"Very bad. The whole shaft went."
"That means we'll not be able to get out of here."
"We may find a way."
"Well, try to get through to me first. Then we'll see what we're to do."
Joe continued his labors at the rock pile. One by one he managed to dislodge heavy rocks and boulders until at last he had cleared away an aperture of sufficient extent to admit the passage of his body. He shoved the crowbar ahead of him and crawled over the remaining rocks.
Within a few minutes he had reached his brother, who was lying in the same position in which Joe had last seen him.
"How's the foot?"
"All right," Frank answered. "It isn't hurting any. See what you can do with that crowbar."
Joe inserted the end of the crowbar beneath the boulder, resting the middle of the bar on the boulder beneath. Then, exerting all his strength, he weighed down on the bar.
Slowly, gradually, the great rock began to move.