"We ain't going to get 'em out!" replied Will. "What do you think we brought you boys here for? We know they can't get out, so we're just going to sit down here and wait for them to get good and hungry."
"All right!" Sandy answered. "Two can watch and two can go back to the cabin! George will be good and anxious by this time."
"I was thinking of asking Oje to watch a short time," Will said.
"It's a good thing the Indian came along with you."
Oje was called down to the barricaded entrance and the situation briefly explained to him. The Indian stepped close to the boulder and listened for a long time for sounds from the inside.
Then he turned to, the boys and shook his head gravely.
"Don't you ever tell me they've gone and got away!" exclaimed Tommy. "Why, they couldn't get away unless they walked through forty feet of solid rock! And they couldn't do that!"
"I'm going to find out!" declared Will.
The lads pried the boulder away, blocking it so that it could not crash down the slope and so warn the men inside of the approach of the boys. Then Will crept cautiously into the dark passage.
The others were at his heels in a moment. On the previous visit of Will and Tommy, there had been the light of a torch in the cavern, but there was no illumination of any kind now.
"I guess they've gone, all right!" Tommy, whispered.