"All right, then. You can use the lamp," conceded Dalzell, bringing it forth from his pocket and handing it over to Dick.
"Let's all hurry and get in there," proposed Tom Reade.
"Nothing like it!" rejoined Dick. "Wouldn't it be fine if we all crawled in there and Dexter and Driggs really happened to be in the neighborhood? They might come along and pen us all in there! Tom, you and Harry will have to stay outside on guard—and keep your eyes wide open."
"Hazelton can keep his ears wide open," suggested Reade. "His ears are the generous, wide-open kind, anyway."
Dick had already thrown himself on his knees, and, holding the lamp ahead of him, he crawled in as fast as he could over the rough, rocky floor of the tunnel.
Dave Darrin was right behind the leader. Third in line came Dan Dalzell, who comforted himself with the thought that, if Dick and Dave encountered anything dangerous, he (Dan) would have loads of time to crawl out again before the danger could assail him.
For more than a dozen feet the tunnel ran irregularly into the rock. Suddenly Dick uttered an excited shout.
"Whh-a-at's the matter?" almost chattered Dalzell. "What's hit you?"
"There's a regular cave here," Dick called back. "A fine, big place!"
At this moment Dave, too, straightened up as he stepped into the cave proper.