“All quiet along the Potomac,” he announced.
The door dragged a bit on the bottom but they soon had it open. Stygian darkness greeted them as they looked in, but both had flash lights with them and in a moment were throwing the rays about. They were in what appeared to be a natural cave some thirty feet wide and twice as long as the roof being very irregular but averaging about ten feet from the ground. The place was entirely empty, so far as they could see.
“What do you know about it?” Jack asked.
“It would make a good prison,” Bob replied.
“I’ll say it would.”
“Looks as though there might be a passage in the back part there,” Bob said as he started for the back of the cave.
He had taken but a single step, however, when a startled exclamation from Jack caused him to wheel about. By the light of his torch he saw that his brother was struggling in the grasp of a man and as he sprang to his assistance he received a heavy blow on the side of his head which stretched him senseless on the floor.
When consciousness began slowly to drift back he was at first aware only of a severe headache. Slowly he opened his eyes but he might as well have kept them closed. It was so dark that he could see absolutely nothing. For a moment he wondered what it was all about, then memory came back with a rush and he whispered:
“Jack.”
There was no answer and he tried it again a little louder. This time he was relieved when his brother answered.