"I wish you'd hold 'em back, sir," exclaimed Alkali to the captain, who with several other officers was following close at the scout's heels.
"Why?"
"Because I want to examine the entrance to the Cave to find if Red is really in there. But if them troopers, crowd round, they'll spoil any tracks there may be."
Realizing that Alkali spoke sound sense, the captain faced about.
"No man can come nearer the Cave than twenty feet until I give permission," he shouted.
Amazed at the command, the troopers asked one another what new development could have transpired. But their curiosity was quickly allayed by the sight of the half-breed creeping about on his hands and knees.
Interest in the scout's discoveries was forgotten for the moment by the officers as they felt a sudden outpouring of air, followed several seconds later by a sucking downward of the atmosphere.
"What in the world can that be?" they asked one another.
"It's the 'Breathing Cave,'" grunted Alkali; in explanation.
"It sure is just like a person breathing," asserted Captain Smythe, after he and several of his companions had dropped to their knees near the crevice in the rock and felt the outward and inward rush of air against their faces.