he was wanted,” Judy remarked. “Especially after that truck accident,
when Kathy and I patched him up.”
“Joe operates that way,” the ranger answered. “He was dead sure of
himself. First, he could depend upon our double-crossing friend,
Diethelm, to tip him off as to road blocks.”
“This private road to the cave must have been used in emergencies too,”
Judy added. “My aunt saw the truck headlights on one of the nights
that the state highway patrol had put up its road block.”
“Sure,” the ranger agreed, “it’s plain enough that Diethelm tipped ’em
off regularly. That’s probably why they chanced making one last haul
before they moved to another locality. Pompilli had taken pains to make
himself known as a regular trucker on the road, especially at Silverton
and Grove City where he was a good spender. He figured only the state
highway patrol could cause him any trouble, and he took that chance.”
The state patrolmen requested Kathleen and Judy to accompany them to
headquarters to make sworn statements as to their knowledge of what had
happened. Eager to pin evidence on the two men, they went willingly.
They were questioned at length, and in turn learned considerably more
about how Joe Pompilli and his gang had operated.
“Without Diethelm’s help, we’d have cleaned them out weeks ago,” a
patrolman told the Scouts. “He’s made a clean breast of his part in the
mess to the Chief forester.”
“Diethelm has confessed?” Kathleen asked in disbelief.
“Yes, he knew we had him dead to rights anyway. Matter of fact, he’s
rather remorseful, the boys tell me. Diethelm’s a queer duck. It seems
he made a brilliant record in college and had a fine career ahead
of him as a forest ranger. But on his first assignment, something
went wrong. He ran into personal trouble with his superior, and was
reprimanded. He couldn’t take it. So he brooded and figured on a way to
get even.”
“Then the help he gave the hi-jackers was to even an old score with
another ranger?” Judy inquired.
“Not entirely. It made him susceptible to suggestion, shall we say.
Diethelm was a weak character. He wanted easy money. Joe Pompilli
offered it to him, and so he sold himself cheap.”
“Diethelm even accused the girls in our Scout Camp of being careless
with fire,” Kathleen remarked indignantly.
“Oh, that matter came up,” the highway patrolman said, reminded of
it by her remark. “Diethelm admitted to the chief ranger that on two
occasions he started small fires as a diversion. He wanted to keep
rangers and patrolmen occupied to give the hi-jackers a better chance
to slide their stolen cargo through.”
“Then the Scouts can’t be blamed for that fire?”
“No, they’ve been cleared.”
“Well, that’s a relief!” Kathleen laughed.
“There’s one thing that puzzles me,” Judy said thoughtfully. “When my
aunt first moved into Calico Cottage, someone telephoned--”
“I can tell you about that too,” the patrolman broke in. “Krumm’s
cottage stood idle for quite a spell. Now and then, Diethelm or members
of Joe’s gang would use the telephone. The cottage gave a clear view of
the entrance to the private road. A couple of times, we think Joe and
his truckers spent a night at the cottage. Naturally, after your aunt
moved in, they had to abandon using it.”
“Maybe that explains the ghost!” Kathleen exclaimed.
Judy, however, shook her head. “I’m afraid not,” she said. “At least
I haven’t heard that Joe Pompilli played a flute. Our ghost is an
entirely different matter.”
By the time the two girls returned to Calico Cottage, it was well
after eleven o’clock. Miss Meadows anxiously awaited their return. She
listened attentively to their long account of what had happened in town.
“I’m glad that’s over and we won’t be bothered by weird lights on the
road any more,” she declared fervently. “If I weren’t so worried about
Bart, I could begin to enjoy my vacation here.”
“Bart?” Judy repeated, startled. The excitement of the morning had
washed all thought of the young milkman from her mind.
“I took it upon myself to telephone his landlady,” Miss Meadows went
on. “Bart left his room early yesterday morning, and he’s not been seen
since!”
“That might not mean anything serious, Aunt Mattie.”
“I talked with the other milkman this morning while you were in town,”
Miss Meadows continued. “He thinks as I do, that Bart went into the
cave.”
“Maybe he went down into the cavern before those hi-jackers parked
themselves in the entranceway,” Kathleen speculated. “Perhaps he didn’t
dare come out until they left. He may be waiting somewhere in the dark
passageway even now.”
“That is a possibility,” agreed Miss Meadows, instantly becoming more
cheerful. She reached for her hat and jacket. “I’ll go down there now,
and let him know that it’s safe to come out.”
_Chapter 22_
DESCENT INTO THE CAVE
Judy and Kathleen would not allow Miss Meadows to go alone to Calico
Cave.
