“You wait a minute,” Bob said as he began to hitch backward. He remembered feeling a flat stone a few feet back and the thought struck him that it might serve as a shovel.
“Here, try this and see how it works,” he said a moment later passing the rock, which was about a foot long and half as wide, to Jack.
“It’ll be a long hard job but I believe it can be done,” Jack announced after he had worked for about five minutes.
“See if you can get back of me and let me try it.”
“Wait till I get tired. We’ll work in short shifts. It isn’t very hard digging even with this stone but the main trouble is going to be to dispose of the dirt.”
“You work it back of you and then I can push it back of me with my hands,” Bob assured him.
But it was slow hard work. They were so cramped for room that they tired quickly, although they changed places every little while.
“Take it easy, Jack boy,” Bob cautioned. “She’s coming along in good shape and we’re in no hurry.”
“And it’s a lucky thing we aren’t,” Jack chuckled, “or I reckon we’d have to wait till our hurry was over.”
It took exactly three hours by Bob’s watch before Jack declared that he believed he could squeeze through.