CHAPTER XXIII. TRAPPED IN A LIVING TOMB.
After the first excitement and confusion had quieted down a bit, themajor and the professor began discussing ways and means for exploring thecavern.
"When shall we start?" asked Merritt.
"At once, I think," said the major.
"I agree with you," said the professor; "no time like the present."
"That being the case," declared the major with a smile, "Jumbo had betterset out for the canoes at once, and bring some provisions and thelanterns."
The lanterns referred to were of the variety used by miners, which hadbeen brought along for the special purpose in which they were now to beemployed.
But Jumbo was not allowed to set off alone on his expedition. The eagerBoy Scouts raced off with him. They soon returned with a supply of cannedgoods, plenty of matches and some firearms and the lanterns. The latterwere quickly lighted and, each member of the party shouldering a burden,the dash into the cave was begun.
It was a creepy, mysterious sensation. The light seemed to go out with asudden snap as they passed the portals of the cave entrance. Only theyellow light of the lanterns, pale after the bright sunshine, illuminedthe damp walls. A queer, dead, musty smell was in the air.
"Better proceed carefully," said the professor; "we may encounter apocket of poisonous air before long."
"I thought we were looking for a pocket full of money," whispered Tubbyto Merritt, behind whom he was pacing.
The party had to advance in single file, for beyond the entrance of thecave was a narrow passage.
"I wonder how your ancestor ever located this place?" said Rob,wonderingly, as they proceeded cautiously.
"The family legend has it that he came in here in pursuit of a woundedwild animal he had shot, and which sought refuge here," said the major.
It was a strange, rather uncanny feeling to be treading the long unusedpath leading into the bowels of the cliff. They talked in whispers andlow tones. A loud voice would go rumbling off in a weird way, notaltogether comfortable to listen to.
"Gee! I wouldn't much care to be trapped in here," said Tubby, as theypressed on.
All at once the path they had been following took a sudden dip. Rightunder their feet was a narrow chasm. If they had not had lights theymight have been precipitated into it, but luckily their lanterns showedthem the peril just in time.
For a short time it looked as if the treasure hunt would have to endright there. There seemed to be no means of crossing the chasm, and theyhad brought none with them.
"So near and yet so far," breathed Merritt.
But presently the major discovered a stout plank resting against the wallof the passage. It was worm-eaten and old, but a test showed it wouldsupport them. It had evidently been left there by the old buccaneer. Itcaused an odd thrill to shoot through Rob, as he stepped upon it, toreflect that the last foot to press it had been in the tomb for manyscores of years.
On the other side of the chasm the cave widened out. In fact, itdeveloped into quite a spacious chamber. The rock walls, imbedded withmica, glistened brightly in the yellow glow of the lanterns.
"We look like a convention of lightning bugs," commented Tubby, gazingabout him at the unusual scene. The professor drew out a paper. He andthe major bent over it, while the others listened breathlessly toascertain the outcome of this inspection of the plan of the long losttreasure trove.
"According to the plan the treasure is located in this chamber," said themajor at length.
"At any rate," added the professor, "the plan does not give any furtherdetails of the cave."
"Do you think it extends further?" inquired Merritt.
"Impossible to say. Some of these caves and their ramifications extendfor many miles. When the major has concluded his quest, I think it wouldbe of scientific interest to explore the subterranean thoroughfares atlength."
All agreed with this view. But the present business speedily banished allother thoughts from their minds. Like so many hounds on the scent, theboys ran about the place, seeking for clews to the hiding place. But totheir bitter disappointment all their efforts resulted in nothing. Notrace of any hoarded stock of precious articles could be found.
"We had better have something to eat and then we can determine on ourfurther course," said the major, looking at his watch; "I am convincedthat the treasure is here, however, and equally positive we shall findit."
When they sat down to their meal it was discovered that, in their haste,they had forgotten to bring any water. Tubby, Hiram and Jumbo at oncevolunteered to fetch some in the canteens which had been left in thecanoes.
"Ah'm jes' pinin' ter see dat ole Massa Sol once mo';" confessed thenegro.
"All right," said the major, "you can be one of the party, Jumbo. Buthurry back, Hopkins, for I am anxious to waste no more time thannecessary."
"We'll hurry," Tubby assured him.
The trio, the two boys and the black, hastened off, retracing their stepsthrough the dark passage of the cavern. It was a distinct relief toregain the sunlight and open air. So much so that perhaps they lingeredby the concealed canoes rather longer than they should have done.
"Come on. We've wasted enough time," said Tubby at length; "let's hurryback."
They set out at a good pace. But as they pushed through the brushseparating them from the cliff; in the face of which was situated thecave entrance, a sudden sound brought them to an abrupt standstill.Tubby, who was in the lead, raised his hand for silence.
In the hush that followed they could distinctly catch the sound of voicesahead of them. At first Tubby thought that they were those of some of theparty in the cave who had come out to see what had become of them. But hewas speedily undeceived.
One of the voices struck suddenly on his ear with an unpleasant shock. Itwas a harsh, grating voice, and Tubby, to his dismay, recognized it in aflash as being that of Stonington Hunt. He had heard it too often to bemistaken.
"Are you all ready?" Hunt was saying.
A sort of growl of assent followed these words.
"What can they be up to?" asked Hiram, who was also aware now of theidentity of the voices in front of them.
"I don't know," rejoined Tubby in the same low tones; "as well as I cansee, they are all on that cliff top alongside those balanced stones."
"Wonder what they are doing up there?" mused Hiram; "I suppose that----"
His voice was drowned in a loud crash as the larger of two stones waspushed over the edge of the cliff. In a flash Tubby perceived thefiendish object of Stonington Hunt and his followers.
The great rock fell directly in front of the opening of the cave. The wayin or out of the underground chamber was effectually blocked, unless theobstruction was blasted with dynamite.
