"Another case of being buried alive, eh?" questioned Stacy. "I told you so. I always am right. But I wasn't when I trusted myself to you. You can get into more trouble, and faster than—-"
"At least I don't try to shave the professor with my revolver," retorted
Tad sharply. "Hark! What was that?"
"I—-I didn't hear anything."
"Sh-h-h!" Tad gripped the arm of his companion. Stacy repressed an "ouch" with some difficulty. The two lads stood listening.
Particles of dirt were rattling from the roots of the fallen tree, sounding like hailstones as they fell to the rocks in the cave. Then a faint ray of light appeared under the bottom of the mass of roots.
"Somebody is coming," whispered Tad. "Stand perfectly still until I tell you to move."
"They can't see us at once. Don't make a sound on your life."
"Wha—-what are you going to do?" whispered Stacy, his teeth chattering audibly.
"Duck, if I get half a chance. But I don't think I shall. There it goes!"
The great mass of roots rose clear of the ground, exposing the full height of the opening, and the eyes of the two Pony Rider Boys grew large at what they beheld there in the framed circle of light,