"You fellows want to be careful how you back up," grumbled Chester Waltham. "You came pretty close to smashing into me."
"Well, you should have backed up yourself when you heard us yell," retorted Dick, sharply. "We didn't know how bad that blast was going to be."
Tom had already started forward, and in a moment more Dick and Chester Waltham followed. But hardly had they done this when the Italian on the road suddenly let out another yell.
"Boss! Boss! You-a stop!" he cried. "You-a stop queek! De two-a blas'! You-a stop!" and he danced up and down in added alarm.
Those who had gone on paid no attention to him, and an instant later passed around a corner of the cliff. As they did this they saw a man on the open hillside waving his arm and shouting something they could not understand.
"Tom, something is wrong——" began Sam, when, of a sudden, his words were swallowed up in a fierce roar and rumble that seemed to shake the very ground beneath them. They saw a flash of fire in an opening of the cliff, and the next instant a burst of flames and smoke was followed by a rain of rocks all around them!