PLUNGED UNDER GROUND.
For two reasons Jerry and Hamp stayed but a short time at their
temporary camp by the Mallowgash.
In the first place, Hamp quickly recovered from the chilling effects of
his bath, and refused to be considered an invalid any longer. In the
second place, both lads felt a growing uneasiness concerning Brick. They
had no tangible suspicions or fears. They were merely anxious to
overtake him, since they were, in a measure, responsible for his safety.
Accordingly, in a little more than an hour after the parting, they were
ready to start. They crossed the Mallowgash at the frozen spot, and
easily picked up the trail. The two heavy sleds delayed them somewhat.
On the whole, they did not travel quite so rapidly as the other party.
As time slipped by, their uneasiness grew upon them. They had expected,
ere this, to meet Brick coming back. They were alarmed, too, by the
threatening aspect of the weather.
Finally they reached the clearing by the stream. Here the short trail of
blood gave them a terrible fright. Their looks meant what their lips
were afraid to utter--the dread word "murder."
Then Jerry laughed.
"This is nonsense," he said. "It's nothing to be scared about, Hamp.
One of the party fell on the snow and scraped his nose. Look! here's
where the crust is dented in."
"That's so," replied Hamp, in a relieved tone. "Cracky! I was scared for
a minute."
"So was I," admitted Jerry. "They must be having a long, hard chase.
Still, they can't be much farther ahead."
"Let's walk faster," urged Hamp. "It's going to snow soon."
They turned to the right, barely glancing at the ledge of rocks and the
brawling stream. They left the clearing and plunged into the scrub and
timber in the direction of the lake.
They were moving too rapidly to notice that the imprint of but one pair
of snowshoes was ahead of them. As they neared the lake, they struck a
pitch of rising ground.
The boys dropped into single file. Hamp preceded, and Jerry followed
with both sleds.
"I can see a bit of the lake through the trees," said Hamp. "It's not
more than half a mile away. We ought to overtake the party between here
and the shore."
Just then he struck a slippery pitch of rock and snow, and began to feel
his way very cautiously. Six feet below was a fringe of bushes that
shut off further view.
Meanwhile Jerry had fallen a little behind. He suddenly observed how
slim and indistinct was the trail. He paused at once, and the sleds
backed up against his ankles.
He bent over and keenly scrutinized the impressions on the snow.
"Hold on, Hamp," he cried. "Something wrong here. I see the marks of
your snowshoes and of another pair. By cracky! we've blundered. There's
been only one man ahead of us."
"How can that be?" exclaimed Hamp. "We didn't see any marks branching
off."
He was startled by his companion's assertion. He tried to stop, but,
unluckily, one foot slipped. He came forcibly down on the snow-crust in a
sitting posture.
With a yell of dismay he shot down the slope and plunged through the
fringe of bushes. A brief glimpse showed what was below--a circular
depression of glistening snow screwing downward like a funnel, until it
ended in a jagged black hole of extreme narrowness. The same glimpse
made clear to Hamp that some one had created the depression by breaking
through the crust of snow and gliding into an underlying cavity of
unknown depth. For a fraction of a second Hamp stuck on the brink. He
clutched vainly at air and snow. Then he shot down the abyss, feet
first, and vanished through the black fissure at the bottom!
Jerry heard his companion's horrified cries. He knew that some
catastrophe must have happened. He forgot all about his recent
discovery, and plunged recklessly forward. The natural result was that
the sleds banged him violently from the rear. Then came a dizzy drop
through space, and a collision with something soft, that yelled lustily
in Hamp's familiar tones.
"I--I couldn't help it," grasped Jerry, as he rolled to one side.
A second later it was his turn to sing out. A rifle, a haunch of
venison, and half-a-dozen tin dishes pelted him in quick succession on
the head and shoulders. He looked up with blinking eyes. Then he
understood what the avalanche meant.
