FOOTSTEPS IN THE NIGHT
With the goal in sight, the Hardy boys and their chums hastened down
the treacherous path, along the steep side of the ravine. The path
was slippery and little rivulets of water ran at their feet. Chet
Morton slipped and went sprawling in the mud, getting to his feet with
exclamations of disgust.
"Oh, well," he said philosophically, "I can't be any wetter than I am
already."
Frank consoled him.
"When we get to that cave we'll light a fire and dry ourselves out a
bit."
They at length reached the floor of the ravine where little streams
of water were coursing from the upper levels to the sea and splashing
across to the beach. It was only a few yards from there to the black
entrance of the cave, which was well above the reach of high tide.
Frank led the way.
He took a flashlight from his pack as the boys hastened into the dark
mouth of the cavern. They were in shelter, at any rate, and they could
look out at the streaming rain and feel thankful that they had a roof
over their heads, although that roof was a rocky one.
Frank directed the beam of the flashlight into the gloomy interior and
in its gleam he saw that their shelter was no mere niche in the face of
the cliff, but a cave that led to dark and unknown depths.
"Looks as if we can start our exploring right here and now," he said.
"Explore my neck!" grumbled Chet. "Let's have a fire."
"How about firewood?" inquired the practical Biff.
This had not occurred to the others. They glanced at one another in
dismay.
"That's right too," said Joe. "There's not much wood around these rocks
and it's all wet by now, anyway."
"Nothing but driftwood," Frank observed disconsolately. "The rain has
drenched it." He glanced out, and along the shore he spied a few bits
of wood tossed up by the waves, but they were sodden and useless.
"This is going to be fine," said Chet. "We'll have to shiver here all
night without a fire. A great beginning to our visit!"
To tell the truth, the boys were feeling none too cheerful over the
prospect, for they were all cold, wet, and hungry and they had been
looking forward to dry clothes and a hot meal by a roaring fire. Now
it seemed that they were doomed to spend the night in the cheerless
shelter of a damp, cold cave, without the vestige of a blaze.
"Thank goodness our blankets are dry, at any rate," Joe said
philosophically.
Frank moved farther back into the cave, with the flashlight
illuminating the way. Suddenly he gave an exclamation of mingled
astonishment and delight.
"Well! can you beat this, fellows?"
"What have you found?"
"Firewood."
"Where?"
The others came hastening over to Frank Hardy.
"Look!" Frank cast the beam of the flashlight against the black wall
near by.
Full in the center of the circle of radiance, they saw a neat pile of
wood. It had not been placed there by accident; that much was certain.
It had been stacked carefully by human hands.
Frank stepped over and picked up one of the sticks.
"Good dry driftwood. We don't have to worry about a fire now."
"I wonder who on earth piled it in here?" remarked Biff.
Chet shrugged.
"Why worry about that? The main thing is that some thoughtful soul has
been kind enough to put it here, and we're the boys who are going to
use it. Where shall we light the fire, Frank?"
"Right here, I guess. This is far enough back from the entrance so that
we won't have to worry about the rain beating in. It's certainly queer
how that wood comes to be here, though."
"Probably the mysterious chaps who are doing all the yelling and
shooting," said Biff. "We'll be out of luck if this is _their_ cave
we've stumbled on."
"It's ours now. I don't see any 'No Trespassing' signs." Frank began
carrying wood over to the center of the cave. Then he set down the
flashlight, took out his pocketknife, and whittled at a particularly
dry stick until he had a small heap of shavings. Carefully stacking
a few of the smaller sticks over the shavings and the larger sticks
above, crosswise so that there were plenty of air spaces, he took
a match from his waterproof case and ignited it, putting it to the
shavings. They flared up brightly.
Anxiously, the boys watched the little blaze. The flames caught the
small sticks, which snapped and crackled. Then, as the fire rose
higher, the heavier wood was ignited, and in a short time the boys had
a roaring fire. Never had a campfire been so welcome. Frank had been
afraid that lack of a draught in the cave might cause so much smoke
that they would be almost smothered, but evidently there was some
opening in the roof, some overhead passage that acted in the nature of
a chimney, for the smoke was carried off above.
As the warmth of the fire penetrated the cave, the boys took off their
drenched clothes and spread them about the blaze, in the meantime
wrapping themselves in the heavy blankets they had brought with them.
Chet produced the frying pan, and the fragrant odor of sizzling bacon
soon permeated their refuge. He improvised a tripod from which was
suspended a tin pail, duly filled with rain water that coursed in a
gushing stream just beside the mouth of the cave, and in a short time
the coffee was boiling.
The boys never enjoyed a meal more than they enjoyed their supper in
the cave. The driftwood blazed and crackled, casting a cheerful glow,
illuminating the rocky ceiling and walls of the underground chamber.
With crisp bacon, bread toasted brown before the fire, hot coffee and
jam, they ate ravenously, and at last sat back with deep sighs of
sheer content.
"This old cave isn't so bad after all," said Chet, wrapping his blanket
around him like a cocoon and wriggling his toes toward the flames.
The others glanced toward the entrance of the cavern.
It was pitch dark outside, and still raining. They could hear the
constant beat of the down-pour, the incessant roar of the surf, the
splash of the waves, the moaning of the cold wind out in the blackness
of the night, and the cave seemed the most comfortable place in the
world.
"We owe a vote of thanks to the chap who stacked this driftwood in
here," said Biff.
"I'll tell the world!" declared Joe. "We'd have been shivering and
hungry yet if it hadn't been for him."
"I wonder who he could have been," mused Frank.
"Perhaps somebody who was down here searching for the smugglers or
bootleggers or whoever has been raising all the fuss around here," his
brother suggested.
"He hasn't shown up yet," Chet remarked cheerfully. He looked out into
the storm and shivered. "Somehow, I have an idea he won't be along
to-night, either," he added, edging nearer the fire.
"I guess we'd better have a good night's sleep and then start our
exploring to-morrow," Frank said. "We can start right on this cave, for
that matter. It seems to lead back for quite a distance."
"Sleep sounds good to me." Biff yawned.
Although part of the floor of the cave was rocky, much of it was sand,
which provided a fairly comfortable resting place. The boys were tired
after their long journey, so they wrapped themselves up in their
blankets and were soon drowsily chatting, while the fire died lower and
lower.
At last only the embers glowed crimson in the darkness. Chet Morton was
already snoring. Soon, all were asleep.
The fire was a scarlet eye in the blackness of the cave. Beyond the
entrance, rain still poured in a seemingly endless torrent and the surf
roared dully.
An hour passed. Two hours.
Joe, who had been sleeping soundly, was awakened. At first he did not
realize where he was, could not imagine why he was sleeping on the
ground, wrapped in a heavy blanket, and then it gradually came back to
him and he remembered about the cave.
He was just about to turn over and go to sleep again, wondering vaguely
what had aroused him, when he heard a footstep.
It came from close by.
He listened, and then he heard it again. Some one was moving cautiously
about in the darkness.
Joe raised himself on one elbow and peered into the gloom. But he could
see nothing. However, he reasoned that it was probably only one of his
chums.
When he heard a rustle, he spoke.
"Is that you, Frank?"
The words rang out clearly in the silence of the cave.
But the consequence was surprising. Instead of the reassuring voice of
his brother, Joe heard a muffled exclamation, quick footsteps as some
one ran across the floor of the cave, and then the crash of a fallen
rock.