The fugitives promised that his suggestions should be considered in the light of positive commands. And then, as Lena-Wingo arose to go, he paused a minute or two while he explained a little secret about the cavern which he believed was unknown to everybody except himself. This was, that there was another means of ingress and egress to it, the ancient occupants of the same having probably constructed a means of escape in case their enemies should press them too hard. This consisted of a narrow underground tunnel, running from the couch where Rosa had obtained her brief rest, and rising to the surface beneath a broad flat stone, near a mass of dense undergrowth. The entrance to it from the interior of the cavern was covered in the same manner, and it is hardly likely that Evans himself was aware of its existence. The stone that hid the mouth at either end of the tunnel was so thin that a man could lift it with a slight effort, and, no doubt, at some time or other they had answered a good purpose.
Jo and Ned were delighted with this discovery, and were confident that, if a company of Iroquois should swoop down upon them, they could keep them at bay until nightfall, and then steal out without discovery. Nothing more remained for Lena-Wingo to say; and, as he was a man of few words, he vanished almost immediately into the forest.
"I don't apprehend that there is danger of our disregarding the wishes of Lena-Wingo this time," said Ned, with a laugh, when they found themselves alone.
"No, I'll be hanged if there is!" replied Jo. "We have done that once or twice, and it has always got us into trouble where he had to help us out again."
"I supposed that he would be angry when we spoke about it," remarked Rosa, "but he showed no feeling at all."
"I understand how that came about," added Jo, with a significant look toward his friend. "Ned has made him believe it was all his fault, and Lena-Wingo has poured out his wrath upon his head, so that none was left for us."
"Is that true?" asked Rosa, looking into the face of her admirer, who blushed and tried to turn the conversation.
As there was no escaping the accusation, Ned had to take a scolding from Rosa herself, who loved him none the less for this little act of self-abnegation.
"See here!" exclaimed the victim, "One of the suggestions of Lena-Wingo was that Jo and I should keep a lookout while the day lasted, so that none of the big Indians might steal down here and eat up Rosa right before our eyes. What do you say, Jo?"
"That's what Red Jack told us," responded his friend, "and if he said it, why, that insured its being a wise suggestion. I'm ready, and while we're gone, Rosa ought to withdraw into the cavern."