
 
 " But suppose I could, would you like me to do 
 it?" 
 
 "No; I would not." 
 
 "Why not?" 
 
 " Our restlessness has already offended the man 
 from whom we expect to obtain our safety. If 
 you should succeed in making the top, and gain a 
 chance to peep through the fissure and see what is 
 beyond, the chances are that you yourself would
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 123 
 
 be seen, and both of us be punished for our disre- 
 gard of his wishes." 
 
 "If you think it would be that way, then we 
 will not undertake it. S'pose he finds out about 
 the magazine? " 
 
 " There is no need of his ever learning that. I 
 believe it would end all our hopes forever." 
 
 Had the speaker known of one half the means 
 their unknown champion possessed of for learn- 
 ing their secrets, his consternation would have 
 been far greater than it was. 
 
 Well for his peace of mind was it, for a time at 
 least, that he remained ignorant on this point. 
 
 One of the hardest things in this world to at- 
 tain is a state of contentment. 
 
 When Alfredo and Jack were at the point of 
 starvation, they wanted nothing but food and 
 drink. 
 
 When they came to them as the manna was sent 
 to the children of Israel in the wilderness, they 
 were sure they could be satisfied to live for 
 months, if not years, in the cavern, so long as 
 their wants were attended to in this manner. 
 
 This was natural, as was the feeling of discon- 
 tent which shortly followed in its train.
 
 I2 4 THE LAND F WONDERS 
 
 That their friend intended at some time to open 
 the door to them was looked upon as certain, and 
 now if they could only fix upon the date they 
 would have asked no more. 
 
 They could begin to figure on the days, and per- 
 haps the hours, and to arrange the matters so as to 
 cause their imprisonment to seem much less than 
 now, when they were unable to make a reasonable 
 conjecture as to its length. 
 
 But days came and went, and still the supply of 
 food did not fail them, and still there was no sign 
 from their friend. 
 
 As regularly as the morning light did their pro- 
 vision and water descend to them, but not another 
 word from him who sent them. 
 
 Was this thing to last for ever?
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 THE LANTERN OVERHEAD 
 
 SITUATED as were the two friends in the dark- 
 ness and twilight of the cavern, it was next to im- 
 possible that they should keep any correct record 
 of the passage of time. 
 
 As near as they could estimate, ten days had 
 come and gone since they were imprisoned in the 
 cavern, and nothing as yet had taken place to give 
 them an inkling as to the time they were to be 
 brought to the surface of the earth again. 
 
 Alfredo felt some exasperation against Vega, 
 the guide, for his desertion. 
 
 The suggestion that their unknown friend 
 could be Vega, made as it was by Jack Winch, 
 was not accepted by Alfredo, for a number of 
 reasons which were all-sufficient to him. 
 
 At last something occurred to raise the hopes of 
 the prisoners from the dead level where they had 
 rested so long. 
 
 Alfredo and his nephew were in a state of apa- 
 125
 
 i 2 6 \THE LAND OF. WONDERS 
 
 thetic indifference, amounting almost to despair, 
 when one morning, as the boy released a small fish 
 from the string, he exclaimed : 
 
 " Here it is at last ! Here's a letter in the post- 
 office for you ! " 
 
 The man was on his feet in an instant, his hand 
 trembling with excitement, as he reached out for 
 the missive. 
 
 " Wait till I strike a match," said he, fumbling 
 hurriedly about his person for the article. 
 
 The delay was exasperating, but he secured the 
 additional light in a few seconds, and, with emo- 
 tions which it is useless to attempt to describe, he 
 read aloud the following : 
 
 " The rope may be let down to-night and it may 
 not; if it is, fasten it around your body and come 
 up. After that the boy will do the same. If things 
 are ready, you will be helped." 
 
 This was the most important kind of informa- 
 tion, indeed, and it set the two on the tiptoe of ex- 
 citement and expectation. 
 
 " I knew it would come," said Jack, with a 
 glowing face. " He has had to keep us waiting 
 all this time till he could be sure the coast was 
 clear, as father used to say."
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 127 
 
 " It seems he isn't sure it is clear as yet." 
 
 " How is that, uncle?" 
 
 " Don't you notice he says in his letter that the 
 rope may be let down and it may not ? He would 
 not speak so, if the way was open for him to help 
 us." 
 
 " I guess it is clear, but he isn't quite ready him- 
 self." 
 
 No one who has not been through a somewhat 
 similar experience can understand the wearisome 
 waiting through the day and night for the hour to 
 come when the prisoners were to go free. 
 
 They had dwelt in the cavern long enough to 
 learn to abominate it with an unspeakable loath- 
 ing. 
 
 The hollow stillness, the brooding twilight, 
 walled in by the blackness of darkness, the gloom 
 everywhere, the absence of birds, and beasts, and 
 trees, and flowers, arid the bright glare of the sun, 
 with the flash of the water, and the blue sky all 
 these deprivations made up a total that would 
 have driven both mad but for the expectation that 
 each new day would be the last. 
 
 The hours dragged along with indescribable 
 heaviness until, as Jack expressed it, after the
 
 128 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 passage of what seemed a week, the shadows of 
 overhead began to deepen, and the darkness of 
 night gradually filled the cavern. 
 
 The note named no hour when they should look 
 for the coming of their friend, so they were 
 obliged to keep unremitting watch. 
 
 Where all was blank darkness, it will be seen 
 that it was necessary that both should be prepared 
 at any moment for some sort of signal. 
 
 That they might not miss it, it was agreed that 
 Jack should sleep the first half of the night and 
 Alfredo the remainder. 
 
 The boy lay awake much longer than he ex- 
 pected, but finally dropped into a doze. 
 
 Alfredo then rose and began walking along a 
 small beat that had become as familiar to him as 
 his own garden at home. 
 
 He paced slowly back and forth, the stillness in 
 which he was shrouded being like that of the 
 tomb. 
 
 Every few minutes he paused, and looked up in 
 the gloom at the point from which he expected the 
 rope to come. 
 
 He knew at last that the turn of night had come 
 and gone, and, according to his agreement with
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 129 
 
 Jack Winch, he ought to awake him and change 
 places with him. 
 
 But he felt no disposition to sleep, and still 
 hoped that it might be his lot to wake the little 
 fellow with the announcement that he was to 
 make ready to leave their cavern prison. 
 
 "Hello!" 
 
 The call came from Jack, who had awakened 
 of his own accord, his mind being so impressed 
 with that duty that he was roused by the action of 
 the brain itself. 
 
 " I am here," replied his uncle. 
 
 " Haven't 3^ou heard or seen anything? " 
 
 " Nothing at all ; and, as it is after midnight, I 
 don't believe W T C will receive a chance to do any- 
 thing for another day." 
 
 " We can't tell ; but it's my turn to stand watch, 
 and I want you to lie down and give me your 
 place." 
 
 " Be sure and keep awake as I have done." 
 
 " You needn't be afraid of my not doing that ; I 
 have had all the sleep I want, and couldn't keep 
 my eyes closed any longer if I wanted." 
 
 " You may feel different in the course of a few 
 hours. The only safety you can have is to keep
 
 I 3 o 'THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 walking back and forth as I did. Will you do 
 that?" 
 
 " That's just what I meant to do all the while, 
 whether you said anything about it or not." 
 
 " If you will be sure to keep that up till day- 
 light, there will be no risk in leaving you as senti- 
 nel." 
 
 Jack Winch at once started off like a veteran at 
 the business, and Alfredo lay awake some time 
 listening to the soft tramping of his small feet on 
 the flinty floor. 
 
 It grew to be something like music to him, and 
 before he suspected it, he was as sound asleep as 
 was Jack himself a short time before. 
 
 Young Jack Winch proved himself equal to the 
 task, and through the remaining hours of the 
 night, he never once paused in his walking to and 
 fro, except now and then to listen for the signal 
 he so longed to hear. 
 
 But it did not come; and to his dismay he dis- 
 covered the gray light of morning stealing into 
 the cavern once more, when his uncle Frede 
 awoke. Alfredo was sure that something had 
 taken place to cause the man to postpone the de- 
 livery until some other night.
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 13! 
 
 " But there may be some message with our pro- 
 visions," he added, as the string was seen descend- 
 ing from the roof again. 
 
 So there proved to be. The message ran : 
 
 " Expect me before midnight; you will know 
 the time by the light of a lantern overhead." 
 
 " The hardest thing to do is to wait till then," 
 said Jack, " there are about twenty hours, ain't 
 there?" 
 
 " Very nearly, though there is a possibility that 
 the time may be shortened, as he said we were to 
 expect him before midnight." 
 
 " Then we will do all the sleeping we can to- 
 day, and both of us will keep watch." 
 
 " That's the idea exactly. I will make a run on 
 a few stories again and keep it up till I get tired, 
 for you will never weary of that sort of non- 
 sense." 
 
 It would weary the reader were we to spend 
 any more words in describing how the two prison- 
 ers worried through the long hours of the for 
 noon and afternoon. 
 
 Night came again, at last.
 
 I 3 2 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 Both were in a good condition to keep awake 
 all night, if necessary. 
 
 The watchers were on the qui vive of expecta- 
 tion, talking in low tones and in a disjointed way, 
 that their words might not interfere with any sig- 
 nal their friend might choose to use. 
 
 " If he comes before midnight," said Jack, " he 
 will have to come very soon, for the night must be 
 far along." 
 
 " I s'pose that is so Hello! see there! " 
 
 The eyes of both were instantly fixed on the 
 roof overhead. 
 
 They were fixed there, we say, for the roof was 
 becoming visible. 
 
 Beyond all mistake, it was growing light in 
 that section. 
 
 The glow continued to increase until it was cer- 
 tain that that which caused it was almost within 
 sight. 
 
 They were still staring in breathless expecta- 
 tion, when there came a flash, and a small lantern 
 came to view over the edge of the fissure through 
 which all their provisions had found their way. 
 
 Still looking and staring with the most intense
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 '33 
 
 anxiety, they saw the next moment a strong 
 buffalo rope beginning to make its way slowly 
 down.
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 ON THE LAKE 
 
 STEADILY the rope descended from the crevice 
 overhead, while the glare from the lantern threw 
 an illumination over the eager, expectant faces of 
 Alfredo Alfiero and Jack Winch, whose gaze was 
 fixed on what they believed was their earthly sal- 
 vation. 
 
 Nothing could be seen of the man directing 
 these proceedings at the other end of the rope, but, 
 as a matter of course, he must be there. 
 
 The distance was so short that in a few minutes 
 the end of the thong rested on the floor of the 
 cavern, when Alfredo seized it and began fasten- 
 ing the end around his waist. 
 
 It continued to come until there was more than 
 enough, and it required but a short time for him 
 to secure himself in such a way that he was in a 
 condition to be lifted hundreds of feet instead of 
 a little more than a score.
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 135 
 
 " I wouldn't go first, if such was not his order," 
 said Alfredo, while waiting for the hoisting to be- 
 gin. 
 
 " What's the odds? One of us must go before 
 the other, and I won't have to wait long before I'll 
 follow." 
 
 " I hope not," responded his uncle, in a voice 
 which showed he was not fully satisfied on that 
 point. 
 
 " He's going to give you enough time to tie 
 yourself as fast as you want to, isn't he? " 
 
 " That is right, but I hope he won't leave me 
 standing here till morning before " 
 
 The cord suddenly tightened, and the active 
 Alfredo assisted all he could in the upward 
 progress. 
 
 In a very short time his feet were clear of the 
 floor, and he waved a laughing good-by to Jack, 
 who began to sink out of his reach. 
 
 The boy felt some uneasiness as he saw his 
 friend gradually going up in a balloon, as it were. 
 
 " Sposing they won't let him come back, and 
 don't send for me," he muttered, with a shudder ; 
 " I won't be able to live here alone, if they do send 
 me all I want."
 
 136 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 Jack never removed his eyes from his friend as 
 he slowly went up. 
 
 When Alfredo came near enough to reach the 
 crevice from which hung the lantern, he did so, 
 and pulled himself up into the opening. 
 
 Jack saw him make his way through, and in a 
 few minutes he vanished. 
 
 " Now will be my turn," muttered the lad, with 
 a movement of expectant delight, " and then we 
 will get out of this place in a hurry." 
 
 Jack Winch was not tortured by waiting a long 
 time, for within three minutes the rope reappeared 
 and was soon within reach. 
 
 He fastened it around his body in a jiffy. 
 
 " All right here ! " called out the happy fellow. 
 "Why don't you pull up?" 
 
 He ought not to have called out, but he couldn't 
 help it, and, as it proved, it made no difference. 
 
 The strain on the rope increased, and the boy 
 began to ascend. 
 
 When he was a short ways above the floor, he 
 found he was able to help himself by clinging to 
 the projections already mentioned, and his anxi- 
 ety led him to do all he could in this manner. - 
 
 Jack elevated his head and strained his vision
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 137 
 
 to catch a glimpse of the crevice where the lantern 
 was suspended. 
 
 Perhaps it was because he was so much lighter 
 than the other that he was drawn up more rapidly. 
 
 Just before reaching the lantern, he saw a hand 
 suddenly shoved outward and downward the 
 light was seized and whisked out of sight. 
 
 This left Jack in perfect darkness again, which 
 was not pleasant, though he gave it no thought. 
 
 He felt himself still going up, and by-and-by 
 he caught hold of the edge of the fissure. 
 
 It required but a few seconds for him to obtain 
 a foothold, but where his eyes were of no use he 
 waited for directions. 
 
 Hearing and feeling no one, he asked, in an un- 
 dertone : 
 
 " What shall I do ? I am here and ready." 
 
 " Don't speak," was whispered to him by some 
 one whom he judged to be Alfredo. 
 
 At the same time his hand was grasped, and 
 after creeping, groping, and being led a short dis- 
 tance further, he felt the cool air of night fanning 
 his face, and looking up, he saw the stars twink- 
 ling in the sky. 
 
 The sight was such a blessed one that it seemed
 
 138 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 more than he could do to restrain himself from 
 crying out for very joy. 
 
 He was on the surface of the earth again, and 
 the cave, with all its hateful memories, was under 
 his feet. 
 
 Understanding his emotions, his uncle whis- 
 pered : 
 
 " If you make any noise it may be the death of 
 us!" 
 
 Thus warned, the lad had no difficulty in hold- 
 ing his peace. 
 
 In the gloom, Jack was able to see two forms 
 near him. 
 
 One was his uncle, of course, while the other 
 must have been their unknown friend, who had 
 been so deliberate in all he did for their benefit. 
 
 His relative took the hand of Jack, and the 
 other began moving along, with the two follow- 
 ing. 
 
 The stillness above the earth was almost like 
 that within it. 
 
 The gentle breeze which was blowing rustled 
 the leaves slightly, and now and then the soft rip- 
 ple of the water was heard on the beach. 
 
 Their guide wore a long Spanish cloak thrown
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 139 
 
 around his shoulders, so that no glimpse of his 
 features would have been obtainable had there 
 been enough of light from the sky to permit it. 
 
 Alfredo felt that he could afford to wait. 
 
 Time would explain it all, if he would but have 
 patience. 
 
 They had not yet reached the water, when a 
 flash of lightning suddenly streamed across the 
 black sky which had been overcast in the space of 
 a few minutes. 
 
 Scarce a second behind it came the sharp crack 
 of thunder, which showed that it was close at 
 hand. 
 
 There could be no doubt that a violent tropical 
 storm was coming, and would soon be upon them. 
 
 With the next resounding peal their guide 
 stopped abruptly and stared as if uncertain what 
 he ought to do. Alfredo ventured to step nearer 
 to him and to say, hurriedly : 
 
 " Whatever you do, I beg you not to leave us 
 on the island; we are not afraid to cross the lake 
 in the storm, if you will give us the boat to do it 
 with." 
 
 " You talk too much," said the gruff stranger, 
 moving noiselessly forward again.
 
 I 4 o THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 A few minutes' progress in this fashion brought 
 them to the water's edge, their route having 
 been revealed to the two followers by the light- 
 ning. 
 
 When they arrived at the lake all three stood a 
 few minutes in silence. 
 
 Alfredo was in a fever of apprehension that, 
 owing to the coming storm, the man was afraid to 
 venture out upon the water. 
 
 Their guide remained quiet a few minutes 
 longer, and then said: 
 
 " Stay here till I come back." 
 
 And with this parting warning he turned about 
 and the lightning showed him, just at the mo- 
 ment he was disappearing in the wood and under- 
 growth of the bank above. 
 
