"Nonsense," Edwards spoke up at this point. "The man means us no harm."
Hal had disappeared beneath the rock and Edwards dropped to his knees and crawled after him.
"Well," said Stubbs to himself, "I don't like this, but I guess I might as well go along."
Motioning Nikol to follow him, he, too, dropped to all fours and crawled slowly beneath the big rock.
Beyond the rock, a brisk fire made dimly visible what appeared to be a large cavern. The fire seemed to be in the exact center of a large underground room and beyond it Hal thought he could make out the mouths of dark passageways that led off in several directions.
"Come up to the fire and get warm," the big Cossack invited.
The others accepted the invitation, first discarding their heavy outer garments. When all appeared comfortable, the big Cossack spoke.
"Now," he said, addressing Hal, "tell me of Alexis. He is—"
"Dead," Hal interrupted quietly.
Ivan sprang to his feet.