Chapter X. The Cave Dust

by Joseph A. Altsheler

　　The great supply of salt brought by Ross and his men was welcometo Wareville, as the people had begun to suffer for it, but theywould have enough now to last them a full year, and a year was along time to look ahead. Great satisfaction was expressed onthat score, but the news that a Shawnee war party was in Kentuckyand had chased them far southward caused Mr. Ware and other headsof the village to look very grave and to hold various councils.

　　As a result of these talks the palisade was strengthened withanother row of strong stakes, and they took careful stock oftheir supplies of ammunition. Lead they had in plenty, butpowder was growing scarce. A fresh supply had been expected witha new band of settlers from Virginia but the band had failed tocome, and the faces of the leaders grew yet graver, when theylooked at the dwindling supply, and wondered how it could bereplenished for the dire need that might arise. It was now thatMr. Pennypacker came forward with a suggestion and he showed howbook learning could be made of great value, even in thewilderness.

　　"You will recall," he said to Mr. Ware and Mr. Upton, and otherheads of the settlement, "that some of our hunters have reportedthe existence of great caves to the southwestward and that theyhave brought back from them wonderful stalactites and stalagmitesand also dust from the cave floors. I find that this dust isstrongly impregnated with niter; from niter we obtain saltpeterand from saltpeter we make gunpowder. We need not send toVirginia for our powder, we can make it here in Kentucky forourselves."

　　"Do you truly think so, Mr. Pennypacker?" asked Mr. Ware,doubtfully.

　　"Think so, I know so," replied the schoolmaster in sanguinetones. "Why, what am I a teacher for if I don't know a little ofsuch things? And even if you have doubts, think how well theexperiment is worth trying. Situated as we are, in this wildland, powder is the most precious thing on earth."

　　"That is true! That is true!" said Mr. Ware with hasty emphasis."Without it we shall lie helpless before the Indian attack,should it come. If, as you say, this cave dust contains the,saltpeter, the test will be easy."

　　"It contains saltpeter and the rest will be easy!"

　　"Then, you must go for it. Ross and Sol and a strong party mustgo with you, because we cannot run the risk of losing any of youthrough the Indians."

　　"I am sure," said Mr. Pennypacker, "that we shall incur no dangerfrom Indians. The region of the great caves lies farther souththan Wareville and the Southern Indians, who are less bold thanthe Northern tribes, are not likely to come again into Kentucky.The hunters say that Indians have not been in that particularregion for years."

　　"Yes, I think you are right," said Mr. Ware, "but be carefulanyhow."

　　Henry, when he heard of the new expedition, was wild to go, buthis parents, remembering the great danger of the journey to thesalt licks, were reluctant with their permission. Then Rossinterceded effectively.

　　"The boy is just fitted for this sort of work," he said. "Heisn't in love with farming, he's got other blood in him, but downthere he will be just about the best man that Wareville has tosend, an' there won't be any Indians."

　　There was no reply to such an argument, because in the bordersettlements the round peg must go in the round hole; theconditions of survival demanded no surplusage and no waste.

　　When Paul heard that Henry was to go he gave his parents no rest,and when Mr. Pennypacker, whose favorite he was, seconded hisrequest, on the ground that he would need a scholar with him thepermission had to be granted.

　　Rejoicing, the two boys set forth with the others, the dangers ofthe Shawnee battle and their terrors already gone from theirminds. They would meet no Indians this time, and the wholepowder-making expedition would be just one great picnic. Thesummer was now at hand, and the forests were an unbroken mass ofbrilliant green. In the little spaces of earth where thesunlight broke through, wild flowers, red, blue, pink and purplepeeped up and nodded gaily, when the light winds blew. Gameabounded, but they killed only enough for their needs, Rosssaying it was against the will of God to shoot a splendid elk orbuffalo and leave him to rot, merely for the pleasure of thekilling.

　　After a while they forded a large river, passed out of theforests, and came into a great open region, to which they gavethe name of Barrens, not because it was sterile, but because itwas bare of trees. Henry, at first, thought it was the land ofprairies, but Ross, after examining it minutely, said that ifleft to nature it would be forested. It was his theory that theIndians in former years had burned off the young tree growthrepeatedly in order to make great grazing grounds for the biggame. Whether his supposition was true or not, and Henry thoughtit likely to be true, the Barrens were covered with buffalo, elkand deer. In fact they saw buffalo in comparatively largenumbers for the first time, and once they looked upon a herd ofmore than a hundred, grazing in the rich and open meadows.Panthers attracted by the quantity of game upon which they couldprey screamed horribly at night, but the flaming camp fires ofthe travelers were sufficient to scare them away.