 "I never felt so much tempted to disobey any 
 one as I do to disregard what he said," remarked 
 Alfredo, when he was gone. "I believe that if I 
 had a boat at command I would leave the island 
 without waiting for him to come back." 
 
 " What makes you in such a hurry, uncle? " 
 
 " Because the bandits are here on the island in 
 the usual force." 
 
 " Are you only waiting for a boat ? "
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 141 
 
 " That is all." 
 
 " I think I saw one a few minutes ago, a little 
 way up the bank." 
 
 " Is that so ? Just slip up there and make sure." 
 
 The lightning was so incessant now that Al- 
 fredo was able to trace the figure of the boy, while 
 he moved along the margin of the lake. 
 
 He had gone but a short ways when another 
 flash showed that he was right in his supposition. 
 
 Glancing a short distance ahead of him, Al- 
 fredo saw a canoe which looked very much like 
 the one in which he had crossed the lake himself. 
 
 In a brief time Jack had hold of it and began 
 dragging it along the margin, it being so light 
 that it floated in the shallowest water. 
 
 " Is the paddle there ? " asked his uncle, as he 
 joined him. 
 
 " I didn't think of that." 
 
 Stooping over the boat, a hasty search proved 
 that the indispensable article was missing. 
 
 " It won't do to go without it, when such a 
 storm is rising. If the night was calm, I wouldn't 
 be so particular." 
 
 Both made their way to the spot where the boat
 
 I 4 2 THE LAND OF WONDERS, 
 
 was first moored, and there, after a little search, 
 the oar was found. 
 
 A few seconds brought them back. 
 
 " Now if there was any certainty that he would 
 be back in a short time," said Alfredo, alluding to 
 their friend, " I would wait for him ; but the lake 
 is becoming so dangerous that if we tarry long we 
 shall be kept back, no one can tell how long." 
 
 " Don't let us wait." 
 
 " Get in then." 
 
 The boy took his place in the stern of the canoe, 
 and Alfredo, shoving it clear of the land, sprang 
 in after him. 
 
 Then the craft was headed toward the main 
 shore and the voyage began.
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 
 ANNIHILATION 
 
 THE wind had already raised waves on the sur- 
 face of the lake, which rendered it dangerous for 
 the most skillful to venture upon it. 
 
 Alfredo did not hesitate. 
 
 He bent to his paddle, feeling that every minute 
 now might decide their fate. 
 
 A small tornado sent the mist flying in their 
 faces, and swerved the boat so far around that, be- 
 fore they could prevent it, the bow was driven 
 against the sand on the beach. 
 
 Undismayed, however, Alfredo made another 
 start, and soon had the canoe well out upon the 
 lake. 
 
 As before, he bent all his strength and skill. 
 
 From the moment they left the Haunted Island 
 the storm seemed to increase in violence and fury. 
 
 The frail craft was tossed up and down like an 
 egg-shell in the breakers, and the wind was fre- 
 '43
 
 I 44 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 quently so powerful that it was driven far out of 
 its course. 
 
 " Hold on! " called out the man to Jack; " and 
 keep yourself ready at any instant to swim." 
 
 " I'll grab hold of the canoe if we go over/' 
 shouted back the lad, as cool as a veteran. 
 
 There was no lack of light to guide them on 
 the way. 
 
 The lightning, which was now in every part of 
 the heavens, not only revealed the island they 
 were trying to leave behind them, but it showed 
 in the distance the mainland that they were striv- 
 ing so desperately to reach. 
 
 Again and again the fugitives in the little canoe 
 saw the trees on the island and mainland shivered 
 and splintered to atoms by the falling thunderbolt, 
 and the scene was so grand and sublime in its aw- 
 ful might, that they were awed by it ; though they 
 had witnessed many similar exhibitions before 
 this memorable night. 
 
 The first real shock which they received was 
 when the electric fluid struck the water within a 
 hundred yards of their boat. 
 
 The concussion was so great that Alfredo 
 dropped the paddle and fell over, nearly going
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 145 
 
 overboard, while Jack dropped forward with a 
 shudder, and lost his senses for a few minutes. 
 
 Both soon recovered, and as the paddle was still 
 within reach, the man seized it and renewed his 
 efforts. 
 
 " That was as close as I wanted it to come," 
 said he to Jack, who was a little dazed from his 
 shock. 
 
 "I thought we were struck," he answered; 
 " and are you sure we ain't ? " 
 
 " No; we are still safe, but the atmosphere is 
 boiling over with electricity, and it is hitting right 
 and left so fast on the land that I suspect we are 
 about as safe here as anywhere." 
 
 Now the boat was heading for the mainland, 
 and the next second, a flame of fire would show 
 that the prow was twisted around, and they were 
 making straight for the island again. 
 
 Then, again, a tornado burst would carry it 
 skimming over the surface like a bird, darting 
 hither and thither in very wantonness. 
 
 Why and how it was that the canoe held to- 
 gether was a mystery. 
 
 Suddenly the boy called out : 
 
 " They have seen us! "
 
 146 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 His relative knew what he meant, and holding 
 his oar motionless, turned his terrified looks in 
 the direction of Haunted Island. 
 
 There, sure enough, he descried the figures of 
 several of the bandits moving back and forth, as if 
 in great excitement. 
 
 The sight caused him to exert his utmost ener- 
 gies again towards shortening the distance be- 
 tween the shore and his boat. 
 
 From some cause the bandits did not start in 
 pursuit. 
 
 The violence of the storm was such that they 
 believed the fugitives would never succeed in 
 reaching safety. 
 
 " Keep your eye on them," yelled Alfredo to 
 Jack, " and when they make a move, let me 
 know." 
 
 " They are doing it now," was the startling re- 
 sponse. 
 
 Such was the fact. 
 
 The Mexicans must have seen that there was a 
 possibility of their victims getting away, and they 
 began launching a canoe. 
 
 Alfredo and Jack had not so much as a gun or 
 pistol between them.
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS, I47 
 
 The bandits were indisputably the superior 
 oarsmen, and would, no doubt, impel their canoe 
 straight after the fugitives. 
 
 How were the latter to elude them? 
 
 The two said nothing, for Alfredo felt that it 
 was do or die with him, and he had no time except 
 for the most desperate kind of work. 
 
 The storm, terrific as was its fury, seemed to in- 
 crease. 
 
 Suddenly the canoe seemed to be lifted bodily 
 from the water, and was carried along with incon- 
 ceivable swiftness directly towards the mainland. 
 
 The fugitives were enveloped in a cloud of mist 
 and spray that completely blinded them, and al- 
 most swept away their breath. 
 
 Before they could rightly comprehend what 
 had taken place they found themselves struggling 
 in the water, the canoe overturned and shattered, 
 and torn out of all semblance to its original self. 
 
 Accidentally Jack Winch succeeded in carrying 
 out his expressed intention. 
 
 He caught hold of the largest portion of the 
 boat. 
 
 " I see you," called out Uncle Frede, at the mo-
 
 148 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 ment he grasped the same support ; " we will hold 
 on for the present." 
 
 The tornado in which they were caught carried 
 them so near the mainland that they found them- 
 selves enveloped by the branches of limbs and up- 
 rooted trees that had been carried into the lake. 
 
 The bandits having seen them in one spot, 
 which the man was striving so desperately, yet 
 vainly, to leave, looked, when the next lightning 
 flame appeared, in the same place for them. 
 
 Nothing of them or the canoe could be dis- 
 cerned. 
 
 The conclusion was inevitable that they had 
 been swamped and drowned by the tornado. 
 
 The outlaws, therefore, after searching for 
 some time for them, turned their boat about and 
 put back to the island. 
 
 Thus, by the overturning of their canoe, Al- 
 fredo and Jack were saved. 
 
 " The gale can't last a great while," said he to 
 the boy.' 
 
 The prophecy about the storm was not imme- 
 diately verified, for the lightning, if possible, be- 
 came more terrible than ever.
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 149 
 
 The only difference perceptible was that it ap- 
 peared to be shifting its centre. 
 
 Instead of being immediately over the heads of 
 the fugitives in the lake, it was moving off toward 
 the island and the country opposite from where 
 our friends were afloat in the water. 
 
 The scene in that part of the sky was simply in- 
 describable, and Alfredo and Jack held their 
 breath in witnessing the most tremendous thun- 
 derstorm they had ever looked upon. 
 
 If all this was awful in its sublimity, what shall 
 be said of that which now followed ? 
 
 The two were looking toward the Haunted Is- 
 land when a roar suddenly broke upon their ears 
 like that of ten thousand Niagaras, and where the 
 lightning had been darting incessantly for the past 
 half-hour, a sheet of flame, rods in width and 
 height, spread out like an immense fan, and went 
 up, up, up, till it seemed to reach the very heavens. 
 
 Here and there in this expanse of vivid fire 
 were discerned huge black masses ascending like 
 rocks thrown out from the throat of Vesuvius. 
 
 The lake itself responded to the wonderful 
 shock which tore the earth as if with an ague. 
 
 An immense wave sped quickly over the water,
 
 I 5 o THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 almost strangling the two fugitives as it shot over 
 their heads and rushed affrighted against the 
 shore. 
 
 By some means a bolt of electricity had found 
 its way to the magazine stored in the founda- 
 tions of the island. 
 
 The whole mass was exploded, and the Haunted 
 Island was no more.
 
 CHAPTER XVII 
 
 SURVEYING THE RUINS A VISITOR FROM OVER 
 THE LAKE 
 
 IT WAS some time before they recovered their 
 senses enough to understand what had taken 
 place. 
 
 The waves rushed tumultuously from the is- 
 land, sweeping fiercely from the shore and back 
 again here and there, as if flying in blind terror 
 from some unknown foe. 
 
 The broad fan-like sheet of flame which shot 
 upwards was one of an intense vivid brightness, 
 broken only by the dark bodies which it drove up- 
 wards and carried with it. 
 
 Then for a while the air was filled with de- 
 scending missiles, which fell into every portion of 
 the lake. 
 
 They were of all sizes and dimensions. 
 
 There were thousands of pebbles, as it may be 
 said, which dropped into the water like a shower 
 of sand.
 
 152 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 There were larger masses, from those weighing 
 a few pounds to those of a score and a hundred, 
 and scores and hundreds of tons. 
 
 Many were carried beyond the lake, even, and 
 fell on the land beyond. 
 
 Several enormous masses struck the water sur- 
 rounding the two men. 
 
 One dashed against the shore a short distance 
 beyond. 
 
 Then came darkness again. 
 
 With the destruction of Haunted Island, the 
 storm seemed to be satisfied, for it began to abate 
 at once. 
 
 The lightning was less and the flashes were 
 fainter, while the rain that had begun to descend 
 soon abated. 
 
 By the time the two were fairly themselves 
 again the storm had almost ceased. 
 
 " Jack," called out his uncle, " we are close to 
 land ; let us swim as hard as we can, and we will 
 soon be there." 
 
 " It's so dark that I can't tell where it is, and 
 I'm afraid to let go and swim, for fear I'll go 
 wrong." 
 
 "I don't mean you shall let go, but use your
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 153 
 
 legs as best you can, and I'll steer toward the 
 shore." 
 
 " All right," responded the lad, with some of 
 his natural vivacity. 
 
 The raft was headed right, and the two labored 
 with might and main. 
 
 A few fitful flashes of lightning showed they 
 were close to land, and after a few minutes' hard 
 work, their feet touched bottom and they walked 
 out. 
 
 Once upon shore they sat down and were 
 silent for a time. 
 
 Jack Winch was the first one to speak, and 
 when he did so, it may be said that the storm had 
 entirely disappeared. 
 
 The wind had fallen, and about all the sound 
 that reached their ears to tell of what had been 
 going on was the plashing of the waves against 
 the beach at their feet. 
 
 " I don't think there is any danger of the Mexi- 
 cans following us ? " 
 
 " No ; they have all preceded us to death." 
 
 " Don't you s'pose that one of them escaped? " 
 
 " No ; the destruction was so complete, so over- 
 whelming, that there must have been no chance
 
 I54 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 for any one on the island. If we had remained, 
 our fate would have been the same." 
 
 " The man who took us out of the cavern, then, 
 has shared the same fate ? " 
 
 " I cannot see how he saved himself. The ex- 
 plosion was so sudden, that there was no time to 
 guard against it." 
 
 " It was the lightning, I s'pose? " 
 
 " It must have been." 
 
 " What can we do ? " 
 
 " We are in no need of hurrying away, since 
 we can have no pursuers, but as soon as daylight 
 comes we will make a start for Vera Cruz, and 
 keep it up till we get there." 
 
 "Where is Vega?" 
 
 " You know as much about that as I do, but the 
 chances are all against our seeing him again. I 
 suspect he was on the island, and has gone up 
 with the rest." 
 
 " There can't be much left of the island." 
 
 " I doubt whether there is any at all, but we 
 shall soon see, for there are signs of day in the 
 east." 
 
 They were wet to the skin from their long stay 
 in the water, but they were not specially uncom-
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 155 
 
 fortable, as the weather was warm and they were 
 accustomed to such exposure. 
 
 When sunlight at last streamed across the 
 water, and they saw all the results of the explo- 
 sion, an exclamation of amazement escaped them. 
 
 The Haunted Island had disappeared ! 
 
 Where the extremity of the island had been 
 was visible a small point of rock, sticking several 
 feet above the water. 
 
 This was all that showed even where the re- 
 markable body had stood in the past. 
 
 It was like a headstone which the lightning had 
 left standing to tell the world what it could do 
 when it aimed at anything in earnest. 
 
 It was hard to realize that such a mass of land, 
 studded with trees, and rocks, and vegetation, 
 had vanished so suddenly from the face of the 
 earth, but such was the fact. 
 
 With it must have gone the outlaws that had 
 made it their headquarters for so long a time." 
 
 The evidence of this came to the fugitives while 
 they were standing on the shore of the lake and 
 looking across to the centre. 
 
 The water was still filled with floating wood,
 
 I 5 6 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 and while Alfredo was gazing off over the sheet, 
 Jack asked, in an undertone : 
 
 " What's that,Uncle Frede? " 
 
 As he spoke, he pointed to the water just be- 
 low them. 
 
 A glance told the truth. 
 
 Drifting along the shore, tossed to and fro by 
 the waves which were still rising and falling, were 
 a number of black objects, which at a distance 
 looked like logs floating on the water. 
 
 A little closer inspection, however, showed 
 them that they were the bodies of the bandits. 
 
 There were about a dozen in all, distinguished 
 at varying distances along the margin of the lake. 
 
 Doubtless there were others further off, but 
 they were not desirous of inspecting them. 
 
 Those that were within plain sight were seen 
 to be swollen, horribly discolored and disfigured 
 by the explosion, so that no one would have ven- 
 tured nearer them, unless compelled to do so by 
 necessity or humanity. 
 
 It occurred to Alfredo that there might be some 
 of his enemies that had escaped, and his occupa- 
 tion was that of scanning the shores with his 
 glass in quest of such survivors.
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 157 
 
 His supposition was that some of the bandits 
 were on the mainland, and were saved in that 
 way. 
 
 He did not deem it possible that any one on the 
 island could have saved himself from the effects 
 of the terrific explosion. 
 
 " Do you see any one? " asked Jack, when this 
 visual search had lasted some ten or fifteen min- 
 utes. 
 
 " Not a living creature, excepting a wild ani- 
 mal that a few minutes ago came down to the 
 edge of the water to get a drink. It must be that 
 the explosion has scared away everything." 
 
 " How long do you mean to stay here? " 
 
 " Not long ; are you hungry ? " 
 
 " Not a bit, we ate so much before we started, 
 and then I s'pose what we saw has taken away 
 all the appetite I had left." 
 
 " You see, we have a long ways to travel yet, 
 and I am in hope that some one will put in an ap- 
 pearance." 
 
 " So you can engage him ? " 
 
 " Either that or secure his assistance in the way 
 or guns for ourselves. We cannot get along with- 
 out such weapons."
 
 158 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 " Are we more likely to meet what we want by 
 staying here than by going on? " 
 
 " I don't s'pose we are ; but you have keener 
 eyes than I, and I wish you would take the glass 
 for awhile and see whether you can't find some 
 such fellow for me." 
 
 Jack did as requested, climbing to the top of a 
 rock near at hand, so as to give him as extended 
 a field as possible. 
 
 Sitting down here he went at the task of mak- 
 ing observations, like one who was determined to 
 get all there was out of it. 
 
