"This is too bad," observed Don. "We won't want to go underground while we are so hot. We may get a chill."
"We can rest awhile at the entrance to the cave," said Robert Menden. "We'll need it before climbing over the rough rocks to where that crack is located."
Reaching the entrance, they threw themselves on a grassy bank in the shade to rest.
Although they did not know it, Joseph Farvel was close at hand, and now watched them intently.
The fellow felt that they had discovered something, and wished to ascertain, if possible, just what it was.
"I'll dog them; see if I don't," he said to himself.
The negroes he had with him were brawny fellows, willing to do almost anything he ordered.
Presently Bob, feeling rested, sprang up and began to walk around near the entrance to the cave, and then toward a nearby pool of water.
His course took him out of sight of his companions, and close to where Farvel and the negroes lay concealed in the tall grass and trailing vines.
As the boy approached, a sinister look came over the man's face, and he whispered a few words to his black companions. They evidently understood, and nodded in agreement with him.