“Hi, there!” Jack called. “Pry this stone out of the doorway!”
“Where are you?” demanded Pat. “Which one of the walls do you want us to push in? You’re a nice chump, getting in a scrape like this!” he added, with a laugh which must have been exasperating to the unseen boy.
“You’ll find a crevice where the back of the cave joins the south wall,” Jack said, his voice coming faintly to the ears of his chums. “Put your fingers in and pull. The blooming door opens outward. Hurry! It’s stifling in here!”
After burning nearly all the matches they had in their pockets, and scorching their fingers on the short sticks, Pat and Frank discovered the crevice spoken of and inserted the ends of their fingers.
“Pull!” yelled Jack. “Pull, you loafers! It is moving!”
In a moment the south half of the back wall swung out so suddenly that both boys were thrown from their feet and Jack, who had been pushing with his whole strength, came tumbling on top of them as they lay on the floor of the cavern.
“What sort of a combination is this, anyway?” demanded Pat, struggling to his feet. “If I get any more bumps to-day I’ll be taking something that belongs to some one else. I’ve had my share.”
Frank sprang to the opening as soon as he could disentangle himself from the collection of arms and legs and looked in. All was dark and still inside, and a gust of dead air struck him in the face. Pat, leaning over his shoulder, laid a hand on the rock which had opened so strangely, and the next instant it closed softly, sliding into the opening like a door operated by well-oiled machinery.
“Now you’ve done it!” Frank exclaimed, disgustedly, as Pat threw himself against the stone in a vain effort to force it open again.
“No harm done,” Jack exclaimed. “There’s only a stinking cavern in there. Wow! I can feel snakes and lizzards crawling on me now! Come! Let us get into the open air. Stifles like a grave in here.”