 Alfredo watched him with much interest, for he 
 had great faith in the keen eyesight of the boy. 
 
 Jack Winch slowly moved the glass along the 
 opposite shore, dwelling long enough by the way 
 to take in every portion. 
 
 Alfredo, who was scrutinizing the instrument, 
 saw it stop in this circle and rest for a minute per- 
 fectly stationary, just as if some suspicious object 
 had been discerned. 
 
 "Well, Jack, what is it?" asked he, in a loud 
 voice. 
 
 " Can't tell yet." 
 
 "Is it anything?"
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 159 
 
 " You bet it is." 
 
 "Man, or animal, or tree? " 
 
 " Wait a minute," he answered, looking more 
 intently towards the point than before. 
 
 Alfredo was impatient to know what it was, 
 but he held his peace until the lad called out : 
 
 " Hurrah ! I see a man." 
 
 His uncle was at his side in a minute, with the 
 glass in hand. 
 
 " Show me where he is." 
 
 The boy indicated the point, and the glass was 
 turned in that direction, and he scrutinized the 
 man with great interest. 
 
 Jt took but a minute to see that the lad was 
 right. 
 
 Near a large, flat rock, on the other side the 
 land and under the shadow of a large tree, a man 
 was standing, and seemingly looking across the 
 water, where he was being studied with so much 
 interest. 
 
 Having made sure that there was one there, 
 Alfredo's next effort was to ascertain whether 
 there were any more near him. 
 
 So far as he could ascertain, this was the only
 
 i6o FHE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 one beside themselves who was standing on the 
 shore of the lake. 
 
 Such being the fact, as it appeared, he signaled 
 to him, in the hope of persuading him to come 
 across. 
 
 This was done by waving his hat above his 
 head, and calling out in as loud voice as he could 
 command. 
 
 It was some time before the stranger seemed to 
 comprehend what was meant by the signals, but 
 finally he made a response by swinging his own 
 sombrero. 
 
 Even then Alfredo was in doubt whether the 
 man intended to do as he wished. 
 
 But all doubt was removed by seeing him walk 
 down to the edge of the water and enter a canoe, 
 which up to that moment was undiscovered by our 
 friends. 
 
 " He is coming," said Alfredo, lowering his 
 glass, " and we shall get some knowledge that I 
 am very anxious to obtain." 
 
 " It may be of no use to us. S'posing he's 
 some hunter that heard the noise and has come to 
 find out what it means ? " 
 
 " Then he'll be just the fellow we want to meet;
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 161 
 
 he will have something to tell us which will be of 
 considerable account." 
 
 "If he keeps on and comes to us, and don't 
 get scared and turn back."' 
 
 " There's no fear of that; he's heading straight 
 for us." 
 
 " Let me take a look at him," added Jack, when 
 the man had advanced a considerable portion of 
 the way. 
 
 The glass was handed to the boy, who turned it 
 towards the boat, and the next minute called out : 
 
 "Hurrah! It's Vega, our guide!"
 
 CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 A CURIOUS REGION THE RECONNOISSANCE 
 
 " JACK," said his uncle, " if that is Vega and 
 you seem to have no doubt on that point we will 
 take him once more, and start on our way home. 
 He cannot but know all that has taken place, and 
 we will say nothing to him about it, for the rea- 
 son that he cannot explain satisfactorily the part 
 he has played. He may be able to do something 
 for us, and we will try and feel thankful for his 
 company." 
 
 The boy promised to remember his uncle's 
 wishes. A few minutes later, the guide landed 
 at the base of the rock whereon they were stand- 
 ing. 
 
 He was grinning all over his sunburnt counte- 
 nance, and he shook both warmly by the hand and 
 expressed his pleasure at meeting them again. 
 
 " I was afraid you would get into trouble with 
 the Mexicans, and not be able to find your way 
 out," said he, after the first greetings. 
 162
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 163 
 
 " We did get into considerable trouble," replied 
 Alfredo, dryly, " but Providence favored us, and 
 we were able to get out again." 
 
 " You must have left the island just in time? " 
 
 " So it seems, for if we had staid any longer 
 there wouldn't have been any island to support 
 us." 
 
 " No," added Vega, with a horrified look be- 
 hind him. " It was the most awful thing I ever 
 saw. A spark of lightning got in among the 
 powder that was stored there, and blew it all up. 
 I have seen the eruptions of a dozen volcanoes in 
 my time, but there was not one of them as dread- 
 ful as that." 
 
 Jack noticed that their guide had two guns in 
 the canoe, as well as one in his hand. 
 
 The lad's surprise increased when he recog- 
 nized one of them as his own, which he had parted 
 with nearly two weeks before. 
 
 " Where did you get them ? " asked Alfredo, 
 when his attention was called to the fact. 
 
 " I managed to obtain them of a friend, though 
 I had great difficulty in doing so. He told me to 
 keep them, as you might turn up some day, and 
 would be in want of them."
 
 164 THE LAND OP WONDERS 
 
 "That is very fortunate, indeed," remarked 
 his employer, stepping to the side of the boat and 
 picking them out. " You have ammunition, and 
 we shall be in a better situation than I expected." 
 
 " Yes, I was fortunate in finding them, and 
 now, I suppose, you are ready to start on your 
 way to Vera Cruz again ? " 
 
 "Yes ; I have seen all I want of this part of the 
 country, and wish we were safe at home this very 
 minute." 
 
 " We shall be there within a week." 
 
 " Is it possible to obtain mules? " 
 
 " Yes, but they cannot be used with advantage 
 till we get further on our way." 
 
 "How much further?" 
 
 " Well, if we are not delayed, we shall reach a 
 point in the course of a couple of days where we 
 can use the animals very well." 
 
 " And when we reach that point, will there be 
 some way to buy the animals ? " 
 
 " Leave that to me," was the assuring answer. 
 
 All this being understood, there was no reason 
 for further delay, and the two signified that they 
 were ready to go ahead and were waiting only for 
 Vega to take the lead.
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 165 
 
 The guide stepped to the front at once, and 
 headed in a northerly direction, striking, in the 
 course of a few minutes, a well-marked path 
 which had escaped their notice until this moment. 
 
 By the time they were fairly underway, Jack 
 woke to the fact that he was in need of food, and 
 upon making a remark to that effect, he was 
 pleased to find that his relative was alive to the 
 same deficiency concerning himself. 
 
 Vega, upon being notified of this condition of 
 things, asked them to wait a while, when they 
 would reach a spot much more favorable for a 
 halt and camp than any near them. 
 
 This was gladly agreed to, and the march was 
 continued. 
 
 The route was uneven as ever, and it was no- 
 ticed by Alfredo and his little companion that 
 their long rest in the cavern, where they were de- 
 prived of the invigorating sunlight, had so weak- 
 ened them that they felt the fatigue much more 
 than would have been the case a fortnight before. 
 
 Vega observed their weariness, and timed his 
 gait to suit them. 
 
 The sun was nearly overhead when they struck 
 a small stream of clear, running water, where
 
 1 66 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 Vega announced that they would stop as long as 
 they wished. 
 
 " That will be long enough to get a good dinner 
 and rest," said Alfredo. 
 
 " The dinner will soon be here," was the re- 
 sponse of the guide, who threw his rifle over his 
 back and started off in quest of game. 
 
 In the course of two or three minutes he van- 
 ished from view, and there was no telling when 
 he would return again. 
 
 " He doesn't say a word about our being in the 
 cavern," whispered Jack, a few minutes after his 
 disappearance, " and I wonder whether he knows 
 anything about it himself." 
 
 " How can he help it? Of course he does, and 
 he says nothing, because there is nothing for him 
 to say. He is well aware that he has played a 
 cowardly part, and one that is not susceptible of 
 explanation." 
 
 " Isn't this a queer country where we have 
 stopped? " asked the boy, looking about him. 
 
 " We have not met with anything of the kind 
 before," answered his uncle. 
 
 What attracted Jack's attention was a growth 
 of tall, dry weeds, of a dull-brown color, and so
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 167 
 
 dry that, when struck so as to bend, the reeds 
 would break off like dry splinters. 
 
 Here and there through it were interspersed 
 green vegetation, but the tall, parched grass 
 greatly predominated, and must have extended a 
 long distance, as they traveled through it for a 
 half-hour before stopping to camp. 
 
 Jack, was so interested that he tramped some 
 distance to where he saw a slight elevation, and 
 made his way to the top of that, in order to make 
 an observation. 
 
 When he came back, at the end of a few min- 
 utes, his uncle inquired what discoveries he had 
 made. 
 
 " Two or three," he answered. "I find that tall, 
 dry grass reaches very far as far almost as I can 
 look, excepting off yonder, where there are those 
 green hills that you can see from here." 
 
 Alfredo looked at the latter, and said they were 
 all of three miles' distance, and it was towards 
 them that Vega had gone in quest of game. 
 
 "What else did you find?" 
 
 " Why, right at the base of those hills, when I 
 was looking through the glass, I saw a cabin."
 
 168 THE LAND OZ WONDERS. 
 
 "Ah, that's of more account; and did you no- 
 tice anything special concerning it ? " 
 
 " There was smoke coming out the chimneys, 
 and so there must be some one inside." 
 
 " You saw no one else there? " 
 
 " No ; how could I, as long as they staid in the 
 house ? " 
 
 Alfredo now strode off toward the elevation, 
 followed by the boy. 
 
 The dwelling which so interested them was 
 small and conical in shape, resembling the lodge 
 of the American Indian. 
 
 It seemed to have been constructed by uniting 
 a number of saplings at the top, with the lower 
 ends spread apart, and these were covered with 
 bark and skins. 
 
 Through a small opening in the top ascended a 
 thin column of blue vapor, showing very plainly 
 that some one must be within. 
 
 "What do you think about it?" asked Jack, 
 when they had stared until there was nothing 
 more to see. 
 
 " Well, there isn't much to think ; but I had a 
 suspicion that this might be the dwelling-place of
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS rfg 
 
 one of those fellows who was killed on the is- 
 land." 
 
 " They would have learned it by this time, for 
 the noise w r ould have waked them if they were a 
 dozen miles off." 
 
 " You are right there; and that makes it likely 
 that I was wrong in my suspicion." 
 
 " Let's go over to it and see what it is, and who 
 is there." 
 
 Alfredo was inclined to follow the suggestion 
 of Jack at first, but, on reflection, he concluded 
 that it would be foolish, for, before they could 
 get back, Vega would be likely to put in an ap- 
 pearance. 
 
 As they had not heard the gun of the guide 
 since his departure, the two friends remained 
 where they were, to watch the dwelling, in the 
 hope of learning something more about its occu- 
 pants. 
 
 In this they were disappointed.
 
 CHAPTER XIX 
 
 WALLED IN BY FIRE 
 
 ALFREDO and Jack were quite confident that, 
 upon their return to camp, they would find Vega, 
 the guide, awaiting them with a savory dinner. 
 
 To their great disappointment nothing was seen 
 of him, and they were forced to nurse their hun- 
 ger against his return. 
 
 Had the character of the country been different 
 from that already described, the two would have 
 started out on a hunting excursion of their own; 
 but they were afraid of losing their way; and, in 
 view of the possible proximity of some of the out- 
 laws whom they were so anxious to escape, it was 
 wisely concluded to stay where they were. 
 
 " We'll wait here till he comes back," said the 
 man ; " provided, of course, we don't have to wait 
 too long." 
 
 " It must be that game is scarce, for he 
 wouldn't stay when he knows how hungry we 
 
 are." 
 
 170
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 171 
 
 When the afternoon was nearly half gone, Al- 
 fredo rose to his feet. 
 
 " My opinion is, that there is no use in waiting 
 any longer for the coming of Vega." 
 
 " That's what I have been thinking for the last 
 half-hour or more. I believe there are a good 
 many ways of dying better than starving to 
 death." 
 
 Jack had also risen to his feet, and they made 
 as if to start. 
 
 Before them was a path which had been worn 
 by the feet of animals or men most probably the 
 former in coming down to the stream to get water 
 to drink. 
 
 They moved a short distance along this, when 
 Alfredo stopped and snuffed, as though he 
 smelled something unusual. 
 
 " Do you notice anything in the air? " he asked, 
 turning towards his companion. 
 
 " Yes, there's something burning." 
 
 " You're right ; the grass is on fire! " 
 
 This was alarming news indeed ; the two were 
 in the very middle of the tract, the dry grass sur- 
 rounding them for miles. 
 
 The man stood for a minute staring wildly here
 
 172 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 and there, uncertain for that time what he ought 
 to do, and yet fully aware that something must be 
 done without delay. 
 
 " I thought I would burn the grass ahead of us, 
 but there isn't a breath of air stirring, and I 
 doubt whether it would help us any." 
 
 " Hadn't we better try it? " 
 
 " I don't know but what you are right ; you 
 have matches, so you may make the attempt." 
 
 Jack felt in his pockets for the lucifers with a 
 strong suspicion that he had used his last one 
 some time before. 
 
 This suspicion was verified when he came to 
 make the search, he not being able to find a single 
 one in his possession. 
 
 " I haven't any," he replied, " so while I get a 
 lot of the grass pulled and tied together, so as to 
 give it a good start, you can make ready to touch 
 it off." 
 
 As he spoke he acted upon his own proposal, 
 and busied himself in preparing the material, 
 which really needed little if any preparation for 
 the flame. 
 
 This took but a minute or two, for the fears of 
 the lad were excited, and he worked with a will.
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 173 
 
 The smoke that had alarmed them was growing 
 thicker and heavier with each passing moment, 
 and there could be no doubt that the flames, from 
 whatever direction they were coming, were rap- 
 idly approaching. 
 
 When Jack Winch was through, he turned 
 about, and called out: 
 
 " All is ready ; now, fetch on your matches, and 
 we'll soon have a bonfire of our own under way, 
 and then they " 
 
 He suddenly paused, startled at the looks of his 
 Uncle Frede. The latter was standing as rigid 
 as if smitten with death. 
 
 His face was white like that of a corpse, and he 
 was staring at the boy as if he did not hear the* 
 words addressed him. 
 
 " Why, Uncle Frede, what is the matter ? " he 
 asked, in alarm. 
 
 The answer was a terrible one, coarse and 
 husky of tone, as if it were uttered by another 
 person. 
 
 " / haven't a single match in my possession! " 
 
 Darting forward to where the grass had been 
 twisted together by the lad, Alfredo stooped down 
 and placed his gun among it.
 
 I 7 4 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 He pulled the trigger. But instead of a report, 
 the dull click of the lock was heard. 
 
 With a gasp of terror, he raised the hammer 
 again, and looked at the tube where the percussion 
 cap should have been. There was none there ! 
 
 A hasty examination showed that the gun was 
 unloaded ! 
 
 " Quick, Jack ! " he called out ; "let me have 
 your rifle; Vega has the ammunition with him, 
 and there is no time to load mine if I had it." 
 
 Jack passed his gun over, and Alfredo held it 
 down and repeated his attempt. 
 
 The same useless click followed the pulling of 
 the trigger ! 
 
 " My God ! " gasped the horror-stricken man ; 
 " there is no load in either ! It is a plot of Vega 
 to destroy us." 
 
 So it seemed, indeed, and the two were helpless 
 with terror and despair. 
 
 For a time neither stirred nor spoke. 
 
 By this time, too, they caught the crackling of 
 the flames, which showed how fearfully near they 
 had approached. 
 
 It was simple instinct that came to the boy 
 sooner than to the man, and which led him to
 
 THE LAND OF. WONDERS\ 175 
 
 spring up and seize the arm of his uncle, and 
 fairly scream: 
 
 " Don't let us stay here; we shall be burned to 
 death if we do. The fire is right there behind 
 us ; let's run as fast as we can, and maybe it won't 
 overtake us." 
 
 " There is no use," was the helpless reply; " we 
 are doomed." 
 
 " You told me only a short time ago that you 
 would never doubt Providence again, after what 
 He had done for us. Come on, then, and let us 
 try and save ourselves ! "
 
 CHAPTER XX 
 
 THE LAST DESPAIRING EFFORT 
 
 " FASTEN your rifle to your back where it will 
 be out of the way," he said to Jack, setting the 
 example. 
 
 " I don't believe we have time," replied the boy, 
 who, nevertheless, busied himself with the task. 
 
 " We must take time, then ; we parted with 
 them once, and I don't intend it shall be done 
 again, even though we have no powder." 
 
 " If we must run," said Alfredo, " there is but 
 the one course we can take, and I do not think 
 that will be open long." 
 
