"Sam, the black cook, was sitting a straddle the bow of the boat; with a push I sent him into the sea. I was going to send his boy after him, but the child clung to my legs in terror, and just at that moment a sail hove in sight and I changed my purpose. "Such a groan of horror as the father gave on striking the water I never heard before, and trust I shall never hear again." "At that instant the whole party sprang to their feet as if started by a shock of electricity, while most fearful groan resounded through the cavern, repeated by a thousand echos, each repetition growing fainter, and fainter until seeming to lose itself in the distance. "That's it, that's it," said the captain, only louder, and if anything more horrible. "But what does all this mean?" he demanded of Lightfoot, who had joined the astonished group. "Don't know," said the woman. "Where's Black Bill?" next demanded the captain. "Here I is," said the boy crawling out from a recess in the wall in which he slept. "Was that you, Bill?" demanded his master. "No; dis is me," innocently replied the darkey. "Do you know what that noise was?" asked the captain. "S'pose 'twas de debble comin' after massa," said the boy. "What do you mean, you wooley-headed imp," said the captain; "don't you know that the devil likes his own color best? Away to bed, away, you rascal!" "Well, boys," said Flint, addressing the men and trying to appear very indifferent, "we have allowed ourselves to be alarmed by a trifle that can be easily enough accounted for. "These rocks, as you see, are full of cracks and crevices; there may be other caverns under, or about as, for all we know. The wind entering these, has no doubt caused the noise we have beard, and which to our imaginations, somewhat heated by the liquor we have been drinking, has converted into the terrible groan which has so startled us, and now that we know what it is, I may as well finish my story. "As I was saying, a sail hove in sight. It was a vessel bound to this port. I and the boy were taken on board and arrived here in safety. "This boy, whether from love or fear, I can hardly say, has clung to me ever since. "I have tried to shake him off several times, but it was no use, he always returns. "The first business I engaged in on arriving here, was to trade with the Indians; when having discovered this cave, it struck me that it would make a fine storehouse for persons engaged in our line of business. Acting upon this hint, I fitted it up as you see. "With a few gold pieces which I had secured in my belt I bought our little schooner. From that time to the present, my history it as well known to you as to myself. And now my long yarn is finished, let us go on with our sport." But to recall the hilarity of spirits with which the entertainment had commenced, was no easy matter. Whether the captain's explanation of the strange noise was satisfactory to himself or not, it was by no means so to the men.