Journey to the Bottomless Pit by Mitchell Elizabeth; Alder Kelynn Z.;

Author:Mitchell, Elizabeth; Alder, Kelynn Z.;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Open Road Distribution
Published: 2019-02-26T15:45:36+00:00

A New Master

H. C. Stevenson kept his word. When they returned to the hotel, he told Franklin Gorin he’d had the most exciting day of his life. He couldn’t stop talking about his adventures. He praised Stephen and handed him a piece of gold.

Stephen looked quickly at Mr. Gorin. Under the Kentucky slave code, his master could take the money. Many owners hired out their slaves but kept the earnings for themselves.

But Franklin Gorin was smiling widely. “First Gorin’s Dome, now across the Bottomless Pit,” he said. “I’ll have to write another letter to the papers! You’ve earned your dollar, Stephen.”

A few weeks later Mr. Gorin called to Stephen from the back door of the hotel. Stephen hurried over. Gorin was holding a newspaper.

“Look, here’s my letter,” he said, and pointed to the second page of the Louisville Journal. He read it aloud to Stephen. It was about how H. C. Stevenson, in the company of a guide, had crossed the Bottomless Pit for the first time in history. It told of Stevenson’s discovery of the River Styx, the first river ever found in the cave.

“Now the cave will be even more famous,” Mr. Gorin told Stephen. He was beaming with pride.

Stephen smiled, but inside he felt angry. The letter had not described what had truly happened in the cave. Anyone who read the newspaper would think that H.C. Stevenson had been the first one to cross the Bottomless Pit and reach the River Styx. Stephen was not even mentioned by name!

The man he had guided could never have made it across the pit by himself. It had been Stephen’s idea to use the ladder, and he had told his friends all about the adventure. They knew the truth—but no one else would.

Even thinking about the dollar he had earned didn’t help. He would never feel the same about that day.

But there was no time for Stephen to mope around. The next few weeks were busier than ever before, as visitors from Louisville and other Kentucky towns came to see the cave. Even so, Stephen found time to explore. As the weeks passed, he found more and more new passageways. He also helped build a sturdy wooden bridge across the Bottomless Pit so that visitors could be conducted across it in safety.

Stephen was working very hard. All slaves worked long days, from sunup to sundown, but they were allowed a few hours’ rest during the hottest part of the afternoon. Underground in the cave, Stephen was away from the broiling sun, so he did not receive a midday break. Those who came to the cave wanted to see everything they could. As a result of Stephen’s many new discoveries, the tours sometimes lasted for twelve hours!

Stephen was becoming exhausted. One day Franklin Gorin told Stephen that he was renting two slaves from a man in Nashville, Tennessee. They were named Mat and Nick Bransford. Stephen would train them, and they would work as guides, too. That way Stephen would have some time to rest—and more time for exploration.

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