 " Yes, Uncle Frede, and please don't wait any 
 longer." 
 
 " Do you think you can keep up with me? " 
 
 " Yes, and run ahead of you." 
 
 " Very well ; I will take the lead, but I will keep 
 watch that I do not lose you. If you find there's 
 176
 
 THE LAND OF. WONDERS 177 
 
 any danger of my getting out of your sight, just 
 let out a yell and I will stop." 
 
 With this parting instruction Alfredo moved 
 off on the race for life. 
 
 The gait which the two struck was a sort of 
 dog-trot that they were capable of keeping up for 
 an unlimited period. 
 
 It was the best they could have adopted, pro- 
 vided there was no need of headlong haste. 
 
 When they had run a short time, the boy called 
 out: 
 
 " Uncle Frede, can't you go faster ? The fire 
 is getting close to me." 
 
 "From what direction?" asked his relative, 
 glancing backward, without increasing his speed 
 in the least. 
 
 " From behind." 
 
 " And it is gaining on me in front; and so, you 
 see, if I hurry away from that in the rear," he 
 added with a grim humor, " it will only result in 
 the sooner meeting that in front. I guess, there- 
 fore, that it will be as well to keep along in the 
 old-fashioned way." 
 
 Which he proceeded to do. 
 
 Poor Jack was fairly frantic with terror.
 
 178 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 The flames were so close behind him that he 
 felt their heat, and he saw that his uncle had 
 spoken the truth about their advance from the 
 other direction. 
 
 He wondered how it was his relative kept so 
 quiet and cool in the face of such appalling dan- 
 ger. 
 
 He did not suspect that it might be the stolid 
 indifference of despair. 
 
 The wind which Alfredo spoke of was felt 
 stronger and stronger as they advanced, showing 
 that had they possessed the means of kindling a 
 counter-flame, there would have been no difficulty 
 in checkmating their relentless enemy. 
 
 Suddenly a furious rolling was heard, like the 
 noise of thunder along the clear sky. 
 
 Alfredo did not look around to learn what it 
 meant. 
 
 But the affrighted Jack glanced over his shoul- 
 der, knowing from the sound that the cause was 
 behind them. 
 
 There were huge forms, like those of wild ani- 
 mals, plunging along at headlong speed in the 
 vain attempt to escape from the pursuing flames.
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 179 
 
 There seemed to be a score of them, and Jack 
 called out in his terror : 
 
 '*' Look out, Uncle Frede; there's a whole drove 
 of buffaloes or elephants tearing along behind us." 
 
 " What do I care ? " replied the man, without 
 making the least attempt to avoid them. 
 
 The wild beasts, whatever they were, were 
 tearing along at a rate which speedily brought 
 them up with the human fugitives. 
 
 Had there been more of the brutes, no doubt 
 they would have trampled the man and boy to 
 death. 
 
 There were so few that they were not forced 
 irresistibly on by the multitude in the rear, and 
 when, therefore, they saw the strange creatures 
 before them, they swerved to one side and passed 
 them by. 
 
 They went plunging onward at a rate that 
 speedily took them out of the sight of the fugi- 
 tives, who were still at it in a way that appeared 
 as if they believed they had a whole day before 
 them in which to make all their arrangements for 
 escape. 
 
 The path became more indistinct, and it was 
 hard to keep it.
 
 i8o THE LAND OF WONDERS, 
 
 Made as it was by the converging animals on 
 their way to the stream, it gradually grew less 
 marked as the distance from the water increased. 
 
 At no great ways it must disappear altogether. 
 
 It was not hard to pick one's path, but it be- 
 came so nearly obliterated, that Alfredo very soon 
 gave over all attempt to stick to it, and went 
 straight ahead without any regard to where his 
 steps led him. 
 
 Seeing this, Jack Winch slipped forward beside 
 his uncle and ran his hand within his. 
 
 " We may as well stick together," he said, look- 
 ing up in his face. The man gazed fondly down 
 again, and pressed the little hand that rested so 
 reposingly within his own. 
 
 " We'll die together! " was the response, as he 
 pressed the fingers. 
 
 They continued some distance further in silence 
 and paying little attention to the flames around 
 them. 
 
 Now and then they caught the sound of terri- 
 fied hoofs as they went careering across the coun- 
 try, shooting by them with a speed which soon 
 carried them out of sight in the tall grass beyond. 
 
 Several times some of these sped by so close
 
 'JACK! JACK! WHERE ARE YOU?' CALLED OUT THE 
 ALARMED ALFREDO." PAGE 182.
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 181 
 
 that they grazed the elbow of man or boy, and the 
 escape was narrow indeed. 
 
 The fugitives had become accustomed, in a cer- 
 tain sense, to danger, and they paid no heed to 
 these causes for alarm save to glance at them just 
 before they disappeared in front. 
 
 All that they were concerned in was the prog- 
 ress made by the fire. 
 
 Events moved far more swiftly than we can 
 describe them. When a puff of wind brought so 
 much smoke around in their faces that the fugi- 
 tives were blinded for the moment, and nearly 
 strangled, they felt that the enemy was fairly 
 upon them, and that the race was nearly ended. 
 
 It was a blind animal instinct that led them to 
 drop the dog-trot they had kept up so long, and 
 resort to a dead-run. 
 
 "Keep it up!" called out Jack; "maybe we 
 can make it." 
 
 " Let's see who can run the fastest," called 
 back his relative, more with the object of pleasing 
 him than through any hope that good could result 
 therefrom. 
 
 They started off side by side, there being no 
 use of keeping their hands clasped.
 
 1 82 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 As Alfredo anticipated, his nephew led him at 
 the start, and placed himself so far in front that 
 the man was forced into a " spurt " to escape be- 
 ing left behind altogether. 
 
 Once more they were side by side, and before 
 Alfredo was aware of it, he had placed himself in 
 front of the little fellow.. 
 
 " Come on," he called out, without looking 
 back ; " I shall leave you far behind if you don't 
 hurry." 
 
 There was no answer, and the man slackened 
 up his speed so as to bring the little fellow along- 
 side of him again. 
 
 He did not appear, and Alfredo looked back 
 and asked : " Have you tired so soon ! " 
 
 There was no reply to this, and the terrified 
 glance of the uncle failed to show him anything 
 of the boy. 
 
 "Jack! Jack! where are you?" called out the 
 alarmed Alfredo, who saw the flames so close be- 
 hind that he knew a few moments' delay must be 
 fatal. 
 
 There was some sort of an answer, but it came 
 from his left instead of from the other ear, and he 
 did not catch what it was.
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 183 
 
 His ear told him the point, however, and he 
 looked in the right direction. 
 
 Instead of Jack, he saw the figure of a man, 
 rushing along through the grass like a terror- 
 stricken bull that feels the blistering flames upon 
 his flanks. 
 
 The man seemed to be stooping forward, and 
 carried something in his arms. 
 
 " Hello, Uncle Frede, this way ! " 
 
 It was Jack Winch who shouted to him, and 
 with the shout came the discovery that the man 
 whom he saw running with such desperate haste 
 was carrying in his arms his young companion. 
 
 " Yes ; come this way it is your only chance ! " 
 
 This was the adult who said these words, and, 
 despite the terrific din, tumult and confusion, Al- 
 fredo recognized the form and voice as belonging 
 to Vega, the guide. 
 
 It was he who dashed along behind them, and 
 catching up the lad in his arms, sped forward like 
 a deer, calling on the man to follow as hard after 
 him as he knew how to do. 
 
 Alfredo did not stop to think. Indeed, he had 
 no time, but, turning in his course, he dashed af- 
 ter the guide, whom he believed a few minutes
 
 1 84 THE LAND OF. WONDERS 
 
 before had deliberately planned the whole thing, 
 that he might encompass their death. 
 
 He had never before seen Vega run to the top 
 of his bent, and he was now given an opportunity 
 to admire his astonishing speed.
 
 CHAPTER XXI 
 
 FIRE AND WATER 
 
 ALFREDO was pretty well exhausted from his 
 severe exertions before making this final spurt, 
 but he was inspired by the desperate hope which 
 makes the weakest the strongest. 
 
 For a time he ran with such success that he held 
 his own and kept close behind the mountaineer, 
 who was certainly doing his utmost to get the two 
 beyond the danger of being burned to death. 
 
 The pace was a killing one, and Alfredo was 
 not long in finding that it could not be maintained. 
 
 With a strange horror which cannot be ex- 
 plained, he saw Vega gradually disappear in the 
 grass ahead, bearing the lad as a tiger would have 
 sped forward with its young. 
 
 The thick smoke was all around, and Alfredo 
 could scarcely see where he was going. 
 
 What mattered it whether he saw or not ? 
 
 He caught the sound of the crackling flames 
 behind him, and saw them on his right and left. 
 185
 
 186 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 Still he did not stop running. 
 
 There was a sort of mitigation of his torture 
 so long as he kept in motion, and it was that 
 which urged him forward more than any belief 
 that he could do himself good by the effort. 
 
 He was speeding he knew "not whither, and he 
 did not care. 
 
 " God be thanked ! the boy will be safe," he 
 murmured to himself. 
 
 All at once his foot caught in some obstruction 
 and he fell forward on his face. 
 
 He started to get up again, when the thought 
 came that it was foolish to do so. 
 
 He was so wearied now that he was scarcely 
 able to stand, and he sank back upon the ground 
 again. 
 
 " Uncle Frede, where are you ? What are you 
 doing? Why don't you hurry here to us? " 
 
 There was no mistaking the voice, and he 
 called back : 
 
 "Are you safe, Jack?" 
 
 ' Yes, of course we are ; hurry and come here. 
 We ain't far off!" 
 
 Alfredo staggered to his feet, and stared wildly 
 around.
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 187 
 
 Smoke and fire everywhere, and he could see 
 nothing distinctly. 
 
 " I am shut in by the flames! " he called back; 
 " I can't see where you are ; there's no way " 
 
 Just then some one caught him by the collar of 
 his coat, and he was jerked so violently off his 
 feet that he stumbled to the ground. 
 
 But he seemed to be in the grip of a giant, who 
 dashed away with the same headlong speed that 
 had marked the first attempt to escape. 
 
 The reply which Alfredo sent back gave to 
 Vega a true idea of the situation, and leaving the 
 lad where he was, he bounded forward to the res- 
 cue of the man. 
 
 How was he to outrun the fire, burdened as he 
 was with the weight of a man as large as himself? 
 
 He was not attempting to do that. 
 
 He had another scheme for the safety of the 
 imperiled Alfredo. 
 
 The latter could scarcely understand what took 
 place, he was so upset by the rush and swirl of in- 
 cident and the blinding masses of smoke which 
 were rolling over them. 
 
 When he fell forward in response to the savage 
 grip upon his coat, he tried his best to regain his
 
 188 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 feet, but was unable to do so, on account of the 
 superior speed of the man who was dragging him 
 in this summary fashion. 
 
 After two or three attempts he gave over the 
 effort, and allowed things to take their own 
 course. 
 
 Then followed a hurried larruping through the 
 tall grass, with the smoke so thick about him that 
 he could only see the brawny legs of the guide, 
 who was dragging with all his tremendous 
 strength and speed. 
 
 When this had lasted some minutes, and Al- 
 fredo was about to make another effort to regain 
 his feet with the idea of assisting the man, he felt 
 himself suddenly raised in the air and flung out- 
 ward. 
 
 When he came down he landed plump into the 
 water, and went under some distance. 
 
 This bath was so unexpected to the man that he 
 was strangled for a few seconds, but he quickly 
 rallied and came to the surface. 
 
 Then it was that he understood for the first 
 time what had taken place. 
 
 Vega, the guide, seeing the impossibility of es- 
 cape by flight, instantly turned all his efforts to-
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 189 
 
 ward reaching a pool of water which fortunately 
 was at no great distance. 
 
 This pool was circular in shape, and was 
 twenty or thirty yards in diameter. 
 
 In the middle it was a dozen feet deep, but 
 there were no trees around it. 
 
 The situation of the fugitives was very un- 
 comfortable, but there was hope in it, and that is 
 everything in this life. 
 
 The fire could not touch them so long as they 
 remained in the water, and its extent was such as 
 to give good reason to believe that the heat would 
 not be found unbearable. 
 
 Everything was done in the nick of time. 
 
 The guide had no sooner thrown his employer 
 into the pool than he made a leap that landed him 
 close beside him. 
 
 As he did so, Jack Winch, who was looking in 
 the direction, caught sight of a spear of fire which 
 scorched his very garments, though the guide 
 was unaware of it. 
 
 The three were in the water now, and they 
 swam out into the middle, to learn all about the 
 situation. 
 
 If there had been any floating logs or drift-
 
 190 
 
 wood, it would have been quite a simple matter, 
 for they are good for rafts, while, as necessity 
 compelled, they could have ducked their heads un- 
 der water. 
 
 The practiced eye of Vega enabled him to see 
 that in one direction there was less fire than in the 
 other, and he immediately swam towards that 
 portion of the shore, calling on the other two to 
 do the same. 
 
 They followed, and soon reached water so shal- 
 low that they could stand with it reaching to their 
 knees only, while the heat was not enough to 
 make them uncomfortable. 
 
 " If it will stay this way," said Alfredo, "we 
 shall be all right." 
 
 " But will it do that? " asked Jack. 
 
 " I am afraid not ; but there is not much body 
 to the fire that is kindled by this grass, and it. 
 won't last long." 
 
 " We have a good chance of getting out ? " 
 
 " We have, without a doubt ; all we have to do 
 is to watch when it is necessary to shift our posi- 
 tion. If the flames should come in around us all 
 at once, we might find ourselves crowded; but I 
 hope it won't be as bad as that."
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS. 191 
 
 Only a few minutes, however, had passed, when 
 Jack called attention to the fact that their vicin- 
 ity was becoming hotter very fast. 
 
 Swimming out into the centre, they paused 
 awhile to determine at what point of the shore 
 they should aim. 
 
 " I think there's a chance here," said Vega, 
 striking out in the direction opposite to where 
 they had just been. 
 
 Upon touching bottom Jack declared it was too 
 hot to stay, but the guide insisted on his remain- 
 ing, saying that he would soon become accus- 
 tomed to it. 
 
 At the same time Vega went a yard nearer the 
 land than was the boy, and stood it unflinch- 
 ingly. 
 
 Thus encouraged, Jack held out, and soon said 
 that he would stay, provided it didn't get any hot- 
 ter. 
 
 Unfortunately, it did get hotter, and that very 
 soon so much so, indeed, that Vega was com- 
 pelled to abandon his post and take to deep sound- 
 ings again. 
 
 Vega, the guide, kept hunting for some spot 
 that approached something like coolness, and his
 
 I 9 2 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 friends swam after him, but the fire was now on 
 every side of the pond. 
 
 The air, too, was full of flakes and ashes, which 
 were falling in showers. 
 
 These were light, feathery particles, but the 
 trouble was that a great many, when they came 
 down, were still burning and contained consider- 
 able heat. 
 
 To have several of these drop upon the head or 
 face or hands, when the last were exposed, was 
 calculated to make things a little unpleasant, to 
 say the least. 
 
 Sometimes the three resorted to diving, but 
 when they went under water it was necessary that 
 they should come up again, and at such time, just 
 as they were opening their mouths, some of these 
 flakes, hissing hot, would settle down on the face 
 or head. 
 
 " Well," said Vega, after making the circuit 
 of the pond, " the fire is on every side, and we 
 shall have to keep in the middle of the place 
 awhile. You see it's pretty hot here already, and 
 we shall be lucky if it don't get any more so. If 
 it comes to that, it will be a toss-up between 
 drowning or being burned to death, and I must 
 say that I see little choice."
 
 CHAPTER XXII 
 
 A NARROW ESCAPE THE ENCAMPMENT BY THE 
 
 LAKE 
 
 JACK WINCH was determined to hold out as 
 long as possible before appealing to his friends to 
 help him to keep afloat in the water. 
 
 Fortunately for them all, the heat, although 
 very great at times and extremely annoying, 
 never reached that degree that it became posi- 
 tively dangerous. 
 
 The fire raged a long time in the grass, but its 
 fierceness was soon spent. 
 
 " The worst is passed," said Vega, just as the 
 boy was on the point of asking the guide to assist 
 him in keeping his head above the surface. 
 
 " Can we go ashore? " 
 
 " I think so ; we'll soon see." 
 
 With which he lead the way toward the land, 
 the others following close behind him. 
 
