“Mine isn’t any too good, either,” said Tom.
“I put a new battery in mine yesterday, so it’s all right yet,” said Phil. “We’ll just use mine, and you can both save yours for emergencies. They’ll recuperate if you don’t use them for a little while.”
Phil had taken careful note of their direction, and was making his way unerringly through the many twists and turns of the underground passage, when suddenly he was halted by an exclamation from Dick.
“Just a minute, Phil,” he said, excitedly. “Where’s Tom?”
“Tom,” echoed Phil. “How do I know? I thought he was right in back of you.”
“So he was, up to a minute ago,” said Dick. “He stopped for a moment to tie his shoe, and I thought he’d catch right up to us. Flash your light back, and see if we can locate him.”
But there was no sign of Tom, and when his friends shouted his name they received no answer but a hollow echo that came reverberating out of the dim reaches of the tunnel.
Phil and Dick gazed at each other in consternation.
“We passed a fork just a little way back,” said Dick. “He must have taken the wrong turning.”
“Let’s go back, then, quick!” exclaimed Phil, and the two boys raced back to the point where the subterranean passage forked. They raced down the second tunnel, only to find that, after a short distance, that also forked into three branches.