Guided by the candle, the hunter went to the mouth of the cave and began digging away the mass of earth and rocks that had slid down and obstructed the opening.
“Goin’ to be quite a job,” remarked the miner, as he looked over the mass. “It’ll take a good while.”
“There’s plenty of us to do the work,” replied Broswick.
He attacked the pile and made the dirt fly. After he had labored fifteen minutes Nestor relieved him. The miner, from his experience in digging into the earth, made more progress than had the hunter. Nestor kept at it for more than half an hour, refusing to yield the spade to any one.
“There,” he said, when he stopped to rest, “I’ve made quite a hole.”
The boys and Professor Snodgrass took turns, and then Nestor went at it again.
“I wish I had a drink,” remarked the miner. “This is dry work.”
“Nothin’ easier,” said Broswick. He took a second candle, which the miner had, and walked to the rear of the cave.
In a little while he returned with a big gourd full of cold water.