It was evident that he had not yet seen our friends, for, as the balloon, which was now about half collapsed, settled upon the earth, he sprang from the basket and rushed in the direction taken by the man and dog.
A sudden thought came in Dick Vincey’s head.
“Hide—quick!” he whispered to his companions. “He will most likely enter the opening and go on down.”
In the twinkling of an eye all hands sprang to the other side of the obelisk and concealed themselves in a thicket.
They were not a moment too soon. The next instant the man who had so strangely landed in that wild spot rushed up to the base of the obelisk and came to an abrupt halt.
An exclamation of surprise left his lips as he beheld the opening in the stone shaft.
“By heavens!” he exclaimed, loud enough for the swamp explorers to hear; “Reginald Lacy, you shall not escape me, even if I have to follow you into the very center of the earth!”
Then he boldly entered the doorway and began descending the stone steps.
Five minutes later our friends made their way to the entrance again and listened for some sound.
But they could hear nothing.