"Look under the rock as it tips back," he told Betty. "See if there isn't a hole under it. Big enough for a man to go through!"
"Yes!" answered Betty after a breathless fashion. "Yes. A little more. Oh, come see. It looks almost like steps going down!"
"I'll have to force it back a little farther," he returned. "Maybe it will balance there. If not we'll have to get loose stones and wedge under it."
He pried it further and further until at last it would not budge another inch. He loosened his grip a trifle on the rifle-lever and the rock began to settle back into its former place. But Betty had seen and already was bringing fragments of stone to block under the edges.
"Now," she called. "Come see."
He jumped down; the boulder, wedged securely, lay on its side. He went to Betty and from what they saw before them they looked into each other's eyes wonderingly.
"The tale was true," he said with conviction. "You and I have found the way to the treasure."
In the floor was an opening a couple of feet square. Very rude, uneven steps led down, vanishing in a forbidding black dark. Kendric lay flat and looked down. Little by little he could penetrate a bit further, but in the end there lay a region of impenetrable darkness into which the steps merged.
"You're going down there!" gasped Betty.
"Am I?" he laughed. "You wouldn't want us to skip out tonight without even having looked into it, would you?"