Alarmed by the thought that Blanche might have again relapsed into unconsciousness, Ruth was about to speak softly to her when a faint far-off sound set her aquiver. Was she dreaming or had she really heard it? Again it came, the distant ring of voices hallooing her name. Shifting her burden to the floor of the cave, Ruth stumbled to her feet and, moving quickly toward the blocked entrance, began to shout an answer at the top of her lungs.
“What are you doing?” was the querulous question. “What is it? Stop screaming. You hurt my head.”
Ruth paid no attention. Again and again, she repeated her frantic cries, Blanche expostulating with every shout. Though she listened desperately between calls, the welcome halloo she had just heard sounded only twice more, each time more faintly. It told her that her own voice had not been strong enough to penetrate the barrier that shut them in, and thus reach the ears of the faithful searchers. Overcome by the bitterness of her disappointment, Ruth dropped limply to the floor and sobbed aloud.
Her wild burst of tears did more toward bracing up Blanche than had all her previous ministrations.
“What is it, Ruth? Please tell me everything. I’m all right now.” Pulling herself together, Blanche crawled to where the other girl lay huddled, guided by the sound of her sobs. One of her hands strayed until it touched Ruth’s brown braids and rested there. “I know what’s happened to us. We’ve been caught in the cave. It didn’t come to me until you began to cry. Then I understood why you had shouted. Did you hear someone call, or were you just trying to get help?”
“I heard the girls. I know I heard them.” Ruth stopped crying and sat up. “I’m glad you are all right again, Blanche. It makes it easier for me to tell you how things are with us. You remember the way the rocks jutted out above this cave? Well, I think they just suddenly gave way. Maybe for years they’ve been gradually getting ready to fall. You’ve read about such things. You know I was walking around near that ledge when I found the arrow-head. That might have started the whole thing, though I don’t see how it could. Maybe Jane and Frances helped it along. You see, they started for the ledge before you and I left the crowd. I don’t believe anyone but myself saw you go. I’m afraid nobody saw me follow you. I didn’t say anything when I went.” Not intending this as a reproach, she continued hurriedly. “Those shouts we heard prove that they are hunting us. I can’t believe that we’ll have to stay here long. Surely Blue Wolf will find us. I’m putting my faith in him.”
“I—I—hope—so,” came the quavering response. For the first time in her selfish life, Blanche felt the clutch of remorse. She alone was responsible for the misfortune that had befallen them. Always ready to blame others rather than herself, she had been convicted at last by her own conscience. “How—how—you—must hate me, Ruth,—for—bringing—this—on—you.” Her voice died to a sobbing whisper.
“I don’t hate you at all,” was the prompt assurance. “I’d rather you wouldn’t talk about—well—some things. Let’s both put our minds to work to try to think what we’d best do. I was wondering when I first saw this cave, if it went on underground and opened at some other place in the woods. Looking in at it, I thought it went back quite a way. It might be the beginning of a secret passage that the Indians used long ago to get away from their enemies. For all we know, it might go clear across the island and come out on the opposite shore of the lake.
“There’s plenty of air here. If the opening we came in at was the only one, blocking it would shut off the air. I’ve felt a little draft ever since I first sat up after the crash. What we must do is to find where it comes from. Let’s stand up back to back and each walk ahead in opposite directions until we touch the walls. We both know from what little we saw of it that the cave’s not large. Then we’ll feel up and down the walls, walking along till we meet. In that way we’ll manage to get around the whole cave, and if there is an opening, we can’t miss it.”
Blanche meekly agreeing, the two at once proceeded to follow out Ruth’s plan. To go over every inch of the jagged walls as high as they could reach was a tiresome labor, particularly to Ruth, who was obliged to work single-handed. On entering the cave, she had judged it to be about ten by eight feet, though she had not been able to see back into the shadows. Now it seemed three times that size. Every few seconds she would call out hopefully. “Have you found it?” only to be answered by a discouraged “No.”