　　All these things, the former salt-makers, and powder-makers thathoped to be, saw only in passing. They knew the value of timeand they hastened on to the region of great caves, guided thistime by one of their hunters, Jim Hart, although Ross as usualwas in supreme command. But Hart had spent some months huntingin the great cave region and his report was full of wonders.

　　"I think there are caves all over, or rather, under this countrythat the Indians call Kaintuckee," he said, "but down in thispart of it they're the biggest."

　　"You are right about Kentucky being a cave region," said theschoolmaster, "I think most of it is underlaid with rock,anywhere from five thousand to ten thousand feet thick, and inthe course of ages, through geological decay or some kindredcause, it has become crisscrossed with holes like a greathoneycomb."

　　"I'm pretty sure about the caves," said Ross, "but what I want toknow is about this peter dirt."

　　"We'll find it and plenty of it," replied the master confidently."That sample was full of niter, and when we leach it in our tubswe shall have the genuine saltpeter, explosive dust, if youchoose to call it, that is the solution of gunpowder."

　　"Which we can't do without," said Henry.

　　They passed out of the Barrens, and entered a region of high,rough hills, and narrow little valleys. Hills and valleys alikewere densely clothed with forest.

　　Hart pointed to several, large holes in the sides of the hills,always at or near the base and said they were the mouths ofcaves.

　　"But the big one, in which I got the peter dirt is farther on,"he said.

　　They came to the place he had in mind, just as the twilight wasfalling, a hole, a full man's height at the bottom of a narrowvalley, but leading directly into the side of the circling hillthat inclosed the bowl-like depression. Henry and Paul lookedcuriously at the black mouth and they felt some tremors at theknowledge that they were to go in there, and to remain inside theearth for a long time, shut from the light of day. It was thedark and not the fear of anything visible, that frightened them.But they made no attempt to enter that evening, although nightwould be the same as day in the cave. Instead they provided fora camp, as the horses and a sufficient guard would have to remainoutside. The valley itself was an admirable place, since itcontained pasturage for the horses, while at the far end was alittle stream of water, flowing out of the hill and tricklingaway through a cleft into another and slightly lower valley.

　　After tethering the horses, they built a fire near the cave mouthand sat down to cook, eat, rest and talk.

　　"Ain't there danger from bad air in there?" asked Ross. "I'veheard tell that sometimes in the ground air will blow all up,when fire is touched to it, just like a bar'l o' gunpowder."

　　"The air felt just as fresh an' nice as daylight when I went in,"said Hart, "an' if it comes to that it will be better than it isout here because it's allus even and cool."

　　"It is so," said the master meditatively. " All the cavesdiscovered so far in Kentucky have fresh pure air. I do notundertake to account for it."

　　That night they cut long torches of resinous wood, and early thenext morning all except two, who were left to guard the horses,entered the cave, led by Hart, who was a fearless man with aninquiring mind. Everyone carried a torch, burning with littlesmoke, and after they had passed the cave mouth, which wasslightly damp, they came to a perfectly dry passage, all the timebreathing a delightfully cool and fresh air, full of vigor andstimulus.

　　Paul and Henry looked back. They had come so far now that thelight of day from the cave mouth could no reach them, and behindthem was only thick impervious blackness. Before them, where thelight of the torches died was the same black wall, and theythemselves were only a little island of light. But they couldsee that the cave ran on before them, as if it were asubterranean, vaulted gallery, hewed out of the stone by hands ofmany Titans! Henry held up his torch, and from the roof twentyfeet above his head the stone flashed back multicolored andglittering lights. Paul's eyes followed Henry's and the gleamingroof appealed to his sensitive mind.

　　"Why, it's all a great underground palace!" he exclaimed, "and weare the princes who are living in it."

　　Hart heard Paul's enthusiastic words and he smiled.

　　"Come here, Paul," he said, "I want to show you something."

　　Paul came at once and Hart swung the light of his torch into adark cryptlike opening from the gallery.

　　"I see some dim shapes lying on the floor in there, but I can'ttell exactly what they are," said Paul.

　　" Come into this place itself."

　　Paul stepped into the crypt, and Hart with the tip of hismoccasined toe gently moved one of the recumbent forms. Paulcould not repress a little cry as he jumped back. He was lookingat the dark, withered face of an Indian, that seemed to him athousand years old.

