Poor Joe! His confidence was short-lived. For, when they came to the end of this passageway, instead of seeing before them daylight from the mouth of the cave, there was still that maddening pitch blackness.
They stood irresolute, without the slightest idea which way to turn next.
“This is what I call rotten luck!” groaned Jimmy. “Here I am starving to death and we may not be able to get out of this place for another hour.”
“Humph,” put in Bob grimly. “We’ll be mighty lucky if we get out at all. It would be hard enough to find our way around with a light, but now——”
“Say, wouldn’t you think we’d have had more sense?” growled Herb. “I’ve got a good ball of cord in my pocket and we could easily have attached that to something outside the cave. Then finding our way out would have been a cinch.”
“No use crying over spilled milk,” observed Joe. “It won’t help us get out. How about it, Bob? Got any ideas?”
“Not one,” admitted Bob. “As far as I can see we’re lost good and plenty.”
Jimmy groaned again.
“That’s cheerful,” he said. “When all a fellow can think of is a plate of pork and beans with——”
“Say, cut it out, can’t you?” interrupted Herb. “Isn’t it enough to know we’re going to starve to death without your making it worse with your pork and beans?”