“Let’s go back, then,” said Betty.
“And not look at the cave after all this trouble? We’re almost there, too.”
“O, all right. We can easily go away if we see anything we don’t like. Let’s take a peep into those bushes behind the cliff on this side before we go around to the entrance. I thought I saw a nest there the other day, but we were having so much fun that I didn’t look closely.”
Thus it chanced that the girls slipped up quietly to a tangle of small trees, roots and bushes that filled a deep angle where the cliff jutted out and the shelf began that led to the entrance of the cave. It was just a song sparrow’s nest, and as they were looking to see if there were any other of the season’s empty nests they heard a dull sound as if something fell not far away. Both girls quickly looked at each other.
“In the cave,” whispered Betty. “Maybe a rock.”
“Let’s keep still a minute.”
“Better sit down,” whispered Betty again. “If there is any one there we can’t be seen here.” The girls crouched down behind the bushes, but peered through. They could hear other slight noises and a scraping sound.
“There isn’t any boat down there,” said Isabel. “I’m going to creep around where I can take a look at the shelf in front of the cave.”
“O, don’t,” begged Betty. But Isabel did, ducking back immediately.
“There’s a box in front of the cave. Somebody’s there of course.”