CHAPTER VII
THE CAVE
Electing the turn to the left, Radcliffe led the way with his carbide lamp. Ace and Ted followed with their candles.
This time their choice was quickly verified by the discovery of the burros, standing patiently with their packs before the pool. (That accounted for the muddy footprints.) Skirting this on the shelving ledge as had Pedro and the Mexicans, they traversed the winding passageway that led to the grotto of brown cauliflower-like encrustations. But here, when they found that the left-hand passageway meant going on hands and knees, they chose the other turn. (They came that near to catching up with the fugitives!)
With the suddenness of events in a dream, they came into a vast chamber that at first glimpse, lighted as it was by the carbide lamp, gave the impression of a baronial ruin. The boys whistled simultaneously under their breath. At the far end stood a huge stone elephant,—or so it appeared at the first startled glance,—and beside him a gnome and several weird beasts vaguely reminiscent of the monsters of prehistoric times.
When Ted could speak, he whispered, “What are they? Fossils?”
Ace laughed. “I should say not. They’re nothing but dripstone, can’t you see?—They’d be ‘some fossils’! Why, if we could find just one fossil as big as that, our fortunes would be made—absolutely.”
“Gee! Then I’m sure going to keep my eyes peeled.”
“I thought,” put in Radcliffe, “that fossils were little stone worms. I’ve found those aplenty.”