Insisting upon accompanying her, they made cheerful talk as they
tramped down the now familiar forest road.
Moving along the narrow path far above the silvery White River, Judy
was the first to see Pete lying at the mouth of the dark cave.
“Why, he’s still there!” she exclaimed. “Poor doggie, do you suppose
he’s had anything to eat or drink?”
Pete lay upon his stomach, head between his paws. A picture of utter
dejection, he whined and whimpered as the girls stooped to pet him.
“Bart must be down in the cave,” Judy declared. “Otherwise, why would
Pete lie here and act as if he’d lost his last friend?”
The three stepped into the dim interior of the cave. Judy cupped her
hands and shouted Bart’s name repeatedly.
Her voice echoed weirdly through the cave, but there was no answering
call. If Bart had descended into the cavern, it was evident that he was
at a level so far below that he could not hear the cry.
“No, Judy,” Miss Meadows said firmly, as her niece would have started
down into the cave. “We don’t dare explore alone. It’s unsafe.”
“What should we do?” Kathleen asked, pulling her jacket more tightly
about her, for the air was cool.
“Bart may be safe enough,” Judy added anxiously. “Then again, if he
braved the siphon, there’s no telling what may have happened.”
“I’ll get in touch with Bart’s landlady again,” Miss Meadows finally
decided. “There’s a chance he may have gone out of town, and returned
to his room by this time.”
“If he shouldn’t be back--” Judy began. “Then what?”
“I don’t know what we can do except to notify the authorities,” Miss
Meadows said, deeply troubled. “Meanwhile, you girls are to return to
camp. I’ll feed Pete and see if I can coax him to the cottage.”
“I don’t feel like going back to camp just now,” Judy said soberly.
“Until I know that Bart is safe, I couldn’t enjoy any of the Scout
activities.”
“Neither could I,” chimed in Kathleen. “It’s been such an exciting day
already. I feel sort of jittery inside.”
The three crawled out of the cave into the sunlight. Pete scrambled
up alertly as they emerged, but could not be coaxed away from the
entranceway.
“If only we dared go down into the cave, we could learn what became
of Bart,” Kathleen remarked to her companions who stood silent and
uncertain. “Then we could end this dreadful suspense.”
“We can’t go down into the cave without a guide,” Miss Meadows repeated
firmly. “I know of no one--”
“Captain Hager!” Judy cried. “He could help us, if he will!”
“Of course! Why didn’t I think of him? At the very least, he should be
able to advise us. Where does he live, Judy?”
“I’m not sure. I think, in a cabin somewhere along the river.”
“Do you suppose you girls could find him?” Miss Meadows urged. “I’ll
wait here.”
“We can try,” Judy promised.
She and Kathleen set off at once, making their way to the river level.
Captain Hager was not at the dock where they first had met him, nor was
his boat anywhere visible on the river.
Judy surveyed the water front, noticing a two-room shack several
hundred yards down the beach.
“That might be his place,” she said. “We can try there anyway.”
A brisk walk brought them to the modest little cabin. Though small, the
building was trim and neat, and had recently been whitewashed. There
was a little garden at the rear, carefully watered and fertilized. An
anchor, encrusted with rust, hung above the door.
“This must be Captain Hager’s place,” Judy decided.
She knocked. After a time, the door opened. Captain Hager stood there
in his shirt sleeves, looking older and less spry than the girls had
remembered him.
But upon recognizing the Scouts, his face creased into a welcoming
smile.
“Come in, come in!” he boomed.
The room into which he led the girls was extremely severe and quite
bare of furniture. There was a bunk bed, a stove, an ice box and two
wooden chairs. Above the bed hung the picture of a middle-aged woman in
a heavy gilt frame.
“My wife,” said Captain Hager, noticing Judy’s eyes upon the picture.
“That was all I kept from the old place. Sold all my furniture at
auction. An old salt like me can’t be bothered with fancy trappings.”
He limped as he walked across the cabin floor to pull out chairs for
the girls.
“Your leg is bothering you?” Judy asked, taking the seat he offered.
“Oh, it’s the old rheumatiz come back to fret me,” Captain Hager
sighed. “For the last couple o’ days I’ve been hobbling around like a
cripple.”
Judy gazed at Kathleen despairingly, feeling that it would be useless
even to broach the subject of the call. In seeking Captain Hager as a
guide, she had forgotten that his lively talk and manner belied his age
and infirmities.
“Now what brings you here?” the captain inquired. “If it’s fishing,
I’ll have to say no, because I’m in dry dock for a couple of days until
I get to feeling better again.”
