“If I had my rifle with’ me, I’d put a bullet in it,” declared Don, bitterly regretting the absence of his weapon, which had flown from his hand when he fell.
“One thing is certain, that I won’t get a wink of sleep to-night,” affirmed Teddy, staring fearfully through the dark in the direction from which the ghostly visitor had come.
“I guess I’m with you there,” replied Don.
But nature was stronger than all their beliefs and resolutions, and before long they were sleeping the sleep of absolute exhaustion, from which they did not wake until a pale suffusion of light through the cavern told them it was morning.
The light, faint as it was, brought them new courage. And if they ever needed courage, it was then.
They were ravenously hungry, but they took only a nibble at their scanty store, far more precious to them at the moment than its weight in gold. They washed it down with a mere swallow of water, and then set about discovering a way of escape from what was now their prison, but threatened to become their tomb.
“Do you know, Brick,” said Don thoughtfully, “I’ve changed my opinion about that place we fell down? I don’t believe it was a trap.”
“What was it then?” asked Teddy.
“I think it was an entrance for those who were supposed to have a right to come here,” replied Don. “In the first place, if they’d wanted to kill intruders, they’d probably have made a better job of it—put a few spikes at the bottom for them to be caught on, or some playful thing like that.”
“Don’t!” urged Brick, with a shudder.