As it was still pitch dark around them, Snap lit a match and set fire to a dry bush. By the light, they saw they were in a hollow that was not unlike a cave in the mountain. At their feet ran the stream that had carried them forward, disappearing under some overhanging rocks. On all sides were rocks and dirt, with here and there a decayed tree root, showing that they were not very far under the earth's surface.
"Here's an adventure," was Shep's comment. "We must be careful, or we'll bring down that dirt above us and be buried alive."
"We are about buried alive now," said Giant. "I'd give a good bit to be out of this hole."
Stepping from the brushwood, the boys made their way to the dirt and rocks beyond. By this time each had a kind of a torch, so the place was fairly well lighted.
Walking back a distance, they saw where the smoke curled to—-through the shaft down which they had fallen so unceremoniously. But the top of the shaft was hidden from their view.
"I don't know how we are going to get up that," was Shep's comment, after looking the ground over. "If we try it we may bring all the dirt and rocks down on our heads."
"Just my idea of it," answered Snap. "Let us try to find some other way out."
They walked back and forth in the cave and then, by common consent, sat down on some flat rocks to consider the situation.
Nobody felt like joking, for all felt the seriousness of the situation.
"That water must come to the surface somewhere," said Snap. "But it may be a good distance from here."