“I’ll have to be very careful of those,” he told himself. “It would be awful to be lost down here in the dark. Why, if that happened I might never find my way out!”
This possibility caused him to become very grave and thoughtful, and without lighting another match he crawled upward along the passageway which he had noted and which he thought must be the way by which to get out of that part of the abandoned mines.
With nothing to guide him, our hero’s progress was necessarily slow. He had to feel ahead every foot for fear of knocking his head on some of the rocks.
But even though his matches were few, Dave would have done better had he lit one of them and surveyed his surroundings again before proceeding further. As it was, he was just thinking of coming to a halt to make up his mind what was best to do next when suddenly his foot came in contact with nothing more substantial than air. He made a wild clutch to save himself, but the next instant slid down and down over some rocks and loose dirt, coming finally to a halt with a shock that knocked nearly all the breath from his body.
“Great Cæsar, that was some tumble!” he muttered, after he had somewhat recovered. “I’ve got to make a light, and that is all there is to it. If I don’t, I may break my neck down here.”
In his pocket Dave kept a packet of letters which he had received from Jessie. He could not bring himself to think of burning the letters, but took each out of its envelope and stowed them safely in his bosom once more. Then he tore the envelopes apart, and made of each a long, curled taper. Having done this, he lit one.
He discovered what had happened. At some time or other, probably while the mines were in operation, a shaft had been cut from one gallery to that at a lower depth. This shaft was a sloping one, and he had rolled down to its bottom.
To get back to the upper level did not look easy, and after Dave had tried it several times he looked about for some other means of getting out of the abandoned mines.
Presently our hero reached a point which filled him with encouragement. He came out upon a much larger passageway, and there saw the remains of a small railroad track, one which had evidently been used for mine cars.
“This track must lead out into the open air,” he reasoned. “I remember seeing one of the tracks around the mines the first day we came to this vicinity.”