The walls of the little cavern were examined, but not a single indenture rewarded the searchers.
“We must get out of here,” McKay said, with stern determination. “We are not twenty rods from Devil’s Bridge, and once across it, we are safe. The ceiling may be perforated.”
“True! Lucky thought!” cried Kit South; and the next moment he was running his tomahawk over the roof of the cave.
“Here is a hole,” he said, suddenly; “but I can barely reach it.”
“It leads up the river—I feel it,” said Harris; “but how can we reach it?”
A way by which the hole in the ceiling could be utilized was soon found.
Kit South, supported by McKay’s herculean shoulders, clambered into the opening, and announced that he was in a corridor which led to the river.
This was joyful news indeed, and he drew the young ranger and Artena from the cavern. It then took the united strength of all to draw the immense form of McKay into the corridor, and for a moment they paused to recover breath.
A piercing shriek broke the silence, and startled every one.
“That was ’Reesa’s voice, by Heaven!” cried Kit South, springing forward; but McKay held him back.