THE CAVE
William, wearing a long face, hesitated as he mounted the steps to the
porch of his home. A thousand questions filled his mind which he was
afraid his mother might ask, and he searched for possible answers.
Slumping into a chair, he tried to think how to meet any situation that
might arise. At the same time he was worried about his brother and
wondered what might have happened to him. He didn’t hear his mother
come out on the porch. Her voice startled him as she asked, “What are
you sitting out here for, William?”
He shrugged his shoulders. “Just like that, mother. Resting up.”
“Did you win the game?”
“No. No, mother, we lost.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.” She looked at him and saw how miserable he
felt imagining that it was because of the lost game. She tried to cheer
him up by saying, “Don’t feel so badly, son. It’s not so terrible to
lose a game.”
“Yes, mother.”
“Where is Wallace?”
The question came suddenly and hit him like a bombshell. He expected
it, yet he was caught off guard. Hesitating, trying to think of the
exact words he was going to utter he finally said, “He went with Jack;
said he’d stay there for supper.”
“Very well.” She smiled down at him. “You’d better go and wash up.”
He rose and entered the house. He took a shower and changed his clothes
and fussed, trying very hard to delay his coming down to the dining
room. When he heard his mother call him for the second time, he left
his room and descended the stairs. Entering the dining room his eyes
almost popped out of his head to see his twin brother and Jack at the
table. His father noticed the look of consternation on his face and
asked, “Anything wrong, son? You look pale.”
“No, Dad. I feel fine and dandy.” Trying to keep his voice level as
possible, he asked, “I thought you were staying at Jack’s for supper?”
Wallace had a mouthful. “Changed our minds,” he mumbled.
William was overjoyed. Passing behind his brother’s chair, Wallace got
poked in the head. It was a signal of affection rather than of anger.
Sitting down at the table, William was all smiles and suddenly he
remembered that he was terribly hungry.
When the boys met, Wallace was attacked with a million questions, but
at first he wouldn’t answer a single one. When the time came, he told
his story. A lot of discussion ensued. One thing was agreed upon by
all, however. They had to go and investigate the cave while they had
the chance. Tomorrow was Sunday. So they would leave in the afternoon,
camp out for the night and return the following day. After deciding
upon the plan, Nuthin’ raised another question. “Don’t you think it’s
about time we informed the police or government agents?” he asked.
Paul answered quickly and precisely. “No. Absolutely no.”
“W-w-why not?” queried Bluff.
“For a thousand reasons,” replied Paul. “But one is sufficient. If we
tell the police, they’ll most likely put some guards there and the
secret will leak out, then that gang will get wise and beat it.”
That seemed to satisfy most of them but Nuthin’ was insistent. “But
what can we do by ourselves?” he demanded.
“We’ll just have to wait and see.”
They met at the outskirts of the town, coming there in twos and
threes; they didn’t want anyone to see them and ask them embarrassing
questions. They carried with them only enough provisions to last them
until the following day. Hiking briskly, with a minimum of rest stops,
the group arrived at their destination at about five o’clock. Holding a
conference, it was decided that only Wallace and Jack would enter the
cave, while the other boys hid themselves at various distances, and
kept a sharp lookout. Before the group parted, Paul warned the two,
“Now don’t stay there too long. We’ll give you forty minutes. If you’re
not out by then, we will come after you.”
The two nodded in agreement. Waiting for the others to take their
places of hiding, they finally heard Paul’s whistle, the signal for
them to proceed. Wallace and Jack crept forward. At the entrance,
Wallace paused to point out to his friend the remarkable work of
deception. Then, shaking with excitement, he pulled the door ajar and
peeked in. It was dark inside and he saw nothing. Pulling the door a
bit wider, the two boys crept in, and used their flashlights.
Paul and the other boys watched Jack and Wallace enter the cave and saw
the door close behind them. Time dragged on their hands. They lay in
hiding places and watched the sun move steadily in its westward course.
In a couple of hours it would be dark and they had yet to set up camp.
