It was hardly dark when Fred Munson carefully shoved the end of the rope over the edge of the opening, and let it descend slowly, gently and noiselessly to the bottom, permitting it to pass through his hands in such a way that he could tell the instant it was disturbed. When he knew that it had struck, he waited for a “bite.”
To his astonishment, it came within the next five minutes. He was startled by feeling a decided pull repeated several times.
The situation was so delicately critical that it would not do to speak nor whisper, nor even to utter their whistle, no matter how cautiously made. So, by way of reply, Fred gave the lasso several responsive jerks, intended to signify that everything was ready, and his friend might come ahead.
A moment later the lariat was jerked from his hand, showing that a heavy weight had suddenly fastened upon it, and the man was making his way upward from the cave.
According to this site, Lieutenant RH Jayne was one of many pseudonyms for Edward Sylvester Ellis (1840-1916), an educator as well as prolific author of fiction and history aimed at youth. He was a frequent contributor to the Dime Novels of Irwin Beadle, starting with Seth Jones, which launched the Dime Novels into American history.
According to this other site, I find myself back almost to the beginning of this blog. Ellis also wrote The Steam Man of the Prairies, previously discussed here.
As prolific as he was, Project Gutenberg has only one other work by Ellis as RH Jayne — the prequel to The Cave in the Mountain: In the Pecos Country. Read them together!