“He must be in a faint, after falling and hitting his head,” suggested Mr. Bobbsey. “I’ll go in with the torch and see.”
“I’m coming, too!” insisted Mrs. Bobbsey, while Mrs. Watson said she would stay outside with Freddie.
Bert’s father pulled off some dry bark, and, twisting it into a torch, set fire to it. This gave him and his wife light enough to see, though rather dimly, as they entered the small cavern. It was just about high enough to stand upright in, and seemed to be a cave that had been hollowed out by the washing of high water in the glen.
Holding the torch before him, Mr. Bobbsey went inside, followed by his wife. He had taken only a few steps before he suddenly cried:
“Stop! Don’t come any farther! There’s a hole here, and you may tumble in!”
“Is Bert there?” asked Mrs. Bobbsey. Her husband flashed the torch down and as far ahead of him as he could, and then he said:
“Yes, he’s here! And he seems to be all right, too. He’s moving. I guess he was dazed by the blow on his head. Hold the torch, Mary, and I’ll lift him out.”
This was done, and a little later Bert, in the arms of his father, was carried out of the cave, his mother following with the torch.
“Is he all right?” asked Mrs. Watson.
Bert, getting down out of his father’s arms, answered for himself: