Part 47 (1/2)
”I think he is the rascal who got the fortune at the lumber company office,” whispered d.i.c.k. ”His appearance tallies with the description Mrs. Stanhope left. Come on, let us follow him. I think he will lead us directly to where Sobber and Crabtree are, and Mrs. Sobber and Mrs.
Stanhope, too.”
And d.i.c.k led the way with the others at his heels.
CHAPTER XXVII WHAT HAPPENED IN THE CAVE
The man ahead hurried along over the rocks so quickly that the Rovers and Larry Dixon had difficulty in keeping up with him.
”He's a bird for moving,” was the old sailor's comment. ”Splice my main brace! but I wish he'd put a reef or two in his legs!”
The man ahead suddenly made a turn around some rocks. The boys and the tar followed cautiously, so as not to be surprised.
”Wait here, I'll look ahead and investigate,” said d.i.c.k. And he shoved some bushes aside.
A surprise awaited him-but not of the sort he had antic.i.p.ated. The man had disappeared!
Vainly did d.i.c.k look in all directions for him. He was as completely gone as if the earth had opened and swallowed him up.
”Can he have entered some opening in the rocks?” the youth asked himself.
With added caution he moved forward a few steps further. Then, between some dense bushes, he saw a slit in some high rocks. The slit was irregular in shape but not over a foot wide in any one place.
”What do you see?” asked Tom, who, growing impatient, had followed his big brother.
”He seems to have disappeared, Tom,” was the low reply.
”Did he go in there?”
”That is just what I was wondering.”
d.i.c.k looked into the slit. It was of uncertain depth and looked dark and uninviting. Then the whole crowd searched the neighborhood. Not a trace of the stranger was discernable anywhere.
”Well, he didn't fly up in the air,” said Sam. ”He must have gone somewhere. Why not look into that opening, d.i.c.k?”
”You look out that you don't get shot!” warned Tom. ”That fellow, if he is one of the old freight thieves and the rascal who robbed Mrs. Stanhope of the valise with the fortune, must be a desperate character.”
”If I go in, it will be pistol first,” answered d.i.c.k, grimly.
He drew the weapon Captain Wells had loaned him, and slowly but cautiously wormed his way between the rocks. It was so dark he had to feel his way along, and, fearing that he might fall into some hole, he did not advance a step until he was sure of his footing.
”Shall we come?” called Tom, softly.
”Not yet,” answered d.i.c.k.
He pa.s.sed along a distance of fifteen or twenty feet. Then the pa.s.sageway widened, and he found himself standing on a rocky flooring that was comparatively smooth.
”Gracious! can this be one of the entrances to the smugglers' cave they told about?” he mused.