Early the next morning, before the sun was up, Sam was calling me and asking if Brown had returned. "Not yet," I replied, "but he will, probably some time before noon."
I, too, was getting a bit apprehensive, for I felt just a bit guilty about Sam's predicament, since I was the one who had persuaded him to go below—against his desire to do so. In order to slightly calm my nervous tension I decided to take a short walk around the area in hopes of making the time pass more quickly, for I now knew that I, too, would welcome Brown and the rope he would be bringing.
I didn't stray too far from our campsite and was looking around when low in the sky I noticed a large number of dark objects. They seemed to disappear on a hillside.
Curiosity got the better of me. Knowing there was nothing I could do until Brown returned, I decided to investigate.
As I came closer I noticed the dark objects were bats—thousands of them. They were, indeed, disappearing into the side of a hill—into an opening that was much larger than the one which at the moment was holding Sam Evans a prisoner.
Having spent the night in search of food, they were now returning at sunrise to spend the day in what appeared to be a huge cave.
I was almost awe-struck at the sight of so many of these little flying mammals, for I had never before seen anything like it in my life.
As the brightness of the dawn increased the stream of bats subsided, and in a short while only a few remaining stragglers were entering the mouth of their home.
Where could all of these bats go, I wondered. There must be an exceptionally large cave inside to hold so many of them.
I never have cared much for bats, but I was interested in seeing where they lived. As I approached closer the whole side of the hill seemed to open up. There, certainly, was an opening to something even larger inside.