adapted from The Cave of Gold
by Everett McNeil

I was up at dawn and found everybody up and awaiting eagerly the moment when there would be sufficient light in the canyon to make the climbing of the Big Tree and the entrance into Crooked Arm Gulch safe. At last Mr. Conroyal declared that the great moment had come.
"But," and he glanced around the group of eager faces, "we need one man here to stand guard. Who is willing to stay behind?"
For a moment, no one appeared willing to make this sacrifice. Then, with a smile on his face, Frank Holt offered.
"Reckon I'll stay," he said. "I'm not as young as I once was, and crawling along that rock is dangerous to legs as old as mine."
We set off to climb Big Tree. You may be sure that there were no laggards among us.
When we reached the gulch, Ham said, "Now, the first thing to do is to get down to the bottom."
"That looks easy! Right this way!" Thune began excitedly clambering down the rocks.
Soon, we all stood at the bottom of Crooked Arm Gulch. We excitedly looked around for the entrance to the Cave of Gold, looking in vain. In front of us the wall of the gulch had been hollowed out into a great overhanging arch, seventy-five or more feet in height and some fifteen feet deep.
Could this be the miner's Cave of Gold?
In a minute more, we all were searching for the hidden entrance to the cave on the back wall of the arch.
Thune stopped in front of a large flat rock that had fallen so that it stood nearly on edge, leaning against the back wall of the arch. "Come, give me a hand, Bud," he said to me, "and let's see what is behind this rock."
In a moment, we were tugging at the huge slab of rock and, at last, with a mighty effort, we pulled it away from the wall, revealing a black opening in the solid rock.
"Bravo!" I yelled.
"Found!" shouted Thune, and both of us made a dive for the hole, but Ham stopped us.
Ham thrust his body into the opening and began cautiously working his way forward.
In about five minutes, Ham came backing hurriedly out.
"Who's got the candles?" he cried excitedly. "There's a cave, but we must have lights."
Ham caught up one of the candles and, quickly lighting it, crawled into the hole again, holding the candle out in front of him.
Thune followed.
"The rest of us had better wait outside until we hear from Ham," Mr. Conroyal said, staring anxiously into the hole.
For perhaps ten minutes we waited, although to the uneasy and excited watchers outside it seemed more like an hour, because not a sound came from the hole. Then, suddenly, the excited voice of Thune was heard, booming out through the hole.
"It's the cave, the Cave of Gold!" he cried exultantly, his voice trembling with excitement. "Come in, all of you. There is room for all. I will hold my candle so that you can see."
In five minutes, we were staring wonderingly around us. The bottom of the cave was level and composed of a very coarse gravel, mixed with little rounded chunks of a yellowish metal that glowed in the light of the candles like thousands of dull yellow coals of fire.
Ham knelt down. In a voice hardly above a whisper, he said, "It is gold!"
At long last, we had found the old miner's lost cave of gold.
1
How does the perspective of the narrator impact the reader?
A.
It conveys a sense of dread.
B.
It conveys a sense of excitement.
C.
It conveys a sense of humor.
D.
It conveys a sense of caution.