"All right!" George cried in a moment, "I can feel my toes touching the rock. Let go! You drop down now, and I'll steady you when you light."
Both boys were soon in the lower cavern and a moment following their arrival there, they heard the claws of the bears rattling on the rocks above.
"I've heard Pierre tell about caves in this range of hills," Thede said, "but I never knew that they had caves two stories high."
As the boy ceased speaking, George suddenly shut off his flash light and laid a hand on the other's arm.
"What's that for ——-"
"Keep still!" whispered George. "Do you see anything?"
"Looks to me like a light," the other replied.
"Looks like a fire, doesn't it?" asked George.
"It certainly is a fire and there's a man sitting in front of it."
The fire showed at the end of a narrow passage, perhaps ten or twelve yards away. It was blazing vigorously, and the cavern in which it stood was well clouded with smoke. It was evident that the watcher by the fire was as yet unconscious of the approach of the two boys.