“We’ll make this our headquarters, and bring the rest of the gold up here,” suggested Tinny.
Cromley, being lame, was tired out and could not scramble down the mountain and up again, but the others went.
The last of the precious metal had been stowed in the cave and the adventurers were about to sit down outside to rest when a figure came staggering down the trail. It was the figure of a man, dirty and with torn clothes, his face and hands covered with mud and blood. His head was tied up in a bloody rag, and altogether he was the most forlorn specimen of humanity the party had seen since the war in France.
“Water! Water!” he hoarsely gasped, as he sank exhausted on a stone.
“Why, it’s Dolt Haven!” cried Ned.
“So it is,” gasped Jerry. “What’s the matter? What happened?” he asked, as Bob gave the suffering man a drink from a tin cup.
“It was the landslide,” muttered Dolt. “It caught us all. Noddy and Jack are buried back there! I managed to get out, but I couldn’t free them. I said I’d go for help. I—I got this far, but——”
“Where are they? Tell us! We’ll save them!” cried Jerry. “Get ready, fellows,” he added. “We’ve got to go to the rescue!”