“Wait and you’ll see,” was the reply, and Nat once more led the way up the steps.
At one point the door did not fit closely, and it was here that Nat inserted one end of the plank.
“Catch hold,” he told Joe, and then using the plank as a pry the two boys bent all their strength toward raising the door.
As the portal sloped outward the stones with which the Harleys had weighted it slipped back, and it was not long before the two lads were free once more.
“Thank goodness, we’ve seen the last of that place,” said Joe, as they stood in the open with the wind howling furiously about them and the rain beating across the sands, for the storm had once more revived with more fury than ever.
“Not the last of it, Joe, for we’re coming back there.”
“What for, I’d like to know? Just for old acquaintance sake?”
“No; for a more material reason. Didn’t you notice those boxes and bales in one corner? Old Harley must have used it as a storehouse for his smuggled stuff just as he did the cave, and I think they were intending to visit it to-night when we surprised them.”
“Ginger! Nat, I guess you’re right. Maybe those things are valuable.”
“Not a question of that. But now let’s get on our way back to the wireless station. Nate may need our help by this time.”