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“Stop! it is a mistake!”

At these words, the robber captain lowered his sword, and motioned to his men to halt. “A mistake!” he said; “what do you mean by that?”

“I mean,” said the Pupil, “that I was out looking for curiosities, and wandered into this place by accident. We haven’t taken a thing. You may count your goods, and you will find nothing missing. We have not even opened a box, although I very much wanted to see what was in some of them.”

“Are his statements correct?” said the Captain, turning to the Stranger.

“Entirely so,” was the answer.

“You have truthful features, and an honest expression,” said the Captain, “and I do not believe you would be so dishonorable as to creep in here during our absence and steal our possessions. Your lives shall be spared, but you will be obliged to remain with us; for we cannot allow any one who knows our secret to leave us. You shall be treated well, and shall accompany us in our expeditions; and if your conduct merits it, you shall in time be made full members.”

Bitterly the Stranger now regretted his unfortunate position. He strode up and down one side of the cave, vowing inwardly that never again would he allow himself to be led by a Hermit’s Pupil. That individual, however, was in a state of high delight. He ran about from box to bale, looking at the rare treasures which some of the robbers showed him.

The two captives were fed and lodged very well; and the next day the Captain called them and the band together, and addressed them.

“We are now twenty-nine in number,” he said; “twenty-seven full members, and two on probation. To-night we are about to undertake a very important expedition, in which we shall all join. We shall fasten up the door of the cave, and at the proper time I shall tell you to what place we are going.”

An hour or two before midnight the band set out, accompanied by the Stranger and the Hermit’s Pupil; and when they had gone some miles the Captain halted them to inform them of the object of the expedition. “We are going,” he said, “to rob the Queen’s museum. It is the most important business we have ever undertaken.”

At these words the Stranger stepped forward and made a protest. “I left the city yesterday,” he said, “commissioned by the Queen to obtain one or more objects of interest for her museum; and to return now to rob an institution which I have promised to enrich will be simply impossible.”

“You are right,” said the Captain, after a moment’s reflection, “such an action would be highly dishonorable on your part. If you will give me your word of honor that you will remain by this stone until our return, the expedition will proceed without you.”

The Stranger gave his word, and having been left sitting upon the stone, soon dropped asleep, and so remained until he was awakened by the return of the band, a little before daylight. They came slowly toiling along, each man carrying an enormous bundle upon his back. Near the end of the line was the Hermit’s Pupil, bearing a load as heavy as any of the others. The Stranger offered to relieve him for a time of his burden, but the Pupil would not allow it.

“I don’t wish these men to think I can’t do as much as they can,” he said. “You ought to have been along. We had a fine time! We swept that museum clean, I tell you! We didn’t leave a thing on a shelf or in a case.”

“What sort of things are they,” asked the Stranger.

“I don’t know,” replied the Pupil, “we didn’t have any light for fear people would notice it, but the moon shone in bright enough for us to see all the shelves and the cases; and our orders were not to try and examine any thing, but to take all that was there. The cases had great cloth covers on them, and we spread these on the floor and made bundles of the curiosities. We are going to examine them carefully as soon as we get to the den.”