“We didn’t know about your rheumatism,” Judy said. “I guess it’s quite
out of the question.”
“What is?” the old man demanded. “It wasn’t fishing that brought you.”
Judy shook her head. “It’s Bart,” she told him. “We think he’s gone
into the cave again. He’s been missing more than a day, and we’re
afraid he’s trapped down there. Either that, or he’s attempted the
siphon.”
Captain Hager did not speak for a long while. Then he muttered: “The
siphon! I told that boy to wash it out of his mind, but I always knew
he’d try it someday. The thought of it always was a challenge and a
plague to him.”
“What do you think we should do?” Judy asked desperately. “Notify the
authorities?”
“If he’s gone through the siphon, he’s beyond help,” the old man
answered. “There’s no man living in this community, who would risk his
life to try to force that tunnel of water. Either he’ll get back on his
own, or like his father before him, he’ll be heard of no more.”
“But supposing he didn’t attempt the siphon,” Kathleen interposed.
“Maybe he’s trapped somewhere below the surface by a fall of rock.
Would the rangers check, do you think?”
“They might make up a search party,” the old man conceded. “But who
would lead it? That cave is as simple as A-B-C for a skipper that knows
the layout. The rangers have their maps, but what do they know of
Hager’s Hole? Now if I were ten years younger--”
“It wouldn’t be fair to ask you,” Judy said. “You’re not feeling well
and your rheumatism--”
“Who says I’m not feeling well?” Captain Hager growled. “Next to good
salt air, there’s nothing better for the ache o’ old bones than cool
cave air.”
“You’ll take us down there?” Judy asked eagerly. “You’re sure it
wouldn’t be too hard on you?”
“I’ll go as far as the siphon, or until we find Bart,” the old captain
promised.
“How soon can we get started?” Judy urged.
“As soon as I gather some rope, a good light and a few things we may
need. But time’s no matter in a cave. Night or day, it’s all the same,
once you’re underground.”
“Will we need heavy clothes?” Kathleen asked.
“Those you’re wearing will be all right,” the captain assured her.
“The temperature is the same everywhere in the cave. Heavy clothing is
cumbersome and burdens one in climbing. You’ll need flashlights and
plenty of extra batteries.”
“We’ll get them and meet you at the cave entrance,” Judy said, starting
for the door. She paused, and then impulsively flung her arms about
Captain Hager’s bulky shoulders.
“None o’ that!” he chuckled, enjoying the embrace. “Save your pep for
the cave. Going down is easy enough, but it’s a tough climb back.”
The sun was high by the time Captain Hager rejoined the two girls and
Judy’s aunt at the cave entrance. Meanwhile, Miss Meadows had confirmed
by a telephone call, that Bart had not returned to his rooming house.
After considerable discussion, it was decided that only Captain Hager
and the two girls should make the descent into the cave. Though
reluctant to see the three go without her, Miss Meadows shuddered at
the thought of exploring the unknown. Captain Hager relieved her mind
by assuring her that with him the girls would not be in the slightest
danger.
“You’ll be more help to us here, Ma’am,” he told Miss Meadows. “If
everything goes well, we should be back within four hours, unless we’re
lucky enough to run into Bart before that. Who knows? The young scamp
may be day dreaming down there in a sacred grotto. Sometimes, the
beauty of the formations is so overpowering, it makes a lubber forget
time and space and the cares o’ the world.”
“Well, don’t forget to come back as quickly as you can,” Miss Meadows
warned. “I’ll be dreadfully worried until you’re back here with Bart.”
“We’ll do our best to find him,” Captain Hager said soberly. “I love
that boy like my own son.”
“I know you do, and that you’re exerting yourself to go down into the
cave,” Miss Meadows replied. “If you’re not back in four hours, I’ll
notify the ranger station.”
“Make it five hours,” Captain Hager corrected. “I’m a mite slower than
I was in my younger days. But if my ticker holds out, I’ll be back here
in fine shape. Ready, maties?”
Judy and Kathleen nodded eagerly.
“Then follow me,” directed the captain. “Walk close behind and be
careful about dislodging rocks.”
Single file, the three entered the cave, its ragged shadows enveloping
them.
As they paused an instant, the beams of their flashlights picked up
the lovely emerald green tint of roof moss. Then silently, they began
the descent into the cavern and loneliness closed in.
_Chapter 23_
THE SIPHON
The descent to the chamber of the White Witch was quickly made. There,
the party of three paused briefly to catch breath and to view again the
weird figure which captured the imagination.
