“He’s a tank, all right!” Jimmie agreed. “And he’ll be looking for the joy water in about ten minutes. When he gets good and gay, we’ll make a sneak! What do you think of our being down here in a hole like this, anyhow, when we came out to ride on flying machines?” the boy added, in a tone of disgust. “It’s just rotten, that’s what it is!”
“And we’ll get the razzle-dazzle from Ben, too!” complained Carl.
“Do you really think it was the Ann’s motors you heard?” asked Jimmie, in a moment. “If the boys are up in the machine, they ought to soon find out what’s going on here.”
“If Ben is up in the machine, you mean. Mr. Havens isn’t able to take a trip in the air and won’t be for several days.”
“That’s a fact,” Jimmie answered gravely, “and I’m afraid Ben can’t do very much alone.”
In ten minutes the boys heard footsteps proceeding stealthily down the cavern. The searchlight still showed at the entrance to the dungeon-like place where the boys sat, but Jimmie seemed to think its round eye remained too steadily on one point.
“Look here,” he said in a whisper to Carl, “this lovely guard of ours has propped up the electric so as to make us think he’s holding it and gone out after some of the funny stuff in the barrels!”
“Then we don’t need any one to tell us what to do!” Carl answered.
The boys moved forward and looked out into the passage. The electric was propped against the wall and the retreating figure of the guard could be seen at the point where the cavern was divided by the wall of rock.
“Put out the light and we’ll sneak along!” whispered Carl.