filled with smoke, and the rock itself was so hot that one might almost have cooked a meal upon it.
"This is getting risky," whispered Oliver. "I'll tell you what, Merkin and Delverez have more nerve than I gave them credit for."
"Some men will risk anything for gold," returned Dan. "Look at ourselves, for instance," he added, almost to himself.
Those ahead had entered the cave through a slit in the lava beds. Here was a passageway not over three feet wide by twenty or thirty feet in height. Looking ahead, we saw that somebody had lighted a torch, the flame dancing over a ceiling far above us.
"Come on!" urged Oliver. "And mind you have your pistols ready," and again we proceeded, a step at a time, for the flooring was uneven and here and there were holes leading to almost bottomless pits.
Joe Koloa was still protesting that his fire god would consume them all and his captors still held him tightly by the arms. But the three were going on, and they did not come to a halt until at least a hundred yards of the great cavern was covered.
"The pearls!" The cry came from Caleb Merkin, and, looking, we saw him dart forward to where there was a slight rise in the cave floor-