A tunnel, at times narrow and low, wound deeper and deeper into the
earth. Judy and Kathleen kept close to their guide. In the stillness of
the cavern they could hear his somewhat labored breathing, for even the
slightest sound was magnified.
They came presently to another small chamber where they paused,
speechless. Stalactites sparkled like jewels, standing out in the most
fantastic shapes.
Judy could imagine animal figures, all in a variety of color, milky
white, red, green and black. The colors, Captain Hager explained, came
from mineral infiltration.
“No wonder Bart couldn’t resist this cave,” Judy remarked in awe,
entranced. “It’s like a fairyland! How I wish all the Scouts could see
it!”
In close formation, the three went on into the cavern depths. A cooler
wind met them, but from where it arose they gained no clue.
The going had become harder now, and after edging through a narrow
space, the three stopped for a moment beside a translucent column which
rose from the floor to the roof.
As they stood thus, there came a deafening crash behind them.
Judy and Kathleen froze in their tracks, too terrified to utter a sound.
“A cave-in behind us?” Kathleen finally asked in a choked whisper.
“It’s nothing,” the captain reassured her. “Sounded like a blast of
dynamite far away. Like enough the rangers are blasting a tree stump
somewhere in the park area.”
“But it sounded as if the cave roof had fallen!” Judy said, still
shaken.
“All sounds underground are magnified,” Captain Hager explained. “Even
the dripping of water can be very loud. Off to the right there is a
Talking Grotto. But we will not explore that passage, for Bart would
not waste time there.”
To proceed, it was necessary to creep across a slippery formation which
resembled a frozen waterfall. They passed through a room which was
cluttered with grotesque toadstool types of stalagmites, and then came
to formations so delicate that they appeared as a lacy cobweb.
As they sat down to rest their legs for a moment, Captain Hager told
the girls that the beautiful pillars they had seen farther back were
made by the joining of stalactites and stalagmites.
The growth of formations, he added, was much faster than generally
believed. Varying rainfall, the thickness of the rock penetrated by
water, and the rate of drip, all affected the deposits, he explained.
“All water that goes into a cave, must come out somewhere,” the captain
continued. “During a hard rain storm, this cave could be dangerous at
the lower levels.”
“You mean we’d get the rain down here?” Kathleen questioned in
amazement.
“Belatedly, yes. Shortly now, you’ll see the underground river. During
the dry months it shrivels, but in the rainy season, it thunders
through the chasms like a mad demon.”
“I hope it doesn’t storm today,” Kathleen said nervously.
“The day was clear,” Captain Hager reassured her. “And there has been
no recent rain to flood the underground stream.”
Farther on, the girls came to a series of small pools in which there
were blind fish. They did not tarry long, but continued through another
long, narrow passage.
“Do you suppose Bart came this way?” Judy finally asked. “Couldn’t he
have taken any number of branch-offs?”
“The branch-offs are dead-end streets, so to speak,” replied the
captain. “If I know that lad, we’ll find him at the siphon, or we’ll
not find him this voyage. Tired?”
“My legs feel sort of cramped,” Judy confessed, ashamed of her
weariness. “But I’m all right.”
“We’re nearing the end,” the captain encouraged the girls. “The last
few yards are the hardest. Then we’ll bring up at the siphon.”
“And if Bart isn’t there?” asked Judy.
The old captain did not answer. He gazed thoughtfully at his sturdy
boots, tested his light briefly on the limestone wall, and then
signaled that he was ready to resume the descent.
Not far beyond the point where they had rested, the three explorers
came to a chamber so large that it seemed to have no surrounding walls.
At its entrance, Captain Hager hesitated, seemingly reluctant to go on.
“If we continue to the siphon, we must cross this chamber, with no
wall to guide us,” he explained. “Beyond, in the darkness, there is a
single narrow passageway leading on. If we hit the target, we’ll soon
be at the end of the cave. If we miss, we may spend hours, trying to
grope our way. We’ll be like a ship wallowing without chart or compass.
Unless you have plenty of nerve--”
“We have,” Judy said resolutely. “We’ve come so far now, we can’t turn
back without learning whether or not Bart is in the cave.”
“Aye, I figured you’d say that,” Captain Hager replied.
He then uncoiled a length of nylon rope, tying it first about his own
waist, then around Kathleen, and finally about Judy, who would bring up
the rear.
“We must keep close together,” he warned. “If we do, there is no
danger. Even if we miss the passageway on the first try, we will find
it. Full steam ahead, my hearties!”
For a few feet the girls followed along a rough, jagged wall before
moving slowly out into the vast room. The silence and immensity of the
cavern were momentarily terrifying, for Captain Hager’s light revealed
only a dark void ahead.
