Picking up the torch, which they had thrown upon the ground when they first entered the wonderful cavern, Dick lighted it, and they started up the passage after Reginald Lacy and his dog.
But they could neither see nor hear any signs of them as they trudged along, and at length, when they reached the spot where the four passages met, they were forced to acknowledge that he had eluded them in some unexplained manner.
“Well, what in thunder will we do now?” asked the Yankee, as he took a seat upon the ground.
“Do?” replied the boy. “Why, go on through one of the passages until we find our companions. Let’s make a bee line through the one to our left.”
“All right; I’m with you.”
With Dick in the lead, they started swiftly along the passage.
Presently they heard the sounds of approaching footsteps.
“Somebody coming ter look fer us, I’ll bet a dollar,” remarked Haypole.
“I shouldn’t wonder. What shall we do—go on and meet whoever it is, or wait till they come up?”
“Let’s wait.”