Part 2 (1/2)
”Help!” he ed to cry ”Help!”
”What's up?” came fro of one stone against another In the meantime Joe had fallen, he knew not whither He landed on so, and then took a second drop A stone fell beside hiround
For thebut try to get back his breath Then, as it gradually dawned upon him that he was not hurt in the least, he endeavored to arise
”Fast!” he muttered, and tore his jacket away fro to locate his torch But that was , and all was dark around hiht ”I wish I had taken old Benson's advice and reined that big rock would play a fellow such a trick? How in the world areat distance he could hear Darry shouting to him He tried to answer his cousin, but whether or not his voice was heard he could not tell
With his hands before him, he moved around, and scarcely had he taken a dozen steps when he slid down a rocky incline Here there ater; and he shi+vered, thinking he round streaained it proved to be but several inches deep
As Joe stood in the pool there came a sudden rumble of thunder to his ears He listened, and by the sounds beca into the outer air could not be a great way off Then caht on the rocks by his side
”Hurrah, that light came from outside!” he cried ”I'ood way frohting one of these he discovered a passageway below hi off to his left Further on he picked up a bit of dry wood and lit this It
”Now to get out, and then to find my way back to where I left old Benson,” was his mental resolve
With extre revealed a distant opening He did not leave one foothold until he was sure of the next, for he had no desire to experi rock
The thunder now reached his ears plainly, and the lightning at tiht as day
”It's quite another place,” was his thought ”That dangerous passage connects the two”
Suddenly, as Joe was advancing, he heard a clatter of horses' hoofs, and into the cave ahead rode three rough-lookingsht to call out to the newcomers, but he checked hiainst the about the of badus about yesterday” And then, as the three came to a halt in the center of the outer cave and dismounted, he crept closer, in the shadow of soht have to say
CHAPTER III
AN IMPORTANT CONVERSATION
”Who ever saw such a downpour before?” growled one of the three men, as he switched the water from his soft felt hat ”I'm wet to the skin”
”I'm no better off,” replied one of the others ”I think ere fools to leave Macklin's place, Gilroy”
”Just what I think, Fetter,” said the third man ”We could have waited as well as not”
”Yes, we could have waited, Potts,” answered Matt Gilroy; ”but, to tell the truth, I don't want to trust Macklin too far He ht play us foul”