STOLEN SUPPLIES
The other boys searched for nearly an hour, but Frank Hardy seemed to
have disappeared literally into the bowels of the earth.
With only their flashlights to illuminate the huge cave, they found it
difficult to conduct the search with any degree of satisfaction. They
blundered here and there, not at all certain that they were anywhere
near the place where their companion had disappeared.
They found several deep pits in the floor of the cave, natural crevices
and holes in the rock, but although they shouted at the top of their
lungs they heard no answering cry from below.
"He must have fallen down one of these holes, that's certain," Joe
declared. "I'm sure we haven't missed any."
"Why doesn't he call back then?" said Biff.
In the glow of the flashlights the boys glanced at one another
anxiously. Joe expressed the thought that the others were afraid to put
into words.
"Perhaps he can't."
"Do you think he may be dead?" asked Chet quietly.
"We'll hope not," sighed Joe. "But when he doesn't answer, things don't
look any too bright. Any of these crevices may be hundreds of feet
deep, for all we know."
"It will be a terrible end to our trip if anything like that has
happened."
"Not much use waiting for morning," declared Biff. "This cave is just
as dark in the daytime as it is right now. I sure wish we had a few
more flashlights."
"Or more powerful ones. We can't see very far down the crevices in the
rocks, with these lights."
The boys talked in low tones. They were awed by the thought of what
might have happened to Frank Hardy. In their ears still rang that last
dreadful cry and they could still hear the crashing of rocks as their
companion hurtled into the depths. Even now his mangled body might be
lying in some subterranean pit from which it would be impossible to
recover it. Joe shuddered.
They listened in vain for some faint cry. But there was nothing but the
echoes of their own voices.
"We won't give up for a while yet," said Joe, with as much steadiness
of voice as he could muster. "We'll search around every pit and hole
we can find. I _can't_ believe he was killed!"
Keeping close together, the lads slowly crossed the floor of the cave.
When they reached an opening in the rocks they directed the beams of
their three flashlights into the shadowy depths, thus gaining more
radiance than had they been searching singly. Then they yelled and
shouted.
There was no reply. The flashlights revealed only jagged walls of rock.
There was no sign of Frank.
On to the next crevice. This, fortunately, was not deep, but although
the lights revealed the bottom and although they played the triple
beams along every inch of the floor of the subterranean ravine, there
was no sight of a crumpled figure.
Patiently, they searched the cave, but at last they were forced to
admit that they were at a standstill.
"Not much use going any farther just now," sighed Joe. "We need more
light." He sat down moodily on a rock and buried his face in his hands.
"I wish we had never followed that fellow who was in the cave," said
Chet. "Chances are, it has cost Frank his life."
"I'm not giving up hope yet," Joe declared. "There's a chance that he
might have been knocked unconscious by his fall, and if we can only
reach him in time we may be able to save him. But these flashlights
aren't much help. We're just groping around in the dark."
"I have an idea," offered Biff.
"What is it?"
"Let's build a fire. It might light up the cave enough to show us what
we are doing."
"How can we light a fire?" asked Chet. Then he looked up sharply.
"You're right, Biff. I forgot that we have lots of wood in the outside
cave."
"That's not a bad stunt!" declared Joe hopefully. "With a roaring
bonfire in here we'll be able to light up the whole place and see what
we're about."
"Let's get at it."
Biff's plan seemed valuable, but before leaving the cave in search of
wood, the boys made a last attempt to locate their missing comrade, by
shouting loudly. However, as before, there was not the faintest reply.
They made their way out into the next cave, and from there into the
outer cavern where they had originally taken refuge from the storm.
They were harassed by the thought that death might have overtaken their
missing companion, and they said scarcely a word as they went about
the business of gathering driftwood for the proposed bonfire.
Each of them took an armful of the wood and they were just about to
return through the caves again when Joe noticed something that caused
him to drop his wood on the floor with a clatter.
"What's wrong now?" asked Chet, in surprise.
"That's funny," Joe returned. "I was sure we left our supplies right
near this woodpile."
"So we did," Biff assured him.
"They're not here now."
"They must be. I piled them there myself, all except a few that I put
over by the other wall."
"Come and see for yourself."
Joe turned the beam of his flashlight on the place where Biff had
stacked the greater part of their supplies. A loaf of bread and a tin
of sardines lay on the rock, but that was all.
Biff's astonishment was so great that he could scarcely speak for a
moment.
Then he gasped:
"They've been stolen!"
"All of 'em?" demanded Chet, in alarm. The loss of their provisions
would be a serious matter to him.
"Where did you put the rest of the stuff, Biff?" asked Joe.
Biff turned his flashlight on the opposite wall. There the light
revealed a few bundles and tins, the rest of the supplies.
"Well, they're safe, at any rate."
"But where are the others? They _can't_ be stolen. They were here when
we went to sleep."
"Must have been stolen while we were in the other caves," declared Chet.
"But who could have taken them?" exclaimed Joe.
"The chap who woke us up. I'll bet he didn't go into the other caves at
all, or if he did he just hid himself until we passed. Then he came out
and stole our food."
"Perhaps that's what he came for in the first place," suggested Biff.
Solemnly, the lads looked from the loaf of bread and the tin of
sardines on the floor of the cave to the few things on the other side.
"He sure didn't leave much. This means we'll have to go back to the
village," said Chet, a bit impatiently.
"We can't take time to worry about that now," Joe reminded him. "We
have to keep up our search for Frank."
"That's right," agreed Biff. "It's tough to lose our food; but we have
enough to last us another day, anyway, and it's more important to get
Frank back than our supplies."
"Of course it is," agreed Chet soberly.
The boys picked up their firewood again and, with Joe in the lead, went
into the second cave, then on into the cavern where their chum had
vanished. As they trudged on through the darkness, following the gleam
of the flashlights, Chet and Biff wondered vainly about the thief who
had disturbed them and robbed them. Joe's agonized thoughts circled
about his vanished brother.