 They were not only enabled to reach shallow 
 water, but they went out of the little lake alto- 
 193
 
 I 9 4 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 gether, and sat down on the shore, about as nearly 
 used-up as two persons could well be. 
 
 "How did all this happen?" asked Alfredo, 
 when they had recovered somewhat from their 
 fatigue ; " how was it that the grass came to be 
 fired, and by what means did you learn that we 
 were in danger ? " 
 
 " I was off hunting," was the prompt answer 
 of Vega, " when I went up toward the hills on the 
 left. There is the dwelling of three of my friends 
 who happened by good luck to be away from the 
 island when the explosion took place. I told them 
 about it, but they seemed to know all, and also 
 that you two were in the grass on your way home. 
 I tried to make them think otherwise, but they 
 were positive, and I suspected they were angry 
 enough toward you, and me as well, for acting as 
 your guide, to fire the grass and to burn us all up 
 together." 
 
 " Did they say anything about it? " 
 
 " Not they ; they were too smart for that. They 
 never hinted the thing; I only suspected it from 
 the way they acted and spoke. I staid with them 
 quite a while, for we had many things to talk over, 
 and when I left them, I hoped they were in such a
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 195 
 
 mood that they would spare you on my account. 
 I hadn't got any game yet, but I was so worried 
 over what I had seen and the suspicions I formed 
 that I determined to let the game go and come 
 straight to you and have you change your camp 
 to some safer place, where there would not be the 
 peril from the flames at any rate. I had got 
 pretty well on the way, when I found they had set 
 fire to the grass, and you may be sure I was 
 scared. I started off on a run, and was in such 
 haste that I got off the track and was in despair, 
 as the fire burned very fast, when I came down 
 upon you trying to run out the path of the flame. 
 You know what followed." 
 
 Yes, Alfredo knew very well what had taken 
 place, and had it not been for the memory of the 
 Haunted Island, and what occurred there, includ- 
 ing the part played by Vega, or, more properly, 
 the part he didn't play, he would have credited 
 what the guide told him, and made sure that 
 he was fully rewarded therefor. 
 
 As it was, he could not free his mind wholly 
 from the mistrust and suspicion excited by that 
 omission; but he was prudent enough not to give
 
 196 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 expression to this doubt, and to forbear from 
 showing any lack of confidence in the man. 
 
 He had certainly rendered an inestimable serv- 
 ice to Jack Winch, and, indeed, to Alfredo him- 
 self, who must have perished miserably with the 
 lad, but for the intervention of the Mexican. 
 
 The gentleman was determined to be grateful 
 therefor, and to smother his misgivings as far as 
 he possibly could. The day was well spent, and 
 all were wet and hungry. 
 
 They had not lost any of their weapons, though 
 Jack and his uncle would have thrown theirs away 
 on more than one occasion, but for the fact that 
 they were strapped to their backs. 
 
 Their ammunition was secured by Alfredo, so 
 that it was perfectly dry. 
 
 The first proceeding was to see that the two 
 guns were properly charged and the ammunition 
 distributed, so that in case of a separation of the 
 two from the guide, they would not be in the 
 dreadfully helpless condition they found them- 
 selves a short time before. 
 
 By the time this was finished, Vega left them 
 for a while for the purpose of gaining something
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 197 
 
 in the way of food, he promising not to be gone 
 long. 
 
 Owing to the severe fright the wild animals 
 had received, there would be little difficulty in get- 
 ting all the game they wanted. 
 
 While he was absent, Alfredo and Jack made 
 preparations to encamp for the night where they 
 were. 
 
 There was no wood, it will be remembered, but 
 it was believed that there was enough fire lying 
 around loose to answer the purposes of cookery. 
 
 The two were annoyed not a little by a number 
 of poisonous reptiles which by some means or 
 other had escaped death, and, scorched and hiss- 
 ing, crawled down by the water's edge. 
 
 Such as came too near .were killed, while those 
 who kept their distance were left undisturbed. 
 
 It was not yet dark, when Vega came back 
 loaded with game and wood, the latter of which 
 he had picked up near the hills beyond the grass 
 region. 
 
 In a short time thereafter one of the most nour- 
 ishing and substantial meals they had ever eaten 
 was prepared and disposed of. 
 
 By the time this was done, night was upon
 
 I 9 8 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 them, and they were so thoroughly worn out, that 
 all felt as if they could rest where they were for 
 a full week. 
 
 Fortunately, although they were in quite an ele- 
 vated region, the weather remained so mild that 
 they suffered nothing from camping out of doors. 
 
 The only inconvenience that troubled them was 
 the heavy smoke, which occasionally settled down 
 around them and caused a difficulty in breathing 
 freely. 
 
 As is generally the case, there was quite a 
 breeze which now and then swept over the de- 
 vastated plain, carrying with it a strangling mass 
 of dust and ashes. 
 
 This no doubt was the direct result of the dis- 
 turbance caused by the conflagration. 
 
 The meal was no more than fairly disposed of 
 when Jack Winch stretched out upon the ground 
 and fell into a deep, refreshing sleep, which his 
 companions were glad to see, for they knew how 
 badly he needed the rest. 
 
 The men were scarcely less exhausted, but Al- 
 fredo was so full of the incidents of the last day 
 or two, that he felt that slumber would not come 
 to him for some time yet.
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 199 
 
 Every now and then he started at the memory 
 of that fearful blowing up of Haunted Island, and 
 he was sure that the recollection of that awful 
 scene would remain vivid with him through all his 
 life. 
 
 Vega, the guide, also seemed impressed with 
 serious thoughts, though he gave no intimation 
 what they were. The two sat for awhile in si- 
 lence, when Alfredo asked: 
 
 " Vega, how close are we to the dwelling of the 
 outlaws who set fire to the grass? " 
 
 " Closer than suits me ; were we not so tired, I 
 would ask that we should keep on for a few miles, 
 so as to be beyond all danger." 
 
 " But they will think that we perished in the 
 flames." 
 
 " Perhaps they may find out that we did not ; 
 after your escaping from the cavern, they will 
 be prepared to believe that you can get away from 
 any danger, no matter how great." 
 
 ' They will hardly be prowling around here to- 
 night to look for us, will they? " 
 
 ' The chances are all against it, but you have 
 learned that in this part of the world there is no 
 calculating what will happen."
 
 200 
 
 " That is true, and for that reason I have ques- 
 tioned you as to the real situation in which we 
 are now placed." 
 
 " And I have given you what I think." 
 
 " If you deem it advisable, I will wake Jack and 
 have him continue the journey until you advise us 
 to stop." 
 
 " It seems a pity to do that when he, as well as 
 we, is used up. Before we do it I will look 
 around and see whether there is any cause for 
 alarm." 
 
 With this the guide rose to his feet, and walked 
 off in the darkness as if he meant to make a recon- 
 noissance of their position. 
 
 Alfredo was unable to decide whether there was 
 any moon, for there was so much vapor in the air, 
 that the darkness was as profound as if not a 
 single star or the faintest orb was in the sky. 
 
 As a matter of precaution, the fire that had been 
 used in preparing their supper was allowed to die 
 out, that there might be no light to afford their 
 enemies a clue to their whereabouts. 
 
 Vega went and what he did was unknown to 
 the employer he left behind him.
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 2 oi 
 
 The suspicions of the watcher were disturbed 
 at length by the report of a gun. 
 
 When the man appeared and took his seat be- 
 side his employer it was with the silence of a 
 phantom. 
 
 " Did you hear that gun? " asked Alfredo. 
 
 " Yes," was the answer. 
 
 "Did you fire it?" 
 
 " No." 
 
 " Do you know who discharged it? " 
 
 " No." 
 
 " Might it not have been one of the bandits? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 And that was all that could be gotten out of 
 Vega. 
 
 " There seems no use of guessing, and so we 
 will let the matter drop, but when I heard it, I 
 feared that you yourself had run into some 
 trouble." 
 
 '' I generally manage to take care of myself at 
 such times; if I get into hot quarters, that is the 
 weapon I prefer." 
 
 And as he spoke, he laid his hand upon his 
 hunting knife to give emphasis to his words. 
 
 " But you have not told me what your conclu-
 
 202 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 sion is about our staying here until morning." 
 
 " We will stay." 
 
 " I am glad to hear that, for it seems that I am 
 getting more tired every minute that I stay here 
 on the ground." 
 
 " We will make an early start, so as to get away 
 before they will be up and looking around." 
 
 " That seems a sensible idea, and now, if you 
 are willing, I will lie down for rest." 
 
 : ' You could do nothing more prudent than 
 that, for you may need all your strength and 
 wakefulness to-morrow." 
 
 This intimation was not the most assuring one 
 that a traveler could go to sleep on, but Alfredo 
 accepted it, and stretched out for the night, leav- 
 ing the guide to do as he thought best. 
 
 Vega remained awake for some time longer, 
 smoking. Several times he rose to his feet and 
 looked off in the darkness and listened as if he 
 expected to see or hear something from the 
 gloom. 
 
 At last he appeared to give it over and make up 
 his mind to the conviction that there was to be 
 nothing of the kind that night, and so he lay down 
 too and slept.
 
 CHAPTER XXIII 
 
 PUSHING NORTHWARD 
 
 VEGA, the guide, was the first to awake in the 
 morning, which he did just as the light of morn- 
 ing was stealing over the mountains in the dis- 
 tance. 
 
 He immediately roused the others, and they 
 hastily ate their breakfast. 
 
 This finished, Vega told them they would push 
 ahead until they were beyond all danger of dis- 
 turbance from tha three men who had set fire to 
 the grass the day previous. 
 
 Alfredo noticed that there was a faint path to 
 which their guide clung, as if it were the only 
 trail that could lead them to safety. 
 
 The first genuine surprise of the day came 
 about half an hour after they started, when they 
 were caught in a flurry of snow ! 
 
 For a few minutes, they were completely 
 blinded by the whirling flakes which dashed in 
 203
 
 204 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 their faces, and compelled them to wait a few 
 minutes to avoid going astray. Then, as suddenly 
 as it had come, the snow squall ceased. 
 
 " That is another result of the fire of yester- 
 day," remarked Alfredo to Jack, whose life was 
 spent in a country where he very rarely saw any- 
 thing like snow. 
 
 "Why didn't it last longer?" asked the boy, 
 to whom it was a great surprise. 
 
 " It never does in this part of the world, unless 
 it is at a greater elevation among the mountains." 
 
 " We are pretty well up, you must remember." 
 
 " But not far enough to take in such exhibitions 
 as that." 
 
 For the last half hour, the path they were fol- 
 lowing had led them into a higher region, so that 
 they now found they had reached a point from 
 which they could look back over the country be- 
 hind them, as far even as the lake beside which 
 the night had been spent. 
 
 This, of course, gave them a view of the lodge 
 or structure in which dwelt the bandits who had 
 come so nigh sending them all out of the world. 
 
 The telescope was turned toward that spot, and 
 the three scrutinized the place for a long time.
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 205 
 
 Not one of the three could detect anything of 
 the men whom they would have been glad to per- 
 forate with a bullet apiece. 
 
 " Wherever they are, they do not seem to be in 
 their home," remarked Alfredo, when the scru- 
 tiny was over, " for on such a brigfat, sunshiny 
 morning they would not remain inside." 
 
 " There is no smoke coming through their 
 chimney," added Jack, " so they must be done 
 with breakfast." 
 
 While the friends were speculating as to the 
 whereabouts of the outlaws, Vega, the guide, was 
 searching over the rest of the country for some 
 sign of them. 
 
 It might be that they were miles away, and held 
 not the least intention of evil toward the party. 
 
 Still there remained the possibility that they 
 were using all their devilish cunning to outwit 
 those who had escaped them thus far. 
 
 It was this thought this possibility that 
 caused the ruide to keep the glass to his eye long 
 after the others were through and desirous of go- 
 ing ahead. 
 
 He explained, in reply to their protests, what
 
 2 o6 THE LAND OF WONDERS. 
 
 his purpose was ; and they willingly waited till he 
 completed his survey. 
 
 He was obliged to tell them at last that he could 
 see nothing of them, after making his search as 
 thorough as possible. 
 
 " And shall we take that as a good sign or 
 not? " asked Alfredo. 
 
 " I think it is favorable." 
 
 " Is there any way in which they can get 
 around so as to head us off ? " 
 
 " The mountains are full of paths, and if they 
 chose, they could put themselves between us and 
 Vera Cruz within a few hours, and we couldn't 
 hinder them." 
 
 Vega remained silent and moody as they 
 pushed on, and Alfredo did not question him. 
 
 Jack Winch, when noon had long passed, was 
 tired and hungry, and he told Vega as much, and 
 he did it so emphatically that the fellow could not 
 help understanding him. 
 
 The guide looked up at the sun, as if he had no 
 suspicion that the day was so far gone. 
 
 A few minutes later they came to a halt on the 
 shore of a body of water, very similar to that 
 where the previous night was spent.
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 207 
 
 Here they made their meal, the food being ob- 
 tained from the lake. 
 
 As soon as it was ready Vega resigned it all to 
 his friends while he went off without saying a 
 word. 
 
 " I suppose he is looking up some place that will 
 give him a view of the surrounding country, and 
 tell him whether there is any cause for fear." 
 
 " He seems to be in trouble about something," 
 responded Jack, who did not allow another per- 
 son's difficulties to interfere with his enjoyment of 
 his meal. 
 
 Before the dinner was eaten Vega reappeared 
 in his usual good humor, and, sitting down beside 
 them, he began eating and talking just as he had 
 been accustomed to do in the days past. 
 
 " Well, Vega," said Alfredo, noticing this, 
 " have you found anything to make us fear those 
 fellows?" 
 
 " Nothing at all, and I have been watching all 
 day; I have made up my mind that we have no 
 cause for any more alarm on their account." 
 
 This was gratifying information indeed, and 
 there was a rise in the spirits of the others.
 
 20$ THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 " Do you think they learned that we escaped the 
 fire?" 
 
 " There is no doubt of that, for they keep such 
 a sharp watch that they see all strangers who 
 come into this part of the world." 
 
 " I found that out myself, and I do not see that 
 they are in the least danger from the Government, 
 no matter how strong it is. They have such a sys- 
 tem of communication with each other, and are 
 so inaccessible to anything like disciplined force, 
 that they may plot and conspire all they wish." 
 
 " The trouble is that the plotting does no good, 
 for they have to come forth to carry out their 
 schemes, and it is then that the trouble begins, as 
 many found out long ago." 
 
 The bank of the lake was found so pleasant, and 
 the rest was so grateful to the weary travelers, 
 that they lounged upon the ground, talking in a 
 lazy manner, while the afternoon slipped away al- 
 most unobserved. 
 
 When the sun was low in the sky, Alfredo pro- 
 posed that they should stay where they were until 
 morning. 
 
 The guide made no objection, and it was agreed 
 that they should resume their journey with the 
 rising sun.
 
 CHAPTER XXIV 
 
 OTHER ENEMIES 
 
 WHEN the party next day found themselves on 
 the highest point reached during the day, and 
 gazed back over the land passed, they were grati- 
 fied to find they were unable to see the lake. 
 
 It was all behind them ; and, as Vega again de- 
 clared his purpose of pushing ahead as soon as his 
 friends wished, the latter felt warranted in believ- 
 ing that they might dismiss all thoughts of the 
 bandits who infested that neighborhood. 
 
 Beside the increase in temperature, there was a 
 decided improvement in the character of the vege- 
 tation. 
 
 It was more luxuriant, and there were many cu- 
 riosities which Jack constantly inquired about, 
 and which his uncle was happy to explain to him. 
 
 Alfredo was an accomplished naturalist, and he 
 told the little fellow many things of which he 
 never dreamed before. 
 
 The freedom from danger, as they regarded the 
 209
 
 2io THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 situation, made this employment more pleasant 
 than it had been since, leaving the cavern. 
 
 Jack Winch was terribly frightened about an 
 hour after the start, when he struck his hand 
 against some bushes along the path, and instantly 
 felt such a sharp sting of the wrist, that he sprang 
 in the air and called out that a serpent had bitten 
 him. 
 
 Alfredo ran forward and looked at the hurt, 
 while Vega dashed for the bush with the inten- 
 tion of dispatching the reptile. 
 
 He was so quick that there was no chance for 
 an offender to elude him, and he was so well ac- 
 quainted with all such creatures, that he was in no 
 danger of being hurt himself. After a vigorous 
 threshing of the bush, he called out that no ser- 
 pent was there. 
 
