“We found it, so why shouldn’t they?”
“It was an accident the way we found it. And it is possible that they may not.”
“Well, let’s not cross our bridges before we get there. Let’s do the best we can and look carefully.”
The boys spent fully a half hour pounding their fists against the wall, clawing with their fingers. But all in vain. They sat down on the hard ground to rest a bit and take counsel together. But just then Jack felt a slight puff of cool air and he turned his face to see the door swinging out. He jumped up and grasped it. Simultaneously Paul and Jack cried out. Wallace exclaimed, “Hold it! Let’s see how it works.”
Only a few minutes was necessary to discover that the door worked on an axis and the slightest push anywhere along the rim of the door, set it swinging. But to make sure, two of the boys remained on the other end, the door was swung to, then Jack swung it open again from the inside.
Jack remained at the door and held it open. Wallace showed Paul and Bluff around. They guessed that all the large cases—there were six of them—contained rifles, while the smaller boxes contained cartridges. In about five minutes, they were all prepared to leave again. Jack said, “Wait a minute, fellows. Take a deep breath, then I’ll ask you something.”
The boys breathed in. “All right. Now what?” asked Paul.
“How does the air appear to be, fresh or stale?”
Wallace sniffed the air again and answered, “Fresh,” to which the others agreed.