"Certainly not, unless I can see the rascal decently. Now let's advance slowly. Can you see anything yet?" asked the other.
"Only a dark spot. I hardly think it's a bear, for by now we would have heard growls of some sort," Frank replied.
"Cubs, perhaps; this is the time of year for them."
"Yes, but that was not a mother bear Bluff shot, you see, and the father would hardly be in here with the cubs. I never heard of such a thing. No. You see, just as I said, it's only a lot of stuff where the old chap had his bed. The smoke made him mad, it seems. Must have had a previous experience in getting smoked out, and simply couldn't stand for it."
"And the cave ends here, that is, the part of it big enough for our passage. So, after a look around, perhaps we'd better go back. To tell the truth, I thought I heard one of the boys shouting just then," said Jerry, whose ears were unusually keen.
"Probably Bluff, just working off a little more of his enthusiasm. This has been a big night for him, Jerry. And that gun—well, it won't do for you to poke fun at it any more, you understand."
They investigated to see what the draught of air meant, and concluded that the crevice might have another opening further on, though it was out of their reach, by reason of the smallness of the passage.
"Back to the camp it is, then. No more bears to-night, I reckon," sighed Jerry, visibly disappointed because he was not to be permitted to share in the honors that had fallen to Bluff.
So they began to make their way back to the exit.
Frank pushed on with increased speed, for it seemed to him that he, too, had heard some sort of sounds outside that might bear investigation. Could the farmer and his man have returned during their absence, and, cowing the two guardians of the camp, carried the bound boy off to his servitude again?