“Can you see anything that looks like a grate before that opening?” asked Carl. “I’m sure I can’t.”
“Nothing doing in that direction!” was the reply.
At regular intervals, now, a great, lithe, crouching body could be seen moving back and forth at the opening, and now and then a cat-like head was pushed into the room! At such times the eyes of the animal, whatever it was, shone like balls of red fire in the reflection of the electric light. Although naturally resourceful and courageous, the two boys actually abandoned hope of ever getting out of the place alive!
“I wonder how many wild animals there are in there?” asked Carl in a moment. “It seems to me that I have seen two separate figures.”
“There may be a dozen for all we know,” Jimmie returned. “Gee!” he exclaimed, reverting to his habit of concealing serious thoughts by lightly spoken words, “Daniel in the lion’s den had nothing on us!”
“How many shots have you in your automatic?” asked Carl, drawing his own from his pocket. “We’ll have to do some shooting, probably.”
“Why, I have a full clip of cartridges,” Jimmie answered.
“But have you?” insisted Carl.
“Why, surely, I have!” returned Jimmie. “Don’t you remember we filled our guns night before last and never——”
“I thought so!” exclaimed Carl, ruefully. “We put in fresh clips night before last, and exploded eight or nine cartridges apiece on the return trip to Quito. Now, how many bullets do you think you have available? One or two?”