"But mine can't be as black as yours, 'cause you got all the smoke from both torches."
"Never mind now; if this is gold we can afford to have the tunnel and cave wired with electricity at once," laughed the excited girl.
"Well, let's finish our hunt in the tunnel and then find some more nuggets for Anne and Barbara. They'll want a share, you know," suggested Polly.
"Good gracious, Poll! You're not going on now, are you?"
"Of course! The gold won't melt away, but we've got to close up any opening into outdoors, you know."
"Let's go back and tell the girls and then finish the tunnel work," pleaded Eleanor.
"How silly to worm a way back for the sake of showing off the ore. No, let's do this thing up and then go back to stay for the night. If we don't close up any aperture, a wild beast may crawl through, then what good will the gold do us if we are dead?"
"Sensible as ever! Even gold can't turn your head!" said Eleanor, starting for the narrow place opposite the tunnel they came from. "Funny, isn't it, that this cave should be here just as if it was an inflated bubble in a glass-blower's tube?" said Polly.
"I'll reserve my opinion till I see the end of the tube!" said Eleanor, waiting for Polly to creep into the opening.
After considerable twisting and crawling, Polly first, with her torch, and Eleanor second, they suddenly felt a current of fresh air.