"Worse."
"Tell me what you have found?"
"Only forty feet of cave-in between us and freedom. That's all."
"I should say that was enough," muttered the lad.
"Ample."
"Is there anything we can do, Mr. Phipps?" spoke up Ned.
"Not a thing. All any of us can do at present is to wait. Knowing we are here, they will lose no time in attempting to get us out. I wish the telephone were working so we might let them know we are all right. We might as well go back. I'll make a trip out here occasionally to learn if they are making any signals to us. They will do this as soon as they can get near enough to the obstruction to make themselves heard."
"Make signals—how?" questioned Ned.
"We use a code, a telegraph code. They will rap with a hammer then we'll answer them."
"But you have no hammer—"