"It's all right," he whispered; "they must have gone. Shall we step back and go to the far cave and see?"

"No," said Mike decisively. "Home."

"Yes: home!" said Vince. "Come on."

Leading once more, he stepped into the cavern, whose interior now grew plainer and plainer to their accustomed eyes, and, crossing at once to the bottom of the slope, he seized the rope and gave it a sharp tug.

"Will you go first?" he whispered.

"I don't mind," replied Mike. "No,--you;" and Vince tightened the rope again, feeling that in a very short time they would be able to set the anxieties of all at rest.

"Father won't be so angry when he knows," thought the boy; and, hanging there to the rope, he was about half-way up when he let go and dropped to the sand, for a figure suddenly appeared in the dark opening over his head, and before he could recover from his astonishment a piercingly shrill whistle rang through the inner cave.

CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE.

TRAPPED BIRDS.

"Quick back to the seal hole!" whispered Vince; and the boys darted to the dark pa.s.sage leading to the outer cave, and then stopped short, for the way was blocked by a man with a drawn cutla.s.s, and two others were running up, while another was in the act of sliding down a rope from the fissure.

Directly after, _thud, thud, thud_ came the sound of men dropping down into the inner cave, and in another moment there was a rude thrust from behind which drove Mike against Vince, and the two boys were forced onward through the opening to the outer cave, the man with the cutla.s.s giving way sufficiently to let them enter, but presenting the point at Vince's chest, while one of his comrades performed the same menacing act for Mike, the other two taking up a position to right and left, and effectually cutting off escape.

The next instant the figure of the big, broad-chested leader came out into the light, and upon the boys facing round to him his features were pretty well fixed upon their brains as they noted his smooth, deeply-lined brown face, black curly hair streaked with grey, dark, piercing eyes and the pair of large gold earrings in his well-formed ears. "Aha!" he cried, showing his white teeth, "_bonjour_, _mes amis_.

Good-a-morning, my young friends. I hope you sal have sleep vairy vell in my hotel. Come along vis me: ze brearkfas is all vaiting."

This address, in a merry, bantering tone, so different from the fierce burst of abuse which he antic.i.p.ated, rather took Vince aback; and he was the more staggered when the man held out his hand naturally enough, which Vince gripped, Mike doing precisely the same.

"Dat is good, vairy good," said the man, while his followers looked on.

"You vill boze introduce yourself. You are--?"

He looked hard at Mike.

"Michael Ladelle," said the owner of the name.

"And you sall be--?"

"Vincent Burnet."

"Aha, yaas. I introduce myself--Capitaine Jacques Lebrun, at your sairvice, and ze brearkfas vait. You are vairy moshe ready?"

"Yes," said Vince boldly; "I want my breakfast very badly."

"Aha, yaas; and _votre ami_, he vill vant his. You do not runs avay?"

"Not till after breakfast," said Vince, smiling.

"No? Dat is good. You are von brave. Zen ve vill put avay ze carving knife and not have out ze pistol. _En avant_! You know ze vay to ze _salle-a-manger_. You talk ze Francais, bose of you. Aha?"

"I can understand that," said Vince. "So can he. _N'est-ce pas_, Mike?"

A short nod was given in response, and the French captain clapped them both on the shoulders, gripping them firmly and urging them along.

"It is good," he said. "I am so _bien aise_ to see my younger friend.

Up vis you!"

"Come along, Mike," said Vince, in a low voice; "it's all right."

Mike did not seem to think so, but he followed Vince up the rope into the fissure, after one of the armed men; the captain came next, and he kept on talking in his bantering tone as they crept along the awkward rift.

"Vairy clever; vairy good!" he cried. "I see you know ze vay. It is _magnifique_. You see, I find I have visitor, and zey do not know ven ze _dejeuner_ is _pret_, so I am oblige to make one leetle--vat you call it--trap-springe, and catch ze leetle bird."

A rope was ready at the other end of the fissure, and as Vince dropped down it was into the presence of half a dozen more men, while in the rapid glance that he cast round, the boy saw that a boat was drawn up on the sand and a fire of wood was burning close down to the water's edge.

Vince noticed, too, that one of the men who followed stopped back by the rope, with his drawn cutla.s.s carried military fashion; and his action gave a pretty good proof that everything had been carefully planned beforehand in connection with the "trap-springe," as the Frenchman called it.

Preparations had already been made for breakfast, one of the men acting as cook; and in a short time kegs were stood on end round a beautifully clean white tablecloth spread upon the soft sand; excellent coffee, good bread-and-b.u.t.ter, and fried mackerel were placed before them, and the French captain presided.

The boys felt exceedingly nervous and uncomfortable, for they could see plainly enough that their captor was playing with them, and acting a part. They knew, too, that they were prisoners, and shivers of remorse ran through them as the thought of the anxious ones at home kept troubling them; but there was a masterfulness about their fierce young appet.i.tes, sharpened to a maddening desire by long fasting, which, after the first choking mouthful or two, would not be gainsaid; and they soon set to work voraciously, while the captain ate as heartily, and his men, all but the sentry, gathered together by themselves to make their breakfast alone.

"Brava!" cried the captain, helping them liberally to the capital breakfast before them: "I can you not tell how vairy glad I am to see my young _amis_. My table has not been so honour before."

At last the meal was at end, and the captain clapped his hands for the things to be cleared away, a couple of the men leaping up and performing this task with quite military alacrity.

The boys exchanged glances, and, without communicating one with the other, rose together; while the captain raised his eyebrows.

"Aha!" he said: "you vant somesings else?"

"Only to say thank you for our good breakfast, and to tell you that we are now going home."

"Going home?" said the captain grimly. "Aha, you sink so. Yaas, perhaps you are right. You _Anglais_ call it going home--_a la mort_-- to die."

"No, we don't," said Vince sharply. "We mean going home. We have been out all night."

"Aha, yaas; and the _bon_ papa and mamma know vere you have come?"

"No," replied Vince quickly; "no one knows of this but us."

"_Vraiment_?" said the captain, and he looked searchingly at Mike. "No one knows but my young friend?"

"No," said Mike. "We found the cave by accident; we fell into the way that leads down, and kept it a secret."

"Good boy; but you can keep secret?"

"Yes," said Mike; "of course."

"Aha! so can I," said the captain, laughing boisterously. "Suppose I send you home my vay, eh? No one know ze vay to ze cavern."

"I don't understand you," said Mike st.u.r.dily.