 At this, Alfredo ran forward and made search, 
 while the wrist of Jack kept swelling and he 
 groaned in pain and terror. 
 
 Matters looked serious, when the uncle declared 
 that the young explorer had not been bitten at all. 
 
 " What is it, then ? " demanded the astonished 
 fellow, coming toward them as he made the in- 
 quiry.
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 211 
 
 " There is a poisonous burr here, a sort of shell 
 to a disagreeable fruit, which pierced your wrist." 
 
 "Will it kill me?" 
 
 " No; you won't feel it an hour from now." 
 
 This singular prophecy was fulfilled ; for in less 
 time than that mentioned all swelling had disap- 
 peared, and not the slightest pain remained to tell 
 the boy where it had been. 
 
 The party moved along without further inci- 
 dent until the sun had crossed the meridian, when 
 they came to a halt beneath the shade of a tree, 
 and rested for something like an hour. 
 
 It was an easy matter to pass*weeks and months 
 in this wilderness, continually meeting with new 
 wonders in the animal and vegetable world; but, 
 as Alfredo had fixed in his mind the remaining 
 time which was to be spent in the exploring busi- 
 ness, it was necessary to press onward, without in- 
 dulging in much trifling by the way. 
 
 Accordingly, when all had secured sufficient 
 rest, the journey was resumed and continued until 
 the sun was in the horizon. A great deal was 
 seen and learned by Jack as they penetrated deeper 
 into the country. 
 
 Among the animals encountered was the arma-
 
 212 THE LAND OF WONDERS. 
 
 dillo, about the size of a cat, and which generally 
 hunts for its prey in the night. This curious crea- 
 ture is remarkable for being covered with a com- 
 plete suit of armor, consisting of a triangular or 
 oval plate on the top of the head, a large buckler 
 over the shoulders and haunches; and between 
 this, disposed in transverse bands, which permit a 
 freedom of motion to the body, are similar bands, 
 in most species also protecting the tail. All this 
 armor is attached to the skin of the body. The 
 armadillo has a pointed muzzle, slightly extensi- 
 ble tongue and powerful claws. They inhabit the 
 hot regions of America, dig burrows, and live 
 upon vegetables, insects and worms. 
 
 One of them being cooked for supper was found 
 to have flesh of a tender and delicate flavor, rel- 
 ished far better than anything tasted thus far on 
 their journey. 
 
 A number of woodpeckers were encountered, 
 but there was nothing in their habits or appear- 
 ance to claim notice. 
 
 Serpents of all kinds and with the most varie- 
 gated colors were seen continually, and it was nec- 
 essary to be careful to avoid a disagreeable ac- 
 quaintance with them.
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS -213 
 
 The dragon's blood, Jack found to consist of a 
 crimson sap which exudes from the pterocarpus 
 tree. The Mexicans call it " the blood tree," 
 which is allied to the asparagus and lily ; while the 
 gum is said to possess some valuable medicinal 
 properties. 
 
 It is a curious sight, this trickling of sap, which 
 suggests that the tree is bleeding like some animal 
 from its wound. 
 
 When the party were quite tired and oppressed 
 with the heat, the most refreshing relief was ob- 
 tained from the sarsaparilla, a shrub abundant in 
 some portions of Mexico. It has a vine-like and 
 thorny stalk. The fruit is not unlike the mulberry, 
 and has an acid flavor, peculiarly acceptable to one 
 who is sensitive to the heat. 
 
 As the explorers were sometimes among the 
 elevated regions, and again in the depressed por- 
 tions, they were subjected to many variations of 
 climate, which caused at times inconvenience and 
 suffering. 
 
 The vegetation was also of a mixed character. 
 Sometimes they found themselves among the 
 pines, and then again surrounded by oaks, birches 
 and guava trees. The last named are a sort of
 
 2! 4 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 myrtle, reaching a height of a couple of yards. Its 
 fruit, which is nearly always stolen by the birds or 
 larvae before it ripens, is very palatable, highly 
 scented and full of pips, said to be antifebrile and 
 astringent. 
 
 Jack was interested in the examination of a nut- 
 meg tree, which they came upon at nightfall, and 
 whose peculiarities were explained to him by his 
 relative. 
 
 The shrub which they saw was a dozen feet tall, 
 the fruit being as yet not fully ripe. This fruit is 
 not cultivated in Mexico, and the tree which pro- 
 duces it is very seldom seen. The nutmegs in use 
 in our households are from the Molucca Islands, 
 and are so familiar in appearance and in their 
 qualities that none of our readers would thank us 
 to tell anything more about them. 
 
 Another vegetable that Jack Winch asked a 
 great deal about, was the blue herb, the leaves of 
 which when soaked in water give it a beautiful 
 blue tinge. The herb is cultivated in Mexico, for 
 the sake of its coloring matter, which is known as 
 indigo. 
 
 " The indigo that we use at home," said the lad, 
 " is hard like stones; how is that? "
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 215 
 
 " Along in the month of March the fresh leaves 
 of the indigo plant are gathered and pounded in 
 mortars. What is thus obtained is subjected to the 
 heaviest kind of pressure that the people know 
 how to secure, and a greenish, gummy sap is 
 forced out. After its fermentation in the open air 
 it changes to a blue color, and is then boiled in an 
 immense copper vessel, until that which is left is 
 a thick, sticky mass. This is afterward dried in 
 the sun, and then becomes the indigo of com- 
 merce." 
 
 Thus the naturalist explained to the lad all that 
 they saw on the road, and in which he expressed 
 any interest. Where there was such an abundance 
 of animal and vegetable life, this became weari- 
 some, and when the shades of night began settling 
 over the wilderness, and the air continued as sul- 
 try as before, the youth felt that there were only 
 two things for which he yearned; those were a 
 draught of good cold water, and the other was a 
 place to encamp for the night. These two were 
 likely to go in company, and the young explorer 
 kept on the alert for the sound of a running 
 stream. 
 
 He was not long in hearing it, though it was
 
 216 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 not in the shape to do them any good. They had 
 paused a moment to notice a bird of peculiarly 
 beautiful plumage, when Jack declared that he 
 heard the sound of water, though for the life of 
 him he could not tell the direction whence it came. 
 Vega then told him that it was flowing beneath 
 them. 
 
 Perhaps a hundred feet. 
 
 " Where does it come from ? " 
 
 " From some spring, perhaps a mile off in the 
 depth of the mountains, and perhaps it does not 
 come out to the sun again for so many more miles, 
 so that it won't pay to try to hunt the outlet." 
 
 " But how long before we shall find what we 
 want?" 
 
 " Not long; we are following a trail, as you 
 must have noticed before this; I have been over 
 the route many times, and could make my way as 
 well by night as day. There is a beautiful spring 
 only a short ways off and we shall reach it before 
 the sun goes down, though it is so close to the ho- 
 rizon." 
 
 Alfredo had noticed the earlier portion of the 
 afternoon that they were following a trail which 
 seemed to be in continual use. The prints on the
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 217 
 
 earth showed that a number of mules had been 
 that way not long before, and he inquired of the 
 guide as to what purpose the path served in that 
 lonely part of the country. 
 
 Veg-a replied that there were two villages sep- 
 arated some forty miles, by the ordinary route, 
 which was shortened more than a third by this cut 
 through the mountains. 
 
 He assured his friends, however, that the trail 
 was little traveled, for the reason that there was 
 slight cause for communication between the two 
 towns. 
 
 They were still discussing the matter, when all 
 three caught the tinkle of a small bell from the 
 path in their front. 
 
 " What does that mean ? " asked Alfredo, of 
 their guide, as the three stood still and listened; 
 " does it signify that some one is coming along 
 the path to meet us? " 
 
 Vega nodded his head that such was the case, 
 and he had no more than done so, when the 
 strangers came in sight. 
 
 They consisted of three mountaineers, riding in 
 single file on the backs of mules, of such diminu- 
 tive stature, that the legs of the men would have
 
 2i8 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 carried the tips of their toes to the ground had not 
 the limbs been pretty well crooked at the knee. 
 
 They were an unprepossessing set of vaga- 
 bonds, and Alfredo was sorry to meet them in this 
 fashion. 
 
 They wore slouched hats, ragged, half Indian 
 garments, leggins and boots with enormous spurs, 
 while their long, spiky hair, black, glittering eyes 
 and dirty, hang-dog appearance, classed them as 
 men whom all honest folks would shun without 
 asking questions. 
 
 The leading mule, perhaps in imitation of some 
 practice in Spain, was made to carry a small, sil- 
 ver bell around his neck, which caused the sound 
 that announced their coming to the explorers.
 
 CHAPTER XXV 
 
 THE CAMP 
 
 WHEN the muleteers drew their mules to a rest, 
 as a signal that they wished to hold a parley, Vega 
 went forward and entered into a conversation 
 with them. Alfredo stationed himself quite close 
 so as to catch what passed, but he was disap- 
 pointed, when he heard their words spoken in a 
 tongue which he could not understand. 
 
 Although Vega was able to use quite passable 
 Spanish, yet in talking to these men who seemed 
 to belong to the same class with him, he employed 
 a jargon unknown to Alfredo. 
 
 The conversation between Vega and the vaga- 
 bonds continued but a few minutes. 
 
 The guide talked with some excitement, and for 
 an instant it looked as if a collision was about to 
 take place ; but happily it was averted, and the trio 
 moved on, bowing to the salute of the man and 
 boy as they passed. 
 
 219
 
 220 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 Alfredo inquired the subject of their conversa- 
 tion. 
 
 " They are bad men," replied Vega, with an ef- 
 fort to conceal his own anger ; " I have known 
 them too long, but they are not the three who fired 
 the grass." 
 
 " But that doesn't tell me what I want to 
 know," laughed his master; " you and they were 
 quite excited over something which was a mys- 
 tery to me; indeed I thought you were quarrel- 
 ing." 
 
 " I have known them a good many years, and 
 they are bad men ; they live in the mountains, and 
 steal, and rob, and they told me that there was a 
 citizen of the capital traveling through the coun- 
 try some miles to the west of us. It was only last 
 week that his dead body was found, and they ac- 
 cused me of doing it." 
 
 " What a horrible charge ! " exclaimed Alfredo, 
 with assumed indignation. " I wonder that you 
 stood it." 
 
 " It wasn't that which made me angry," said 
 Vega, with astonishing simplicity, " but it was 
 the accusation that I had run away with all the 
 gold without dividing with them. There are a
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 221 
 
 good many hard things in this world, sefior, and 
 that is one of the most cruel. I can bear anything 
 except a reflection on my honor, and if they had 
 not taken back that charge, there would have been 
 blood shed." 
 
 This explanation of the guide was an amazing 
 one, but it told more than he intended. 
 
 If the story was true and there was no reason 
 to suppose it was not it proved Vega to be a 
 comrade of these vagabonds, and one implicated 
 in their schemes of plunder and murder. 
 
 " Do you think those fellows will venture to 
 disturb us ? " asked Alfredo. 
 
 " They would not dare to," was the answer of 
 the native, spoken with the assurance of a man 
 who knew the truth of what he uttered. 
 
 About a half mile from the place of meeting the 
 camping-ground was reached. 
 
 It was in a beautiful and enchanting spot. 
 
 A stream of water fell over the rocks fully a 
 hundred feet, the thin sheet breaking into foam 
 and spray long before striking the black, mossy 
 stones below, where it rippled and flowed away, 
 with a dancing, joyous motion that would have 
 won the eye of the most indifferent traveler.
 
 222 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 The water that was tossed and wafted about in 
 this wanton fashion by the gusts of wind which 
 now and then struck the falls, diffused a grateful 
 coolness through the nook, especially appreciated 
 after the long and laborious walk on this sultry 
 afternoon. 
 
 When Jack knelt down beside the brook, and 
 quaffed his fill, he was of the opinion that there 
 was nothing in the world that could compare with 
 the tasteless and yet luscious cold water. 
 
 His uncle was inclined to agree with him, and 
 we are inclined to agree with both. 
 
 The sunlight seemed to linger a long time in 
 this romantic nook, as if loath to leave such a 
 charming spot; and, while Vega was preparing 
 the evening meal, Jack took a little stroll around 
 the spot, hopeful of coming across something 
 which he had not noticed as yet, though they were 
 the greater part of the way across the country they 
 had lain out to traverse. His uncle cautioned him 
 not to wander out of sight, and he promised to 
 obey him. 
 
 The boy was not disappointed in his expecta- 
 tion of discovering something new, for while he 
 was swinging a thin stick in his hand, he hap-
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS' 223 
 
 pened to strike a plant, which acted in such a pe- 
 culiar manner that his attention was arrested orr 
 the instant. 
 
 A closer examination showed that the plant was 
 some four feet in height, its leaves being finely cut 
 and of delicate green color, with pink flowers half 
 hid among them. 
 
 The former, when touched, appeared to shud- 
 der and shrink up closer to the parent stem, while 
 the delicate and oval leaves on their stalks pressed 
 and nestled together as if seeking protection in 
 mutual support. In the course of a few minutes 
 the leaves gradually unfolded and resumed their 
 original shape. 
 
 Every time they were disturbed they acted in 
 this bashful fashion, and when the main stem was 
 struck, all the branches upon it partly closed in the 
 same way. 
 
 The shrub, as we are sure our readers have sus- 
 pected, was what is called the sensitive plant, 
 which also modestly " retires " about the set of 
 sun, so that while the boy was looking at it, he 
 observed the shrinkage going on. 
 
 Jack started to walk off, when he saw an ani- 
 mal about twenty feet above his head, perched
 
 224 
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS, 
 
 upon a limb close to the trunk of a tree, and look- 
 ing down at him as if wondering what could have 
 brought such a little fellow into this out of the 
 way place. 
 
 The appearance of the animal was so peculiar 
 that the boy recognized it at once. 
 
 It was standing on its hind legs in the very atti- 
 tude of attention; but, as the visitor did not offer 
 to disturb it, it resumed the business which was 
 interrupted by the young explorer. 
 
 This consisted of tearing off the bark of the tree 
 and licking the inside, which was doubtless lined 
 with insects, especially pleasing to the porcupine. 
 
 The general color of this animal is a dark- 
 brown, and among the fur are long hairs with 
 white tips. The upper part of the body is covered 
 with a mass of white spines, with dusky and 
 bearded tips, and we are sure our readers have all 
 seen them in use as pen-holders. 
 
 The porcupine is extremely sluggish by nature, 
 and often makes no attempt. at all to escape from 
 man or beast, but readily climbs trees by means of 
 its prehensile tail. 
 
 The sharp quills pointing outward in every di-
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 225 
 
 rection, as it doubles itself up on the approach of 
 a foe, form an armor of peculiar effectiveness. 
 
 Jack intended to continue his explorations, 
 where there was such a prospect of finding some- 
 thing new and interesting at every turn, when a 
 whistle from his uncle called him to the camp-fire. 
 
 " The sun has been down some time, and it is 
 growing dark," said Alfredo, by way of explana- 
 tion. " Vega has supper ready, and we will eat, 
 for I am sure you are hungry and need rest." 
 
 " Yes, so I do, uncle, but I saw so many things 
 there, that I wished for more daylight to examine 
 them." 
 
 For the first time Vega requested that he might 
 be allowed to take the turn of his master in acting 
 as sentinel, but his request was refused, and in de- 
 nying him, Alfredo did it in such a way that the 
 guide did not suspect that his own motive was 
 mistrusted. 
 
 It may as well be confessed that this request of 
 the man was the cause of some disturbing reflec- 
 tions on the part of Alfredo, who could not keep 
 down a dread that the guide whom he had trusted 
 so far, and who had given every reason for such 
 trust, was still in league with the scoundrels of
 
 226 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 this country in the intended commission of some 
 crime against his employer. 
 
 " I feel very wakeful," he added, " and am quite 
 confident that I will not need any slumber during 
 the first half of the night at least." 
 
 " Should you grow weary, you will not fail to 
 call me?" 
 
 " I have found my Vega at all times too willing 
 to cause me to hesitate now, if I need his help." 
 
 The native showed his pleasure at this well- 
 turned compliment, and, after smoking his pipe a 
 half hour in silence, he stretched out upon the 
 ground, and went to sleep alongside of Jack, who 
 had been wrapped in slumber for a full hour at 
 least. 
 
 The sentinel sat for an hour or more near the 
 blaze which he occasionally replenished with 
 wood, listening to the murmur of the waterfall, 
 that sounded like the soft flow of the distant 
 ocean. 
 
