One day a man by the name of Sam Evans and a Mr. Brown and myself were exploring the countryside just to see what we might discover in the area. Hunters and miners in that section were always telling of some unusual find and anyone who went out of town kept their eyes open in search of something that might turn out to be valuable. I suppose that is why Brown, Evans and myself were searching--just looking around to see what we might uncover. At one spot there appeared to be a hole or cavity in the ground and I called to my buddies, "Hey, come over here. There seems to be a hole in the earth." In that rugged country a hole in the ground isn't exactly unusual, but this one seemed to lead to quite a large empty space beneath it, and the tone of my voice must have told the others it was not just an ordinary hole, because they both came over to where I was right away. "What do you make of this?" I asked as they both gave the hole an appraising glance. The three of us were puzzled because it wasn't just a hole in the earth, but rather seemed to be the opening to a large cavity underneath. "What do you suppose this is?" I asked again. "Any large animals around here that might have dug it?" queried Brown. "Possible," I reflected. "Let's have a look." I was eager to go below and learn more about this mysterious opening in the earth, but it didn't seem to me that Evans or Brown shared my curiosity. We looked for animal tracks in the vicinity, but couldn't find any. "Who'll go in with me?" I received no response. It didn't matter. By now I was so curious that I decided I would go in alone, if necessary. I went to my wagon and got a lantern and a ball of large fishing line. Then I picked up all the rope I had, including the rope I used with my mules, and hurriedly went back to the mysterious hole. I'll admit I was quite excited, and by now Evans and Brown were, too, although it seemed to me they tried to hide their enthusiasm. Perhaps they were just a bit afraid of what might be down there in that strange cavity, yet didn't want to let on that that was so. I, too, decided to play it safe, so I took the lantern and tied it on to the end of the rope and lowered it into the hole. All three of us bent over the opening and looked in to see what we could see. As the light of the lantern showed on the sides and bottom of the hole I could see that it was a large one. I particularly wanted to see if there was any damp in the cavity, but the light didn't reveal any. By this time I was eager to go below and explore our discovery. "Who'll go with me?" I asked. No response. "Well, then I'll go alone," I declared. And with that I fastened the rope around my waist, made sure it was securely fastened to the ground a few feet outside the opening, and got ready to go below. 2 A Big Cave is Discovered