Cold chills ran up and down Tubby's spine. Hiram shuddered and turnedwhite, and Jumbo groaned.
"Oh lawsy! lawsy! I knowed no good 'ud come uv meddling wif dat ole deadteef's money."
"Be quiet," ordered Tubby, sternly. With every nerve on the alert hewatched Hunt peer over the cliff-face. The next moment their enemyretreated with a chuckle of laughter.
"They're all sealed up good and tight," he said. "We'll let them stay inthere a day or two and then we'll blast the rock away."
"Gee, that fat kid will be thinner when he gets out," Tubby heard FreemanHunt say as his father rejoined the group.
"Ho! ho!" thought the lad, "'that fat kid' as you call him is on theoutside, Master Hunt. And it's a good thing he is, for the outside iswhere help will have to come from."
The watchers concealed in the brush below saw a new figure join the groupon the cliff summit, a man with a great, bushy, black beard and shiftyblack eyes.
"Mah goodness!" exclaimed Jumbo; "dat am de pussonage who peeked froughdem bushes las' night. I thought I knowed him. Dat's Black Bart, thesun-shiner."
The party at the cliff summit turned and vanished. Apparently they had acamp up there from which the
y had observed every movement of the BoyScout party. It was plain enough now, since Jumbo's recognition, how theycame to be there. Black Bart must have overheard the major discussing theplan the night before. By making a forced march by night the rascals hadarrived ahead of the rightful searchers for the old buccaneer's hoard.
"We'd better get back toward the boats before they take a notion toinvestigate," said Tubby. "I don't fancy sticking around here muchlonger."
"Nor I," said Hiram; "come on."
"Golly knows ah'm willin'," breathed Jumbo.
Snugly hidden in the thick growth into which the canoes had been dragged,the two Scouts and the negro discussed the situation. It was a desperateone. For the present, at least, Hunt and his party dominated it. Oneunpleasant thought, too, kept obtruding itself. The party in the cave hadno water.
"And Hunt says he won't blast it open for two days, anyhow," put inHiram; "I suppose he figures that the major would be too weak to opposehim then."
"Guess that's it. What a rascal that Hunt is! But what are we going to doto help them? We can't move that rock, and we've got nothing to blast itaway with."
Tubby's face showed the dismay, the almost despair, that he felt.
"Tell you what, Hiram," he said at length, "you'll have to take one ofthe canoes and get off down the lake. When you reach the foot of it makea dash to the westward, where there is a village. I'll wait here withJumbo till you return."
"But it will take two days, at least, maybe a week," objected Hiram.
"Can't be helped. We've got to do something. You are lighter and cantravel quicker than I. Take food and a rifle and get through as quick asyou can."
Ten minutes later the red canoe, well stocked with food, and paddled bythe young Scout, shot out from the shore. By hugging the rim of the lakethe boys had figured that he would be able to undertake the first stageof his journey without running much risk of being seen by their enemies.Besides, it was unlikely that Hunt or his cronies would be keeping a verykeen lookout as they evidently believed that all the party was imprisonedin the cave.
Tubby and Jumbo watched the canoe while it remained in sight, and thenreturned to their hiding place. Toward the middle of the afternoon theysaw smoke on the cliff top and well back from the edge.
"At any rate," thought Tubby, "they are camped at a good distance backfrom us. I reckon there's no danger of their seeing us moving about."
With great caution the lad wormed his way through the brush, leavingJumbo to guard the canoes. He had formed a daring determination toexamine the rock and see if it was not possible in some miraculous way tomove it. But an examination confirmed his worst fears.
The great stone was as immovable as if it had formed a part of the livingrock. Tubby actually gave a groan of despair.
"There's not a thing we can do," he moaned disconsolately. A suddenfootfall above him made him dive into the brush. He flattened out,immovable, in a flash. The next instant Hunt strode into the glade,followed by his son. They also examined the stone.
"If they won't come to our terms," said Hunt, as they turned away again,"we can immure them in a living tomb."
Tubby Hopkins, lying as quiet as a rabbit in his place of concealment,could not but feel the bitter truth the words held.
* * * * * * * *
"Those fellows are a long time getting that water, and I'm as dry as ajar of salt," said Merritt, as they munched on their provisions.
"I guess we're all pretty thirsty," said the major. "Perhaps you'd bettergo and hurry them up, my boy."
Merritt sprinted off on this errand. He had almost reached the ravine andwas about to step on the narrow bridge across it when there was a suddencrashing jar that shook the earth.
Though, of course, he did not know it, the noise was occasioned by thefalling rock dislodged by Hunt and his followers.
"Wonder what that was?" thought the boy, little guessing the real cause.
"If we were in the west I should think it was an earthquake. But I neverheard of any in the Adirondacks."
Before long he gained a point in the passage where he knew he should haveseen a disc of daylight ahead of him. Puzzled by its absence, the boypushed on. Every minute he expected to see the light, but the darknesscontinued to prevail. Sorely perplexed, he took a few steps more, when hewas abruptly confronted by a mass of solid rock. The passage appeared tohave terminated.
It was several moments before the meaning of this conveyed itself to theboy's mind. When he mastered the situation it was with a sense of shockthat for an instant almost deprived him of his senses.
Recovering his wits he lost no time in communicating his alarmingintelligence. Incidentally, the cause of the noise he had heard wasabundantly explained.
It required but a brief examination by the major, to make known the fullextent of their calamity.
"We are walled in," he said hoarsely.
"Is there no hope of escape?" gasped the professor. The boys were toomuch overcome to speak.
The major shook his head. Unconsciously he repeated Tubby's words.
"Help, if it is to come, must come from the outside," he said.
His words rang hollowly in the musty, subterranean passage.