 He was so thoroughly awake, that he felt there 
 was no necessity of his resorting to the common 
 safeguard of the sentinel, who fights off the insidi- 
 ous approach of sleep by keeping in constant mo- 
 tion.
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 227 
 
 Finally, he withdrew beyond the circle of light 
 thrown out by the fire, and seating himself upon a 
 flat rock; waited to see what the night would bring 
 forth.
 
 CHAPTER XXVI 
 
 THIEVES OF THE NIGHT 
 
 As the hours wore away, with the soft murmur 
 of the waterfall in his ears, a drowsiness gradually 
 stole over Alfredo, and ere he was aware, his head 
 drooped, and finally he sank down upon the stone 
 and passed off into the land of dreams, at the very 
 time when he ought to have been wide awake. 
 
 Within half an hour the figure of a man came 
 silently as a shadow out of the darkness, and 
 walking up to the smoldering camp-fire, paused 
 and looked around as if in quest of some one. 
 
 He failed to see him, whoever he was, and 
 stooping down, he stirred the embers so that they 
 flamed up and the circle of light was extended in 
 every direction. Then he peered around in the 
 gloom with the same inquiring, silent action, 
 which remained unsatisfied. 
 
 This man was one of the three vagabonds 
 against whom Alfredo was so desirous of keeping 
 228
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 229 
 
 guard. He was the same one with whom Vega 
 had held the angry converse. 
 
 The additional light which he gained showed 
 him the figures of the guide and the boy, but the 
 leader of the party was not to be seen. 
 
 The action of the outlaw was such as to show 
 that he was searching for the very man whom he 
 failed to see, and more than once he muttered an- 
 grily at the disappointment, as repeated gropings 
 in the dark failed to show him where the Mexican 
 gentleman had gone. 
 
 It was plain, too, that the absence of the direc- 
 tor of the company at this time disarranged some 
 plan w r hich the scamp had in mind. He moved 
 about and looked here and there, and narrowly es- 
 caped finding the sleeping Alfredo more than 
 once. 
 
 At last the villain gave up the effort and made a 
 sudden change in the scheme which he had in 
 mind, when he first came to the spot. 
 
 Going to where little Jack Winch was lying in 
 slumber, he stooped over and lifted him as gently 
 as if he were his father, and walked off in the 
 darkness without disturbing the lad in the least 
 
 Not once was the low murmur of the waterfall,
 
 230 
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 which was like that of silence itself, broken in 
 upon by any foreign noise. The vagabond came 
 and departed like a thief of the night. 
 
 Alfredo slept quietly for some two hours more, 
 when he awoke with no suspicion of what had 
 taken place during his unconsciousness, nor how 
 long that unconsciousness had lasted. 
 
 " This is a great way to play the sentinel," he 
 exclaimed, as he rose to his feet and walked back 
 toward the fire. " It is well that Vega and Jack 
 are asleep, else they would find good cause for 
 laughing at me. I wonder whether any of those 
 scoundrels have been in the neighborhood while I 
 was taking a nap ? " 
 
 Holding the face of his watch toward the fire- 
 light, he saw that he had slept a long time, and 
 that the greater part of the night was gone. Again 
 he listened and moved here and there, without 
 hearing anything except the same soft, musical 
 murmur of the waterfall, which had been in his 
 ears during his sleeping and waking hours. At last 
 he sauntered to the pool at the base of the falls, 
 where he stooped down and took another draught 
 from the cool, refreshing element. Here he re-
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 231 
 
 mained until the faint, rosy light of the coming 
 morning was seen in the East. 
 
 When Vega lay down to sleep he carefully ad- 
 justed his blanket about the form of the lad, and 
 it was left by his abductor in nearly the same po- 
 sition, so that, when the uncle glanced toward the 
 spot where he had seen the little fellow stretch 
 out for the night, he did not notice anything un- 
 usual. As the sun came up to view, and Vega rose, 
 Alfredo walked forward to awake the boy. 
 
 Then it was that he made the alarming discov- 
 ery that he was missing. 
 
 In response to his exclamation, the guide 
 hastened to his side and leaned over to learn what 
 it meant. 
 
 " He is gone ! We shall never see him again \ " 
 exclaimed the uncle, whose conscience smote him 
 for his own remissness. 
 
 " Don't be too sure of that," said Vega, atten- 
 tively examining the ground, to learn in what di- 
 rection the lad had gone. " He may have got up 
 in his sleep and wandered off a short distance; 
 have patience and hope, and we shall soon see." 
 
 A minute after, the guide uttered an exclama- 
 tion of astonishment, and straightened up.
 
 2 3 2 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 " What have you learned? " asked the uncle. 
 
 " Did you keep awake all last night? " 
 
 " No ; while sitting upon a rock, I fell asleep 
 and remained so a couple of hours," replied Al- 
 fredo, so much distressed that he had no hesita- 
 tion in telling the truth. 
 
 " Very well ; while you slept, one of those vaga- 
 bonds that we met yesterday came up to the camp 
 and stole the boy." 
 
 "Did they harm him?" 
 
 " He only picked him up in his arms and car- 
 ried him off." 
 
 " And why did they do that ? What is their ob- 
 ject?" 
 
 " They have gone into the mountains with him, 
 and there they will hold him until you pay a ran- 
 som. If you don't pay the ransom, they will put 
 him to death." 
 
 This declaration, made with perfect coolness, 
 strengthened the suspicion of Alfredo that this 
 guide was mixed up in the business. 
 
 His offer on the preceding night to keep watch 
 for him, and the fact that the whole thing looked 
 like a cunning attempt to secure money from a 
 man whom they believed to be wealthy, without
 
 at the same time imperiling the safety of the boy 
 himself, left little doubt in the mind of the gentle- 
 man that it was intended he should be the victim 
 of a very sharp game. 
 
 It was a vast relief to be assured that these men 
 were not the outlaws from whom they had fled, 
 and that there was a possibility of securing the 
 boy again, even though at such a dishonest and 
 tricky exchange. 
 
 Alfredo concealed his suspicion from the man, 
 but he was rilled with indignation that he should 
 be a party to the game after he had received the 
 promise of unusually liberal pay for guiding them 
 through the mountains. 
 
 " Will they demand a large sum, Vega? " 
 
 " I have no doubt they will, for they will sus- 
 pect that you hold the lad in high esteem." 
 
 " Suppose I refuse to pay them ? " 
 
 " Then they will kill him." 
 
 " Suppose I have not sufficient with me?" 
 
 " They are always prepared for such accidents 
 as that ; they will give you time to procure funds 
 from Vera Cruz." 
 
 Alfredo could conceal his indignation no 
 longer.
 
 234 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 11 Well, Vega, I hope that you and your friends 
 will profit enough out of this business to make you 
 willing to divide, and not run away with the funds 
 as you did with the gentleman from the capital." 
 
 These charges were too plainly put to be mis- 
 taken, and the black eyes of the guide flashed as 
 he placed his hand upon his knife. 
 
 "Do you see that mountain yonder?" asked 
 Vega, turning about and pointing to an elevation 
 about a mile distant. 
 
 " I do." 
 
 " Our path to Vera Cruz leads over that ; keep 
 your eyes upon it to-night, and if you see a sway- 
 ing star, make all haste to it; if no star appears, 
 you will never see Vega again. And it will not do 
 for sefior to go to sleep, if he tries to keep watch." 
 
 And, politely saluting his employer, the guide 
 walked off along the path which led beyond the 
 falls and vanished from sight a few minutes later, 
 while the gentleman sat down on the rock to re- 
 flect upon the curious situation in which matters 
 were placed. 
 
 He could not regret the stinging words which 
 had started off his companion in this summary
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 235 
 
 fashion, for no doubt remained that the fellow 
 was a party to the shameless transaction. 
 
 " It all comes of my being so forgetful as to go 
 to sleep when I ought to have kept awake." 
 
 And yet, despite the keen regrets of the man, 
 there was every cause to believe that this uninten- 
 tional slumber was the means of saving his life. 
 
 The action of the scamp who came up to the fire 
 in the darkness of the night and stole the child 
 looked as if his first intention was to put to death 
 the leader of the party and rob him. 
 
 " Well, there is nothing that I can do except to 
 content myself as best I can until Vega chooses to 
 make himself seen and acquaints me with the sum 
 of money I must pay to get back the little fellow 
 and give them a chance to steal him over again." 
 
 The time passed wearily to the waiting uncle, 
 who was alarmed, angered, and impatient by 
 turns. 
 
 " He tells me that if I see a signal-light on the 
 top of the mountain yonder I am to go toward it, 
 and I suppose I will hear of something to my ad- 
 vantage. But from here to there is quite a long 
 walk, especially at night, when the way is up hill,
 
 236 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 so I may as well save what time I can by traveling 
 a portion of it by daylight." 
 
 There was good sense as well as prudence in 
 this, and Alfredo leisurely made his way up the 
 path, which was so rough and broken that he won- 
 dered how any living mule could make his way 
 over it. 
 
 When within a short distance of the top, he 
 paused and ensconced himself in the branches of a 
 large tree, where, if he should so far forget him- 
 self as to go to sleep, he would be reminded of it 
 by tumbling from his perch to the ground. 
 
 From his elevated position he gained a very 
 extensive view of the area below him, and as his 
 eye wandered over the miles of woodland, it dis- 
 covered only two objects that interested him. One 
 of these was the dim picture of a small town 
 which lay a long distance to the southeast, and 
 which, under his telescope, was found to number 
 something like a hundred houses. Nothing be- 
 yond that could be learned. 
 
 The other object was the smoke of a camp-fire, 
 which rose from among the trees within a half 
 mile of where he was perched, and which he must 
 have passed when on his way to this place. Al-
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 237 
 
 fredo strongly suspected that this camp-fire had 
 something to do with the disappearance of Jack 
 Winch, and he was strongly tempted to make his 
 way to the vicinity and learn whether any of the 
 thieving vagabonds were gathered about it. 
 
 In his present mood, he believed that the first 
 thing he would do upon catching sight of them 
 would be to shoot them, which would be likely to 
 disarrange the negotiation for a ransom, and so 
 he refrained. 
 
 His dinner was made upon some fruit which 
 grew near him, and when the sultry afternoon was 
 half spent, he descended from the tree again and 
 indulged in sufficient sleep to last through the 
 coming night without the least danger of suc- 
 cumbing to drowsiness again. 
 
 Thus the long day gradually wore away, and 
 the heart of the watcher beat with hope and expec- 
 tation, when the night began closing in around 
 him, and he scrutinized the mountain-top with the 
 persistency of one who was sure of making some 
 important discovery. 
 
 Alfredo had spent a good portion of the day in 
 speculating as to what the precise meaning of the 
 signal would be, in case it should appear, and
 
 238 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 what Vega meant by declaring that if it did not 
 appear nothing more would be seen of him. 
 
 At that very moment he saw a blazing torch ap- 
 pear in the path, scarcely a hundred yards away, 
 where it was swung with a vigor that showed it 
 was meant to attract the eye of some one.
 
 CHAPTER XXVII 
 
 THE YOUNG PRISONER 
 
 WHEN Jack Winch awoke, the sun was shin- 
 ing, and his situation was such that he was filled 
 with wonder and amazement, as indeed he might 
 well be. 
 
 He had gone to sleep the night before by the 
 camp-fire, with the sound of the waterfall in his 
 ears and the figures of his uncle Alfredo and the 
 guide, Vega, before him. Now he was lying on 
 the bare ground, in front of a large pile of rocks, 
 which he had never seen before. A camp-fire was 
 burning near what seemed to be a cavern, with an 
 entrance large enough to admit the passage of a 
 horse. Stretched upon the earth, in the laziest of 
 positions, smoking short, black pipes, were three 
 men, whom he recognized as the vagabonds whom 
 they met just before going into camp on the pre- 
 ceding evening. Nothing was to be seen of their 
 mules, which were probably grazing somewhere 
 in the neighborhood. 
 
 239
 
 240 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 " Where am I ? What am I doing here ? Where 
 are my uncle and Vega? Who brought me here, 
 and what did they do it for? " 
 
 These were the questions which Jack asked as 
 soon as he could look around and realize that he 
 was really awake. 
 
 As he rose to the sitting position, one of the 
 ragged mountaineers attempted to reply, but, un- 
 fortunately, his words were in a jargon which 
 Jack could not understand. 
 
 Jack Winch was a bright-witted boy, and it did 
 not take him long to reach the conclusion that he 
 had been carried away in his sleep. 
 
 As he was unable to catch the sound of the 
 waterfall, he was quite certain that he must have 
 been brought a long ways while asleep. 
 
 " I don't know what they did it for," he mused, 
 " but I guess they wanted to play some trick on 
 Vega, who knows all about them. After they keep 
 me awhile they will let me go again, so I won't 
 bother them any more than I can help. I will act 
 as if it is all right, and when they find out how 
 much I want to eat, and how little use I am to 
 them, they will be glad to get rid of me." 
 
 The lad acted upon this theory, which was per-
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 24, 
 
 haps the wisest thing that he could do under the 
 circumstances. 
 
 The retreat of the outlaws had no doubt been 
 chosen with a view to its inaccessibility, for the 
 surrounding forest was of the densest character, 
 and the cavern appeared to lead a long ways back 
 among the rocks. Removed so far from the large 
 cities, and with such a wilderness of mountains 
 and forest between, there was every reason for 
 this law-defying party resting in peace, so far as 
 clanger in the world is concerned. 
 
 " That must be their house," concluded Jack, 
 after walking back and forth in front of the cav- 
 ern several times. " I guess I'll take a look in- 
 side." 
 
 But as he was about to enter, a sharp exclama- 
 tion from one of the men caused him to turn in 
 some alarm to learn the cause. The vagabond had 
 sprung to his feet and was excitedly gesticulating 
 to the intruder ; and, as if that was not sufficient, 
 he leaped forward and catching the arm of the 
 boy, turned him away so violently that Jack could 
 not fail to understand that he was forbidden to 
 enter. 
 
 Accordingly, he moved off in another direction,
 
 242 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 well aware that he was closely watched. But he 
 had no intention of attempting to run off, as he 
 did not believe that his situation would be bet- 
 tered any by getting away from the custody of 
 these men. 
 
 Within a few feet of the entrance to the cavern 
 stood a splendid Avocado pear-tree, containing 
 such a quantity of fruit that the lad took the lib- 
 erty of helping himself, none of his custodians 
 offering any objections. 
 
 This singular fruit resembles the ordinary Bart- 
 lett pear in shape and size, but the interior is of a 
 light-green color, of a delicious flavor, and a con- 
 sistency that gives it the name of " vegetable but- 
 ter," 
 
 Its scientific name is persea gratissima, and it is 
 the only member of the laurel family which pro- 
 duces eatable fruit. 
 
 While moving around on his tour of explora- 
 tion, the foot of the lad displaced a broad, flat 
 stone, exposing a large bird-catching spider to the 
 sight. 
 
 It was as big as a small hen's egg, covered with 
 hair of black color, and armed with double-hooked 
 claws
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 243 
 
 It was such a repulsive object that the boy did 
 not dare to handle it, but he thrust the toe of his 
 shoe against it. 
 
 The spider instantly reared up, and two black 
 and polished horns issued from its mouth. 
 
 At the same moment it made such a fierce at- 
 tack upon the offending shoe that the owner there- 
 of retreated in some haste and left the creature 
 alone. 
 
 The young explorer kept himself employed in 
 this way, constantly coming upon some wonder, 
 the most of which he had already become ac- 
 quainted with. 
 
 There was one, however, that held him as a 
 watcher and student for a longer time than any of 
 the others. This was a serpent, known as Atropos 
 Mexicanus, or horned snake. 
 
 The name is derived from a number of erect 
 scales behind its eyebrows. It is venomous by na- 
 ture, of a grayish color, and after killing it, Jack 
 examined its fangs. 
 
 These were tubular in shape, the poison of 
 which is inoculated into the wound made by its 
 bite in the same manner as reptiles of its class. 
 
 When, at last, Jack began to weary of his sci-
 
 244 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 entific researches, he made his way back to where 
 he had left the three men stretched upon the grass 
 in front of the cavern. 
 
 They had dinner prepared from some sort of 
 flesh which he was unable to recognize, but the 
 taste was pleasant, and he disposed of as much as 
 if he were in his own camp with his uncle and 
 Vega. 
 
 He noticed that one of his captors was gone, 
 and he saw, too, that it was the one who had 
 spoken so harshly to him when he sought to enter 
 the cavern. 
 