But the boys didn’t think of it. Their minds were in the cave and they
wondered what Jack and Wallace were seeing and finding. Every minute
seemed to them an age. They trembled with excitement. Paul saw William
signal that he wanted to come over, which he did. “Wish they would come
out all ready so we can go in and see what’s inside,” William whispered.
“Give them their allotted time,” Paul answered.
Side by side, they lay there and itched with impatience. Tired
of watching the entrance to the cave, they let their eyes wander
elsewhere. William took out his watch and counted off each minute. As
the forty minutes were drawing to a close, they again glued their eyes
to the entrance of the cave. William whispered, “They’re not out yet.
You think they’re all right?”
“Of course they’re all right. Give them time to come out. They still
have five minutes.”
But when the five minutes were up, the two boys still had not emerged
yet. Paul waited. Five minutes later he called the boys together to
discuss the situation. It was decided that they would wait fifteen
minutes more and if Jack and Wallace were not out by then, Paul and
Bluff were to go in after them, the others were to remain outside.
In the meanwhile, let us see what happened to Jack and Wallace.
Having crept into the cave on their hands and knees, Jack used his
flashlight, throwing the beam of light straight ahead. The cave was
about forty feet deep and beginning at the entrance it gradually
widened until it attained a maximum width of about ten feet. The two
boys crept forward until they came to about the middle of the cave.
Playing their flashlight all around them, they found the place truly
empty—absolutely bare of anything. The two boys looked at each other
dumbfounded. Jack laughed good naturedly. “Can you imagine anything
like it? If we knew nothing about that gang, we couldn’t suspect a
thing by coming into the cave.”
“You’re right,” answered Wallace. “But I have a suspicion that this is
not the whole of the cave.”
Jack snapped his finger enthusiastically. “Those are just my
sentiments,” he cried. “It’s evident that they use this place for a
store room and a hideout. Now if this was all there was to the cave
and they stored their stuff right here, then they would be discovered
by the first person who happened to come upon them. On the other hand,
the fact that they have operated successfully and were not caught shows
that there must be another place leading out from here where they can
quickly hide.”
“I agree with you. And I have been thinking how we can start trying to
find it.”
“And what’s your plan?”
Wallace rested on his haunches. “Notice how simple and smooth the walls
seem to be?”
“That’s right.”
“Well, another part of this cave would have to lead off somewhere
through that wall. And my hunch is that it’s near where we are now, on
both sides and to the end of the cave.”
“Very good. Then you start on that wall, I’ll start on this one, and
we’ll examine carefully every spot. We’ll work so that we meet at the
far end of the cave.”
Wallace agreed and they set to work. With their hands, they went over
every inch of the wall. They had been working like that for perhaps ten
minutes when Jack suddenly screamed, “Wallace! I’ve got it! Here it is!”
Wallace jumped across to his friend’s side. A thick door, about two
feet wide and four feet high, had swung out and remained open. Both
were so excited with their discovery that neither one thought of
determining exactly how it worked. Jack didn’t know what it was that
swung the door open. It just happened. Wallace walked through the door
first, followed by Jack. So enthused were they that neither one paused
long enough to make sure of their exit. As they stepped into this newly
discovered additional cave, Wallace used his flashlight. The beam flew
back and forth, all around the place. The ceiling here was about three
feet higher than in the outside cave. And all around the walls were
stored large cases, boxes, utensils of many sorts and such things.
Wallace gasped, “Look at all that stuff!”
Jack grasped his friend by the elbow. “Yeh,” he muttered. “Let’s take a
look.”
They approached the large cases first. Jack carried his small hatchet
with him. Wallace whispered, “Open up one of these cases first, and do
it so we can nail it up again and make it look as if no one touched it.”
“Right.”
Jack set to work. In the meanwhile, Wallace roamed about, describing
things to Jack as he came across them—cooking utensils, bedding,
several iron cots, some clothing, two leather jackets, two holsters and
automatics. Jack had pried open one board. He called, “Wallace, come
here!”
