Finally, a signal came—two short tugs. Gently, the men began to pull on the rope.
“Wentz is coming up!” one of the workmen shouted. “It’s hard pulling!”
“Then he must have found Bart!” Judy cried, hugging Kathleen in her excitement.
Minutes passed as the men kept at the rope. Then from the hole staggered Wentz and the young man he supported.
Bart was barefoot and his bare back had been covered by the ranger’s shirt. His lips were blue with cold, but he grinned with the spirit of a conqueror.
“Captain Hager!” he mumbled, embracing the old man. “I did it!”
“You sure did, son,” the captain answered, tears streaming down his grimy cheeks. “You almost did for yourself too.”
“I thought you’d get me out,” Bart said. “I never gave up, never for a minute.”
“You can thank these Scouts,” Captain Hager said, smiling at Judy and Kathleen. “They pestered me to go down into the cave with ’em. If they hadn’t, we’d never have learned that you went through the siphon.”
“It was a wonderful but terrifying experience,” Bart mumbled. “My father—”