"Wow! I'm glad I didn't drink that water, or there would be more truth than poetry in that," said Herc.
"I guess they gave me a light dose, for I didn't taste it," said Ned.
"Good thing they did, or I couldn't have roused you so easily."
The two boys cautiously set about exploring the cabin. It was a bare little place, and did not contain much subject matter for investigation. There was a door forward leading to the wireless room, but it was locked. Ned listened at the keyhole, but the instruments were silent.
"Hullo!" said Herc, suddenly halting and pointing downward at the cabin floor. "What's under here, I wonder?"
There was a ring at his feet. Ned lost no time in laying hold of it. He gave it a sharp tug, and it came up easily, bringing with it a section of flooring to which it had been attached.
It revealed a dark, yawning space under the cabin floor, into which both boys peered eagerly.
"There's something in there, but I can't make out what," said Ned presently. "Wait a jiffy, till I strike a match."
A lucifer was soon lighted, and Ned, bending over, held it inside the hole in the cabin floor. He recoiled with a jump and a suppressed cry, as if he had suddenly discovered a nest of rattlesnakes.
"What's up?" demanded Herc, who had been able to detect nothing but a metallic glitter, like that of steel.