"It's giving way!" cried Frank. "Just a little more—a little more!"
By means of the bar and the principles of leverage Joe was able to apply much more strength to the removal of the boulder than if he had tried to move it with his bare hands. He shifted his grasp, bore down on the bar again, and the great boulder rose higher.
"Good," declared Frank, dragging himself forward. "I'm free."
He extricated his foot from the crevice and Joe lessened his weight on the bar. The boulder fell back into place again. But Frank was no longer a prisoner.
"That's that!" Frank ejaculated, scrambling to a sitting position and beginning to rub his ankle to restore circulation. "I'm out of that little jam, anyway, thanks to you and that crowbar."
Joe sat down on a near-by rock.
"We're up against a worse dilemma now," he said.
Frank looked grave.
"I know it. Still, there may be a way out. You say there's no use trying to get back up the shaft?"
"None at all. The whole place caved in with a crash."