Ten feet overhead was the gap through which he had fallen. Both sleds
had stuck there, and blocked it so completely that only a slim crevice
of light was visible. The straps on one of the sleds had broken,
allowing part of the contents to fall through.
Jerry held his breath for an instant, expecting another avalanche. When
nothing more fell, he recovered his presence of mind.
"That you, Hamp?" he whispered. "Are you hurt?"
"I don't think so. I fell on a pile of snow."
"Neither am I," declared Jerry. "It was a lucky escape for both of us. I
haven't got a bruise."
"No wonder," replied Hamp, in an injured tone. "You landed right on top
of me. I'm just getting my wind back."
"I'm awfully sorry," said Jerry, "but I couldn't help it."
"Oh, that's all right. Only if I had known you were coming, I would have
crawled out of the way. Where are we, anyhow?"
"That's what I want to know," Jerry replied. "It must be a cavern, Hamp.
The entrance was on top, and it got snowed over in the big storm."
"Some one broke through the crust before us," said Hamp, "for I saw the
marks as I was falling."
"Then he's in here now, whoever he is," whispered Jerry, in a startled
voice. "He couldn't have reached the hole to get out."
There was a moment of terrible silence. The boys huddled close together
and shivered with fear. Their hearts beat loudly and rapidly.
"I don't hear anything," whispered Hamp. "Do you?"
"Not a sound," replied Jerry. "Wait a second. I'll settle the matter."
He pulled out his metal box of matches and scraped one. As the light
flared up, the lads glanced anxiously around them.
They saw at once that they were in an underground cavern. To right and
left stretched a gloomy passage, ten feet wide. The sides and roof were
of jagged, slimy rock, dripping with moisture.
Deep footsteps crossed the snow and led into the yawning blackness to
the right. They were of recent origin, for the white imprint was visible
in half-a-dozen places on the smooth, rocky floor.
"Do you see that?" Jerry whispered, hoarsely. "There is some person
here, sure enough."
"Who can it be?" said Hamp. "Perhaps it's Brick."
In a clear, distinct voice he called the missing lad's name several
times. But there was no reply. Jerry shook his head.
"It's not Brick," he muttered. "How would he get separated from his
companions? We were following only one trail toward the last, so this
may be Sparwick."
"Then why did Brick and those men give up the chase and branch off?"
asked Hamp. "It's too deep a mystery for me."
"It is sort of puzzling," admitted Jerry, "but we won't bother about
that now. Whoever it was that fell into the cavern, I believe he has
found a way out by this time, and that's the first thing we want to do."
"I hate the idea of crawling through the dark," muttered Hamp.
"The matches will last if we use them sparingly," Jerry replied. "We've
got to take this stuff with us, though. No; we'll leave the venison
behind. Here's the rifle. Be careful, for it's loaded."
He gave Hamp the weapon and some of the dishes. The rest he took
himself. When he picked up the tin coffeepot, it rattled. He lifted the
lid, and found two sperm candles.
"Here's luck," he exclaimed. "How did they get here? We're sure of light
now."
"Brick put them in the coffeepot this morning," said Hamp. "He had them
in his pocket, and didn't want to carry them."
"Brick ought to have a medal for that," declared Jerry, as he lighted
one of the candles. "Have we got everything? Yes; come on."
They trampled over the snow and went cautiously and slowly along the
gloomy passage. The yellow gleam of the candle danced ahead of them and
threw grotesque shadows on the slimy walls and roof. They advanced ten
feet. The distance increased to twenty. As yet, not a speck of
daylight could be seen.
Suddenly a rustling noise was heard. A low, angry growl followed
instantly. Beyond the radius of candlelight the terrified boys saw a
pair of fiery, snapping eyes. They stopped and turned half around.
"The rifle, quick!" cried Jerry.
He snatched it out of his companion's hands and gave him the candle
instead. But before Jerry could lift the hammer of the weapon a
startling interruption came from an unexpected quarter.