　　"An' the others are Indians, too," said Hart. "An' they needn'ttrouble us. God knows how long they've been a-layin' here wheretheir friends brought 'em for burial. See the bows an' arrowsbeside 'em. They ain't like any that the Indians use now."

　　"And the dry cave air has preserved them, for maybe two or threehundred years," said the schoolmaster. "No, their dress andequipment do not look like those of any Indians whom I haveseen."

　　"Let's leave them just as they are," said Paul.

　　"Of course," said Ross, "it would be bad luck to move 'em."

　　They went on farther into the cave, and found that it increasedin grandeur and beauty. The walls glittered with the light ofthe torches, the ceiling rose higher, and became a great vaulteddome. From the roof hung fantastic stalactites and from thefloor stalagmites equally fantastic shot up to meet them. Slowwater fell drop by drop from the point of the stalactite upon thepoint of the stalagmite.

　　"That has been going on for ages," said the schoolmaster, "andthe same drop of water that leaves some of its substance to formthe stalactite, hanging from the roof, goes to form thestalagmite jutting up from the floor. Come, Paul, here's a seatfor you. You must rest a bit."

　　They beheld a rock formation almost like a chair, and, Paulsitting down in it, found it quite comfortable. But they pausedonly a moment, and then passed on, devoting their attention nowto the cave dust, which was growing thicker under their feet.The master scooped up handfuls of it and regarded it attentivelyby the close light of his torch.

　　"It's the genuine Peter dust!" he exclaimed exultantly. "Why, wecan make powder here as long as we care to do so."

　　"You are sure of it, master?" asked Ross anxiously.

　　"Sure of it!" replied Mr. Pennypacker. "Why, I know it. If westayed here long enough we could make a thousand barrels ofgunpowder, good enough to kill any elk or buffalo or Indian thatever lived."

　　Ross breathed a deep sigh of relief. He had had his doubts tothe last, and none knew better than he how much depended on thecorrectness of the schoolmaster's assertion.

　　"There seems to be acres of the dust about here," said Ross, "an'I guess we'd better begin the makin' of our powder at once."

　　They went no farther for the present, but carried the dust in,sack after sack, to the mouth of the cave. Then they leached it,pouring water on it in improvised tubs, and dissolving the niter.This solution they boiled down and the residuum was saltpeter orgunpowder, without which no settlement in Kentucky could exist.The little valley now became a scene of great activity. Thefires were always burning and sack after sack of gunpowder waslaid safely away in a dry place. Henry and Paul worked hard withthe others, but they never passed the crypt containing themummies, without a little shudder. In some of the intervals ofrest they explored portions of the cave, although they were verycautious. It was well that they were so as one day Henry stoppedabruptly with a little gasp of terror. Not five feet before himappeared the mouth of a great perpendicular well. It wasperfectly round, about ten feet across, and when Henry and Paulheld their torches over the edge, they could see no bottom.Henry shouted, throwing his voice as far forward as possible,,but only a dull, distant echo came back.

　　"We'll call that the Bottomless Pit," he said.

　　"Bottomless or not, it's a good thing to keep out of," said Paul."It gives me the shudders, Henry, and I don't think I'll do muchmore exploring in this cave."

　　In fact, the gunpowder-making did not give them much more chance,and they were content with what they had already seen. The cavehad many wonders, but the sunshine outside was glorious and thevast mass of green forest was very restful to the eye. There washunting to be done, too, and in this Henry bore a good part, heand Ross supplying the fresh meat for their table.

　　A fine river flowed not two miles away and Paul installed himselfas chief fisherman, bringing them any number of splendid largefish, very savory to the taste. Ross and Sol roamed far amongthe woods, but they reported absolutely no Indian sign.

　　"I don't believe any of the warriors from either north or southhave been in these parts for years," said Ross.

　　"Luckily for us," added Mr. Pennypacker, "I don't want anothersuch retreat as that we had from the salt springs."

　　Ross's words came true. The powder-making was finished in peace,and the journey home was made under the same conditions. AtWareville there was a shout of joy and exultation at theirarrival. They felt that they could hold their village nowagainst any attack, and Mr. Pennypacker was a great man, justlyhonored among his people. He had shown them how to make powder,which was almost as necessary to them as the air they breathed,and moreover they knew where they could always get materialsneeded for making more of it.

　　Truly learning was a great thing to have, and they respected it.