By supreme effort Judy and Kathleen held their nerves in rigid check.
Each step seemed to be taking them deeper and deeper into oblivion. A
dozen doubts assailed them. Would Captain Hager ever find the narrow
passage leading out of the chamber? And if they should be successful in
reaching the siphon, would not the return be even more difficult?
The darkness seemed endless, but finally Captain Hager’s light revealed
a rough wall ahead. A wave of relief washed over Judy and Kathleen. But
it was short lived.
Their guide had paused to move the flash beam slowly along the solid
wall, first to the right, then to the left. He muttered something, but
his words were indistinguishable.
“Are--are we lost?” Kathleen asked.
The captain deliberately did not answer. After a moment, he started on
again, groping along the wall. Kathleen did not repeat her question.
For awhile Captain Hager kept on, the girls directly behind, following
blindly. Then suddenly the old man seemed to relax, and they heard him
give a throaty chuckle.
“Hear that?” he demanded.
Judy and Kathleen already had distinguished the distant sound of
running water. The underground stream!
At the same instant that they heard the splash of water, Captain
Hager’s flash beam focused upon the narrow opening in the cavern
wall--the passageway for which he had searched.
“We near the end,” he said simply.
They moved quickly through the narrow corridor. The thunder of a
distant waterfall they never were to see, was louder now in their ears.
The floor of the passageway sloped sharply downward. Kathleen slipped
but did not fall, for Judy caught her arm to give her support.
Abruptly, the corridor turned, and the girls saw water ahead. The
underground stream, quiet and dark, emerged from a wall of rock to flow
tranquilly beneath the slightly arched cave-roof above.
Captain Hager halted. “We’ve come to the end,” he announced.
Judy and Kathleen were stunned. “The end,” Judy repeated, scarcely
comprehending. “But I thought--”
“We can proceed no further without wading along the river bed,” the
captain explained. “The water gradually deepens until it rises to the
ceiling. At that point, one must dive through and swim underwater, or
turn back.”
He focused his light to the right, and the girls saw the meeting place
of wall and water.
“The siphon?” Judy asked.
“Aye, how far it goes, no man knows. It may extend for only a few feet
or yards. Then again, it may run on indefinitely, with nary a pocket of
air.”
“Bart--?” Judy hesitated to ask the question that was foremost in her
mind.
“Surely he wouldn’t be crazy enough to try to swim through the siphon!”
Kathleen exclaimed.
“The lad is a true spelunker, like his father. He has the courage of a
lion, and the muscles of a young bear. Since he was a mere boy, he’s
studied and dreamed about this cave.”
“But we’ve seen no evidence that he’s anywhere in the cavern,” Judy
said hopefully.
“No evidence?” Captain Hager’s voice was muted, as his light came to
focus upon a rock shelf a few feet above the river bed.
For a moment, neither Judy nor Kathleen understood.
Then, they fully comprehended. There on the rock ledge, set heel to
heel, was an empty pair of shoes. Beside them, in a neat roll, was
Bart’s shirt and jacket.
_Chapter 24_
HELP FROM CAPTAIN HAGER
Three hours now had elapsed since Captain Hager, Judy and Kathleen had
ascertained that Bart Ranieau was somewhere deep in the cave, beyond
the siphon.
Unable to penetrate farther, the three had made the arduous climb back
to the cavern entrance where Miss Meadows anxiously awaited them.
Their report had been a discouraging one. Without question, Bart was
somewhere in Calico Cave, but whether or not alive, no one could say.
“The lad may have reached an air pocket, or a chamber,” Captain Hager
said. “That’s what he gambled on.”
“He’s been missing a day and a half now,” Miss Meadows reminded the
seaman. “While you were down in the cave, I checked on that point.
Surely, if he’s ever coming back, he’d have made it by now.”
“Aye,” the captain soberly agreed.
“Can’t something be done?” Miss Meadows urged.
“Not a man in these parts would risk that siphon, ma’am.”
“I realize that,” Miss Meadows answered. “But is there no other way to
reach him, if he’s still alive? Couldn’t the rangers blast the rock
perhaps?”
“It would be impractical and dangerous, Ma’am.”
“But the cave must have an exit somewhere close--if only it could
be traced down! If one could approach the siphon from the other
direction--”
“Aye, Ma’am,” Captain Hager replied, “I’ve been pondering on
it--pondering hard.”
“Then you do have an idea!” Judy cried. “Does it have anything to do
with Calico Cottage?”
“I’ve been meditatin’ along that line,” the old man admitted.