 Why he was absent was more than Jack could 
 guess, and of course he was without the means of 
 learning. 
 
 After dinner, the vagabonds smoked a while, 
 and then lay down to sleep, seeming to care very 
 little how their prisoner amused himself. 
 
 Jack was hopeful that they would move off, for 
 he was tired of staying in one spot when there 
 were so many regions which remained to be vis- 
 ited and explored. 
 
 But he could only do as he was permitted, and 
 he spent the greater part of the afternoon in look-
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 245 
 
 ing after that which had escaped him in the morn- 
 ing's ramble. 
 
 Had he been acquainted with the route over 
 which he was brought during his sleep, he would 
 have made the attempt to escape, but he was old 
 enough to know that if he should succeed in get- 
 ting away from this party he had no means of 
 finding his way to his friends, while the proba- 
 bility was that he would become lost from all of 
 them. 
 
 Accordingly, he stuck to his original determina- 
 tion of remaining with the men until they chose 
 to let him go or some of his friends should come 
 for him. 
 
 Jack fancied once or twice that one of the 
 couple stretched upon the grass was only pretend- 
 ing to be asleep, and was keeping an eye on the 
 movements of their prisoner. 
 
 Such being the belief of the little fellow, it is 
 hardly worth our while to say that he conducted 
 himself with the greatest care. 
 
 He carefully avoided anything that looked like 
 an attempt to get off. 
 
 The afternoon was nearly gone when he seated
 
 4 6 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 himself near the two men, as if he only awaited 
 their pleasure. 
 
 The boy was quite thirsty, but he saw no means 
 of quenching it, as he had not seen any water dur- 
 ing the day, excepting some which was furnished 
 in a gourd at the morning and noonday meals. 
 
 The boy had sat but a few minutes, when one 
 of the men arose as if from a sound sleep, and the 
 other was only a moment later in following him. 
 
 While the first went off in quest of water, the 
 other employed himself in replenishing the fire, 
 with a view, no doubt, of preparing supper. 
 
 The scamps were so deliberate in their motions, 
 that it was fully dark before supper was ready, 
 and the lad asked to partake by the language of 
 signs. Still the third man remained invisible. 
 
 It was a lazy, shiftless life that these worthless 
 characters led, for the meal was no sooner fin- 
 ished than they relit their pipes and stretched out 
 in the same indolent fashion, as though they were 
 capable of enjoying this sort of existence for days 
 at a time. 
 
 There was no moon, and it soon became so dark 
 that the lad was unable to see objects at a dozen 
 feet distance. With the solemn stillness which
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 247 
 
 seems always to descend with the night upon a 
 great forest, Jack became sensible of a low, 
 steady murmur, which he believed came from the 
 waterfall that had lulled him to sleep the night be- 
 fore, from which he reasoned that he could be at 
 no great distance from their camp. 
 
 " I don't understand why they haven't been 
 here before this," said the lad to himself, referring 
 to his friends, while a vague fear crept over him. 
 " Vega can follow our footsteps, and I should 
 think he would have led uncle here before we ate 
 our dinner. There is something about this which 
 I don't see through, and I hope it will all come 
 right by morning." 
 
 Kneeling on the ground, the lad offered up a 
 silent prayer to Heaven, and then lay down to 
 sleep. 
 
 But one of the natives touched him as a signal to 
 rise, and as the boy did so, he conducted him to 
 the mouth of the cavern, where he managed to 
 make him understand that he was to spend the 
 night. 
 
 Jack rather liked the change, and he lay down 
 again. He was wearied, for he had been in motion 
 a great deal of the day, and his health was per-
 
 248 THE LAND OF. WONDERS, 
 
 feet ; so that he speedily sank into a slumber which 
 continued unbroken until near midnight. 
 
 Then he raised himself to the sitting posture 
 and looked about and listened. 
 
 The fire in front of the cavern had burned so 
 low that it showed nothing at all, except the dim- 
 mest outlines of the lower proportions of two fig- 
 ures stretched before it. 
 
 These, of course, were the two vagabonds who 
 had lain down to slumber, fearing no disturbance 
 from without, and no likelihood of any essay on 
 the part of the boy looking to a stealthy departure 
 from the neighborhood. 
 
 The only sound that reached the ear of Jack, 
 was that soft murmur of the distant waterfall. 
 
 Such being the case, the lad might well wonder 
 why it was his slumber was interrupted. 
 
 He was still trying to solve the question, when 
 a piece of stick was thrown from somewhere in 
 the darkness, and hit his breast so sharply that he 
 started back under the impression that a serpent 
 had struck at him. 
 
 " Sh! turn round, Jack, and walk back softly, 
 and it will be all right! " 
 
 He was not sure he recognized the voice, but
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS $49 
 
 not doubting that it belonged to a friend, he rose 
 as silently as a shadow and did precisely as di- 
 rected. 
 
 It was so dark around him that he could see 
 nothing at all, but, with the trusting faith of child- 
 hood, he followed the voice, and a few minutes 
 later found himself in the company of Vega, the 
 guide, who said, as he took his hand : 
 
 " Make no noise, but keep close to my side and 
 don't let go of my hand, and you shall soon be free 
 of all danger."
 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII 
 
 CONCLUSION 
 
 VEGA, the guide, kept fast to the hand of little 
 Jack Winch, as he led him carefully through the 
 darkness, which, despite the bright stars that 
 twinkled overhead, remained impenetrable, on ac- 
 count of the dense undergrowth by which they 
 were surrounded. 
 
 The lad knew from their manner of walking 
 that they were following a well-beaten path, for, 
 had not such been the case, it would have been im- 
 possible to make any headway at all. 
 
 Some ten minutes passed, when the guide sud- 
 denly drew his young companion aside, and whis- 
 pered : 
 
 " Don't stir or speak." 
 
 Why this was done was manifest the next mo- 
 ment, when both distinctly heard some one com- 
 ing along the path in an opposite direction. 
 
 The guide said not a word, but resuming their 
 250
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 251 
 
 journey, they continued for a full half hour, all 
 the time steadily ascending. 
 
 " Now stand right where you are," said Vega, 
 halting at last, " and we will see whether we can't 
 bring your uncle here. But he is a good ways 
 off and it will take him some time to travel the 
 distance, for it is dark, and the path is up hill, just 
 the same as it was with us." 
 
 However, when Alfredo saw the light, it will be 
 remembered that he was but a short distance off, 
 and he appeared much sooner than the guide ex- 
 pected. The first warning of his coming was the 
 snapping of a twig, and the cautious inquiry : 
 
 " Is that you, Vega?" 
 
 " Yes ; here we are." 
 
 Then the uncle came fonvard from out the 
 darkness, and by the light of the flaming torch 
 pressed the lad to his heart, thanking God, who 
 had restored him to him again. 
 
 Then he turned to his guide, and taking his 
 hand, said: 
 
 " Forgive me, Vega, for the words which I said 
 to you this morning, but I was much excited." 
 
 " It's all right it's all right," replied the na- 
 tive, his voice showing that he was much agitated.
 
 252 
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 "It won't do to stay here," he added; "they 
 will be looking for us, and if they find us there will 
 be a bad fight ; come, let us go ; I will take the lad's 
 hand, and all you have to do is to follow us." 
 
 In this order they took up the march, and they 
 pressed forward far into the night, never halting 
 until they had traversed several miles and the men 
 were as much exhausted as the boy. 
 
 When they paused at last, it was at no great 
 distance from running water, as they could dis- 
 tinctly hear the sound of the falls, but Vega said 
 that they were not those where they encamped the 
 night before. 
 
 " Here we stay till morning, which is close at 
 hand, when we must get up early and be off, for 
 we are still in a dangerous country. We are safe 
 just now, and I will kindle a fire and keep watch 
 while you sleep." 
 
 There was no misgiving about leaving all to 
 the guide since what had taken place. 
 
 Among the Sierra Madre Mountains were then, 
 as now, many bands of men who might be called 
 political refugees, inasmuch as the fortunes of the 
 many revolutions compelled them to take to these 
 retreats as the only way of saving their heads.
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 253 
 
 Vega, a couple of years before, was a prominent 
 leader of a band of revolutionists, who, after some 
 of the severest kind of righting, was forced to 
 adopt this means of safety, and he and a number 
 of conspirators fled to the mountains. 
 
 The most surprising part of Vega's narrative 
 was the proof which he gave that he was the man 
 who assisted Alfredo and Jack out of the cavern 
 of the Haunted Island, and out of the clutches of 
 the outlaws. 
 
 He maintained that he determined to do all he 
 could for his friends from the first, despite their 
 disregard of his protests against visiting the dan- 
 gerous place. 
 
 The work of getting them out of the power of 
 the bandits was so difficult, that Vega doubted the 
 success of his attempt, and he took every pains, by 
 disguising his voice and appearance, to prevent 
 the man and boy from discovering his identity, so 
 that in case they were recaptured and the plan 
 overturned, the captives would not have the power 
 of revealing who their assistant was. 
 
 " I meant that you should not know me until it 
 was safe," added the guide, showing that he was 
 rather proud of his precaution in this respect.
 
 2 54 THE LAND. OZ WONDERS 
 
 The revolutionists on Haunted Island had been 
 engaged for years in gathering arms and ammuni- 
 tion, with a view of making a demonstration 
 against the then existing government, as soon as 
 the occasion should " ripen." 
 
 Among these characters were many accom- 
 plished officers and soldiers, who took the most 
 extraordinary precautions against discovery. 
 
 They persistently noised the tradition that the 
 island was haunted, so as to avoid curious visits 
 from the superstitious people of the surrounding 
 mountains, whom they dared not trust with their 
 secrets and plans. 
 
 The displaying of lights curiously moving to 
 and fro upon the island was one of these methods. 
 
 Another was the occasional discoursing of mu- 
 sic by a couple of men who were among the most 
 skilful musicians in the entire country. 
 
 Vega was compelled to put himself in a dubious 
 position more than once, but he convinced Alfredo 
 that, despite his moral delinquencies, he had been 
 loyal to him from the beginning, or rather from 
 the date of his affection for him and Jack. 
 
 Matters were in this shape when the three vaga-
 
 THE LAND OF WONDER$ 255 
 
 bonds on mules were encountered, and trie trouble 
 was renewed. 
 
 The leader declared that he knew Alfredo had 
 a large sum of money with him, and he was de- 
 termined to have it. 
 
 His plan was to shoot him at the time they met 
 him by the waterfall; and, as they were special 
 friends of Vega's, and had been associated with 
 him in such business before, it will be understood 
 that the guide had an almost impossible task in 
 dissuading them from doing as they wished. 
 
 He declared, however, that if the attempt was 
 made he would array himself on the side of the 
 gentleman and fight them to the bitter end. 
 
 It would be supposed that such a threat as this 
 would deter the assassins from their intended 
 crime, but even then they would agree only to a 
 sort of compromise. 
 
 Vega was to consent that they sriould steal the 
 child if they could gain the chance within the next 
 day or two, and then he was to be held for ran- 
 som. 
 
 They pledged themselves that no harm should 
 him, and only demanded of Vega that he
 
 256 THE LAND. OF. WONDERS. 
 
 should remain neutral, interfering in no way with 
 either party. 
 
 This may seem a curious compromise to make, 
 but the guide considered himself wise in doing it, 
 for he believed that the lives of the man and lad 
 were saved by it. 
 
 These men, however, were faithless to the 
 pledge made their companion, for the one who 
 came prowling around the camp on the previous 
 night was looking for Alfredo a long time, as will 
 be remembered, and in doing so, his purpose was 
 of the most terrible nature. 
 
 The intention of this villain was to slay the 
 man, and then to hold the child for ransom at ths 
 hands of his friends. 
 
 We have shown how Providence interfered and 
 prevented the commission of a dreadful crime. 
 
 The child was stolen, as Vega believed in strict 
 conformity with the agreement, and he was in- 
 clined to allow things to take their course, when 
 the stinging words of his employer roused his an- 
 ger, which gave way to a belief in the justice of 
 the rebuke. 
 
 He resolved on the instant that the boy should
 
 THE LAND OF. WONDERS 257 
 
 be restored without cost or harm to any one, and 
 he started off for that purpose. 
 
 He had not much difficulty in meeting the 
 leader of the three men, though it was not till the 
 middle of the afternoon that they met, and the in- 
 terview did not end till dark. 
 
 The result of it was, that the scamp, in answer 
 to the demand of Vega, refused to give the child 
 up, and was ready to fight for the success of the 
 plan of abduction. 
 
 Vega was generally so quick in a quarrel of that 
 sort, that the wonder is that he did not accept the 
 challenge, but the guide said that the wife of the 
 man was a sister to his wife, and as a fight would 
 be certain to result in th death of one of the com- 
 batants, the consequences would be unpleasant, 
 and they separated without coming to violence. 
 
 But Vega had his own scheme, and he pro- 
 ceeded to carry it out. 
 
 He started straight for the camp-fire, and was 
 so familiar with the route that he reached it ahead 
 of the other, and drew the young explorer away in 
 the manner already told. 
 
 By promptness and shrewdness, Vega out- 
 witted the vagabond.
 
 258 THE LAND OF WONDERS, 
 
 " But you expect to return to this neighbor- 
 hood, after you are through with us," said Al- 
 fredo, " and how will you fix this business with 
 your friends ? " 
 
 " I will give them all the money that you have 
 promised me," replied the guide. 
 
 " You may do that if you wish to, tnit you shall 
 lose nothing by it ; you have done and risked much 
 for me, and you shall be better paid than for any 
 work you have ever done." 
 
 Alfredo then proceeded to talk in an earnest 
 tone to Vega, urging him to adopt a different life, 
 and promising him such assistance as would in- 
 sure him the opportunity, if he would only em- 
 brace it. 
 
 Vega possessed many good qualities, and he 
 confessed that his soul often rebelled at the years 
 that had been wasted, and he promised that the 
 offer of his noble employer should be accepted 
 with the warmest gratitude. 
 
 By the time this point was reached in the con- 
 versation, it was growing light in the east, and 
 Jack Winch was roused and the journey re- 
 sumed. 
 
 It was important that they sfiould put tfiem-
 
 THE LAND OF WONDERS 859 
 
 selves beyond all danger from the three men, who 
 were certain to be so exasperated on discovering 
 the trick played upon them that they would at- 
 tempt to follow and recover the lad and avenge 
 themselves. 
 
 These scoundrels, however, understood the 
 country no better than did Vega, who, by a circui- 
 tous course, succeeded in placing himself and 
 friends beyond all danger. 
 
 After a brief halt, another important change 
 was made in the course, which led through an un- 
 broken wilderness until nightfall, when they 
 emerged into a footway that showed signs of 
 being traveled to a greater extent than the one 
 abandoned. 
 
 They now sought a more civilized route than 
 the one which they had followed heretofore, as 
 was shown by their entering a small village at 
 sunset, where they had no difficulty in securing 
 comfortable lodgings for the night. 
 
 There, too, they hired mules, and the journey 
 proceeded with more comfort, if the enjoyment 
 was less, than had marked their progress hereto- 
 fore. 
 
 Many miles still remained between them and
 
 260 THE LAND OF WONDERS 
 
 their destination, and they were the herods of a 
 number of interesting adventures, which space 
 will not permit us to give. 
 
 Nothing of a serious nature occurred, however, 
 and at the end of another week the romantic castle 
 of San Juan de Ulloa rose to view, and shortly 
 after the city of Vera Cruz was entered, and 
 the expedition was ended. 
 
 Alfredo did not forget his promise to Vega, but 
 by a little effort he secured him pleasant employ- 
 ment, which proved so agreeable that he made his 
 way back to the mountains and brought his family 
 to Vera Cruz, where they are still living. 
 
 Jack Winch and his uncle, Alfredo, made their 
 appearance in Panama so nearly on time that the 
 parents of the boy had no suspicion or concern 
 over his absence. 
 
 According to agreement, Jack was soon after 
 placed in an institution of learning in this coun- 
 try, where I am glad to say he made a very credit- 
 able record, and went back to his parents only a 
 short time since, well fitted to be their comfort 
 and stay in their old age. 
 
 But Captain Jack Winch does not look upon 
 himself as an old man by any means, and, in fact,
 
 THE LAND OF. WONDERS\ 261 
 
 he does appear ten years younger than he really is 
 as he strides across the deck of his new Mary 
 'Ann, which, like the former, is a present from his 
 beloved wife. 
 
 THE END
 
 000 052 362