“If the instructions are correct, then will the characters ‘J. C.’ be found near the line which my knife has described; for the letter, if true, as I have remarked, was written a long time ago, and the ‘Finger of God’ was taller then than it is to-day, as the elements must have worn many inches from its top in the course of a great number of years; its shadow was higher up the cliff, at any particular hour of the day, at a remote period, than it is to-day. Now come and examine closely along the line I have described.”
With diligence and care, all three scanned the face of the rock, scraped away the mold, and sought to find the key to the mysterious cavern.
Suddenly Mollie gave a scream—an exultant scream—and cried:
“Here it is! Here it is! I have found them!”
Crowding about her, the other two saw before them the letters in the rock. Small, discolored, and covered with a green moss, it was a wonder they had been discovered at all. Yes, there they were, “J. C.” Leaning over, Dr. Town took his penknife and carefully dug the moss away from the point of the J, and exposed the hole mentioned in the letter.
There was no farce, no falsehood in the communication, after all; at least, not as regards the letters “J. C.” and the hole in the J. The decisive moment had arrived.
Putting the point of the steel rod, which he had brought along for the purpose, into the hole, the doctor drove it in to its full length. A creaking, cracking sound followed, and the rock in front of them sank into the side of the cliff, leaving exposed a doorway about six feet high by three in width. Involuntarily all started back as the yawning, dark passage was exposed, and a cry of alarm escaped the lips of Marie.
The opening had been made, but the interior was dark and unknown.
“I will go in,” said the doctor, “and explore the place; I will return, and inform you if it is safe.”
“Oh, I am not afraid,” returned Mollie; “certainly there can be nothing there to harm us.”