Although I said this, I was well aware that there were many dangers to which Dio might have been exposed. Wolves or bears while prowling about might have found him asleep, or he might have fallen into the hands of Indians, or he might have been discovered by white men, who, suspecting him to be a runaway slave, might have secured him in the hope of obtaining a reward for bringing him back. There was also the possibility, should he have finished his provisions, that he might have been afraid of going out in search of more, and that he might be suffering from starvation. We therefore hurried on as fast as our legs could carry us. We did not pass a single farm on our route where we could obtain assistance should we require it, although there were several away to the eastward. In spite of the utmost exertions we could make, it was nearly sunset before we reached the neighbourhood of the cave. We looked about, no sign of Dio could we discover, not the slightest trail to show that he had left the cavern or that anyone had entered it. So far this was satisfactory. Though we knew the locality, the mouth of the cavern itself was not very easy to find. We had therefore to hunt about for some time, until at length we discovered the bushes which grew in front of it, when we at once began to creep through them; we crawled on till we found ourselves in the mouth of the cave. Mr Tidey had minutely described the spot where he had left Dio. We groped our way forward expecting to see the light from his fire, but not a gleam came forth from any of the passages to direct us. "Oh, suppose a bear and her cubs are hid away anywhere, what shall we do?" exclaimed Dan. "Shoot the bear and knock the cubs on the head," I answered, although I knew that was more easily said than done. Dan and I called to Dio in vain. Again I shouted, "Dio, Dio, answer us, pray do, if you are here." "Listen! I hear a voice; it's very faint, but not far off," said Dan. I stopped shouting, and distinctly heard the words-- "Here, massa, here, all in de dark; dis niggar bery sick." On this I struck a match, and by its faint light I saw a figure lying on the ground in a recess of the cave. There were a number of sticks collected for fire-wood piled up close to him, so putting the match to some dry leaves which we swept up together, we quickly had a blaze. "What has happened, Dio?" I asked, kneeling down by his side. "No matches, massa," answered Dio; "and him eat up all de food Massa Tidey left. For two days him had noting to put in him mouth."