Alongside of the track Dave found some bits of wood and dried brush, and he lost no time in fixing himself a sort of torch by tying some of the brush to a stick with a bit of string he chanced to be carrying in his pocket.
Armed with the torch, he set off along the mine track and followed this for a considerable distance. Then he came to where the track branched in two directions, and once more came to a halt. Which track to pursue he did not know, and consulting his pocket compass did not help him in solving the problem. Finally he concluded to follow the track on the right, and so continued his journey underground.
He had gone but a short distance when he came upon a decidedly gruesome object. This was the body of a dead German soldier huddled up in a heap among the rocks. The fellow had been dead for some time, probably weeks, if not months, and our hero lost no time in putting distance between himself and this awful reminder of the realities of war.
At last he felt he ought to be near one of the openings of the abandoned mines. The track was now much broken, and a short distance further came to an end at a point where several other galleries crossed that in which he was traveling.
“Here’s a fine state of affairs,” he murmured to himself. “Now what’s to be done?”
It must be admitted that Dave was growing somewhat alarmed. The blows on the head and the tumble he had taken a short while before had weakened him, and he could hardly keep his feet.
He opened his canteen and took several swallows of water, and also bathed his forehead. This refreshed him for the time being; and he moved on again, this time taking a passageway which pointed southward.
“If I keep on moving southward I’m bound to get out of this old mine sooner or later,” was the way he reasoned. “And I’ll be coming out somewhere in the vicinity of our quarters.”
But the passageways of the abandoned mines were by no means straight, and soon our hero became so mixed up that he did not know which way to turn. He tried to get back to the gallery where the track was located, thinking to follow it in the opposite direction. But now the track had vanished completely.
At last he had to sit down and rest. He wondered if it was still dark outside.