AN UNDERGROUND CHANNEL
Following along behind the two sheriffs and their deputies, Will and Chester finally came to the cavern which by mutual consent the boys now called the Cave of the Three Bears.
"Tommy was headed for this place!" exclaimed Will. "It's a mystery to me where George disappeared to so suddenly. Of course, we didn't see enough of his wig-wag to know what he intended to say, but we understand there's something amiss."
"There are plenty of caverns here in which one may hide," Chester answered. "There is one just north of this which has several good-sized rooms. Father and I thought of moving to that one."
They passed into the Cave of the Three Bears and found that one hide had been partly removed, and that a huge piece of meat had been taken away.
"I guess Tommy's been here all right!" Will suggested.
Chester stooped down and examined the carcass carefully.
"No," he said. "Tommy wanted the three skins for rugs. He never cut the hide like that to get at the meat."
"No, he wouldn't do that," Will admitted.
"Father may have been here," suggested Chester.
"We should have stopped at the cave where you two formerly lived," said Will. "For all we know, your father may be hiding there now."
"I know it," replied Chester, "but we came on so fast and in such a state of excitement that we didn't think of doing so."
"Well, we mustn't let the others get too far ahead of us," Will suggested. "They must be quite a ways off now!"
"Don't you think we can do a better job with them out of the way?" asked Chester. "They go roaring along like a herd of elephants."
"I presume we can," replied Will. "Anyway we can make an investigation of our own and then go back to camp. Sandy is alone there with his wounded shoulder, and almost anything is likely to happen."
"We'll go into the cave I spoke about a moment ago," Chester said, "and examine it thoroughly with the searchlights."
"What's the idea of that?" asked Will.
"Well, Tommy and George are in some one of these caves. They may be hiding from us or they may have been captured by the train robbers. If they are hidden away, they're quite likely to be in the large cavern I spoke of. It won't do any harm to look through it."
"Why, that must be the cave where we saw the three men last night!" Will exclaimed. "I have an idea that the three men we saw were the two train robbers and your father."
"That was my idea at the time," the boy replied, "but now I can't quite make up my mind that father would tie up with such a bunch."
"Bless your innocent soul," grinned Will. "Your father couldn't help associating with them if they insisted upon it! I can see no reason why they should want to molest him, but one can never account for the mental processes of train robbers."
"I believe this is the same place!" Chester cried as they stepped inside. "You know father often talked about moving to this cave, and I've got an idea that he knows more about the locality than I do."
"In what way?" asked Will.
"Well, I think he found some secret passage here. I believe he knows how to enter and leave this cavern without being seen. This whole ridge, you know, is honeycombed with caverns and tunnels. I have been told," the boy continued, "that the gorge and the valley to the east formed the basin for a great lake, hundreds of years ago, and that the water seeped through the limestone rock until there wasn't much left of it in some places. There are certainly plenty of caves here!"
"I should say so!" replied Will turning on his searchlight.
"Look here," Chester went on, "that would be a reason for the train robbers hanging to father, if they found him, wouldn't it?"
"I don't understand," replied Will.
"Why, if father knows a lot of passages and hiding places and empty river channels, in this section, he's just the man the train robbers would want to tie to."
"I understand now," Will replied. "And you remember, too," he continued, "how mysteriously the three men disappeared last night? Why, they got out of sight as quickly as if they had been painted on a slate and rubbed out."
"That's a fact!" replied Chester.
"There's one thing about it," Will argued, "the train robbers won't dare to go on into the bad lands, for they have no supplies, and their horses must be about used up. By remaining here, they may be able to steal supplies and, possibly get out to Lander and buy some."
"I guess we've got it doped out all right," Chester answered. "All we've got to do now is to go on and see whether we have or not."
The boys pressed on to the back of the first cavern and turned to the right into one which ran parallel with it. Their lights showed that a fire had been built in the tunnel connecting the two. There were also empty tin cans and cardboard food packages scattered about.
"This looks like population," grinned Will.
"Isn't this the spot from which the men disappeared?" asked Chester.
"Unless I am much mistaken," Will returned, "the three men were in front of a fire in this tunnel. Say, but they did get out of sight quick, didn't they? It was like the scene from the Black Crook."
"Then the passage they crawled into can't be far away," Chester volunteered, "at any rate, right here's where we want to make our search!"
"There's no knowing where this wrinkle leads to," Will said as the lights pierced the narrow channel. "If we get down there, we may never be able to get back."
"Father must have known of this place," Chester said, "and that's why he talked about moving our camp here."
"Well, if he used the passage, we certainly can!" replied Will.
"Are we going down now?" asked Chester.
"I'm game for it."
"Well, then, wait a minute!"
Chester ran to the entrance of the cavern and looked up and down the gorge and valley. When he returned there was a worried look on his face. He pointed to the dry channel and said:
"We may as well be getting down there. There's some one coming."
"Who is it?" asked Will.
"I couldn't distinguish faces," was the reply.
"Wasn't George and Tommy, was it?"
"No, two men. They're coming along fast, so we may as well get under cover. We don't know where we're going, but we're on our way," he smiled as he dropped down on his hands and knees and scrambled backward into what had once been the channel of a mountain stream.
Will followed in a moment and, after trying his best to draw the boulder into place, scrambled on after his chum.
"Did you get the rock fixed?" asked Chester as they came together on a little level place probably thirty feet down.
"Couldn't budge it!" was the reply.
"Well, then, we'll keep on going."
"Je-rusalem!" exclaimed Will. "I believe this thing runs clear through the ridge. And that would make it something like a mile long!"
"Of course it does," Chester answered. "This ditch was cut by water, and the water had to find an outlet somewhere."
"If your father knows all about this underground network of caverns and channels," Will said in a moment, "we'll have a happy old time finding him! He can dodge us here for a month."
"And those officers will have a fine old job getting the train robbers, too," Chester chuckled, "if they're acquainted with this underground system of highways. It strikes me," he went on, "that these train robbers have been here before."
"That may be!" answered Will. "In fact, it, occurs to me that your father searched out all these subterranean roads and rooms and showed them to the train robbers."
The boys proceeded downward for some distance and then stopped in a tolerably large chamber to rest and investigate.
"There's no use of our going on until we know whether the fellows you saw are coming in here," Will reasoned.
"I'm going up to the top again," said Chester, "and see what's going on there! The fellows I saw may be coming in."
Will waited for a long half hour for the boy's return, and when at last Chester slid down to him his face showed that he was frightened.
"They've got the combination to this channel all right!" he said.