LIKEWISE FOUR QUEENS, AND A SULLIVAN COUNTY HERMIT
The moon rested for a moment on the top of a tall
pine on a hill.
The little man was standing in front of the campfire
making orations to his companions.
“We can tell a great tale when we get back to
the city if we investigate this thing,” said
he, in conclusion.
They were won.
The little man was determined to explore a cave, because
its black mouth had gaped at him. The four men
took a lighted pine-knot and clambered over boulders
down a hill. In a thicket on the mountainside
lay a little tilted hole. At its side they halted.
“Well?” said the little man.
They fought for last place and the little man was
overwhelmed. He tried to struggle from under
by crying that if the fat, pudgy man came after, he
would be corked. But he finally administered a
cursing over his shoulder and crawled into the hole.
His companions gingerly followed.
A passage, the floor of damp clay and pebbles, the
walls slimy, green-mossed, and dripping, sloped downward.
In the cave atmosphere the torches became studies
in red blaze and black smoke.
“Ho!” cried the little man, stifled and
bedraggled, “let’s go back.”
His companions were not brave. They were last.
The next one to the little man pushed him on, so the
little man said sulphurous words and cautiously continued
his crawl.
Things that hung seemed to be on the wet, uneven ceiling,
ready to drop upon the men’s bare necks.
Under their hands the clammy floor seemed alive and
writhing. When the little man endeavored to stand
erect the ceiling forced him down. Knobs and
points came out and punched him. His clothes
were wet and mud-covered, and his eyes, nearly blinded
by smoke, tried to pierce the darkness always before
his torch.
“Oh, I say, you fellows, let’s go back,”
cried he. At that moment he caught the gleam
of trembling light in the blurred shadows before him.
“Ho!” he said, “here’s another
way out.”
The passage turned abruptly. The little man put
one hand around the corner, but it touched nothing.
He investigated and discovered that the little corridor
took a sudden dip down a hill. At the bottom shone
a yellow light.
The little man wriggled painfully about, and descended
feet in advance. The others followed his plan.
All picked their way with anxious care. The traitorous
rocks rolled from beneath the little man’s feet
and roared thunderously below him, lesser stone loosened
by the men above him, hit him on the back. He
gained seemingly firm foothold, and, turning halfway
about, swore redly at his companions for dolts and
careless fools. The pudgy man sat, puffing and
perspiring, high in the rear of the procession.
The fumes and smoke from four pine-knots were in his
blood. Cinders and sparks lay thick in his eyes
and hair. The pause of the little man angered
him.