They looked into the box. It was full of rifles. Their eyes met in
astonishment; even though this was what they had been expecting. Jack
gasped, “Well, that’s that.”
Wallace said, “Now close it again. Do it so there won’t be any
suspicion that it was opened.”
When the job was completed, Wallace looked at his watch. “Hey!” he
cried. “We have been away forty-five minutes already. Let’s get out.”
They looked around for the door but they couldn’t see it. It had swung
to without their being aware of it. Both boys rushed over to where
they thought the door would be; they pounded and pushed against the
wall, but in vain. Wallace exclaimed, “Can you imagine a thing like
that! We were so excited we forgot we had to come out again and took no
precaution.”
Jack agreed. “Yes, it’s our fault. But let’s not get excited. We’ll get
out.”
“I suppose so. But the boys out there will become worried if we don’t
show up.”
“Then they’ll come after us.”
“But suppose they don’t find the door?”
“We found it, so why shouldn’t they?”
“It was an accident the way we found it. And it is possible that they
may not.”
“Well, let’s not cross our bridges before we get there. Let’s do the
best we can and look carefully.”
The boys spent fully a half hour pounding their fists against the wall,
clawing with their fingers. But all in vain. They sat down on the hard
ground to rest a bit and take counsel together. But just then Jack
felt a slight puff of cool air and he turned his face to see the door
swinging out. He jumped up and grasped it. Simultaneously Paul and Jack
cried out. Wallace exclaimed, “Hold it! Let’s see how it works.”
Only a few minutes was necessary to discover that the door worked on an
axis and the slightest push anywhere along the rim of the door, set it
swinging. But to make sure, two of the boys remained on the other end,
the door was swung to, then Jack swung it open again from the inside.
Jack remained at the door and held it open. Wallace showed Paul and
Bluff around. They guessed that all the large cases—there were six of
them—contained rifles, while the smaller boxes contained cartridges.
In about five minutes, they were all prepared to leave again. Jack
said, “Wait a minute, fellows. Take a deep breath, then I’ll ask you
something.”
The boys breathed in. “All right. Now what?” asked Paul.
“How does the air appear to be, fresh or stale?”
Wallace sniffed the air again and answered, “Fresh,” to which the
others agreed.
“Now,” said Jack, “when we first entered here, do you recall whether
the air was stale?”
Wallace scratched his head. “I really don’t remember,” he answered.
“That proves that the air was not stale but fresh.”
“How do you figure it out.”
“Because if the air had been stale, it would have hit you right away
and you would remember it.”
“What are you trying to prove?” demanded Paul.
Jack exclaimed. “Standing here I felt a very slight draft. That’s clue
number one. Secondly, if the air was fresh when we first entered here,
then it proves that air is coming in from somewhere.”
“Gee,” exclaimed Paul, “that’s very good reasoning.”
“Yes. But there’s more to it. I’m convinced that there is an exit
leading to the outside from this inner room. The reason for it is
obvious. The gang had to have an avenue of escape if they were ever
cornered.”
“That’s very logical,” added Wallace. “Let’s look for it.”
“Before we do that,” interposed Paul, “I suggest that one of us go out
and tell the boys not to worry and be patient. Two of us should conduct
the search while one stands guard at this door.”
They agreed and it was decided that Bluff was to return to their
companions, Wallace was to stand guard at the door and Jack and Paul
were to conduct the search. Bluff left for the outside. “Now,” said
Paul, “let’s find the exit.”
Using their flashlights, they scanned the walls and found no clues.
So the two boys got busy looking behind the piled cases and boxes.
In a few minutes, Paul shouted that he had discovered it. Hidden by
a sort of net, the mouth of the tunnel was just large enough for one
individual to creep along on his belly. Paul crept in, followed by
Jack. Five minutes later, Jack re-appeared and called to Wallace to
follow. The tunnel was about thirty feet long, the other end hidden by
a lot of shrubbery. Looking around, the three boys discovered that, the
camping site which Bud (the stranger) urged them to leave, was right
there in front of them, on the other side of the stream.