“Then we’d better make tracks for the other end of this here tunnel. From the sound back there they’re taking the dead one out-in pieces! When they’ve got that done they’ll be after us agin—”
“Let’s have the flash. There’s something ahead here. It moves ”
Dard put a tentative hand out-to encounter the smoothness of metal. And when Santee snapped on the torch beam he discovered that he was fronting a cylinder, not unlike the one they had pulled out of the seaside tube. But this one was mounted on a grooved fin made to run along the monorail. There was no way of getting past it, since its sides were within inches of the tunnel walls. They would have to push it before them if they were going to get out the other end.
That worked properly for about five minutes and then an extra hard push sent the carrier ahead to stop with a clang. All their shoving force could force it along no farther. Dard flattened himself against the wall and flashed the torch down the side of the cylinder.
“There’s a cave-in!”
Santee massaged his bearded chin with a dirt-streaked hand. “Kinda bottles us up, don’t it? Give us the light and let’s have a look along these walls.”
Several paces back he found a niche, not too roomy and still accommodating some oddly shaped tools which Santee kicked aside.
“Repairman’s safety hole,” he explained. “Thought maybe we might happen on one of these here. Now, suppose we work that there truck past here and get ahead to look at the damage.”
Pushing the carrier before them had been an easy task. But getting it back again was another matter altogether, especially when there were no proper handholds on its smooth surface. As they worked at it, hampered by their necessarily cramped position, they broke nails and tore fingers raw. The stubborn thing moved with frustrating slowness. While, to rasp the nerves, sounds from the entrance told them that the body which had obstructed passage there was being rapidly disposed of.
At last the car was pushed far enough along so that they could get out of the niche behind it. Without waiting to take up their packs, they ran to the cave-in, only to be met by a hard mound of earth and rock. Santee dug the barrel of his rifle into it, disturbing only a scattered clod or two. To dig a way through that they needed tools, and time-and they had neither as the big man was forced to acknowledge.