"Joe and Frank Hoskins!" cried Jerry, a new terror in his voice. "I heard Joe shriek!"
Slim, catching his meaning, snatched a rifle from beside one of the bodies, and with the butt of it began pounding frantically upon the side of the cave where the entrance had been.
There was no answering knock.
"Joe," shouted Jerry in a frenzied tone. "Joe! Can you hear me?"
No answer came, either from Joe or Frank.
"Pinned under tons of that stuff," gasped Slim, the words trembling upon his lips and a tear trickling down his cheek.
"I do not think so," the lieutenant assured them. "Both Joe and Frank were upon the outside when we entered."
"But they would try to get us out," said Jerry. "If they were out there they would give us some sort of signal that they were trying to help us."
"We might not be able to hear them," answered the lieutenant, even against his own judgment. "But look at it this way. Even though they never were inside here, they had a fair idea of what the place was like. They knew from that that we needed help, and needed it quickly. If one went alone, and anything happened to him on the way, the other might wait here indefinitely, not knowing whether he had got assistance or not. By going together they took the safest course."
And Lieutenant Mackinson's reasoning was correct. That was exactly the way Joe and Frank had figured it out, and, the latter forgetting all about his own wound, they had started as fast as they could for the American front.