“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.
XIV
Captain Royal
When the three boys reached the cave where they had last seen Frank Hardy they piled the driftwood in a heap close by one of the pits in the floor.
They were surprised at the number of holes and crevices they had discovered.
“It’s a wonder we weren’t all killed,” said Chet. “We were all prowling around this cave without any idea of the danger.”
“It’s a good place to stay out of,” Joe remarked. “But first of all we’ll try to get Frank out of it too.”
He was trying to be hopeful, but it was difficult. The ominous silence since his brother’s disappearance had been none too encouraging.
They lit the fire. In a short time, the flames flared high and a flickering radiance illuminated the cave, revealing the damp ceiling high above, the clammy walls in the distance, and the rough floor, seamed and pitted with cracks and holes in the rock.
Methodically, they resumed their search, investigating each of these gigantic crevices. But in spite of all their shouts, in spite of the fact that they were enabled to make a more thorough search now that the cave was not as dark as it had been, in spite of the fact that Joe even descended one of the shallower pits on the chance that Frank might be lying unconscious at the bottom, their search was in vain.
“I’m afraid it’s no use,” said Biff finally.
“I hate to give up!” declared Joe. “And yet—we’ve done all we can.”
“Better have some sleep and try again tomorrow,” Chet suggested. “Frank is either unconscious or—or dead. Some of these pits seem terribly deep.”
Joe realized that the advice was reasonable. They were all very tired and in no condition to continue the search. As Chet said,
