CHAPTER II
WHAT HAPPENED ON THE MOUNTAIN
It was on the day that Randolph Rover was to go to the town of Carwell,fifteen miles away, to see about the bonds, that the three Rover boysplanned for a day's outing.
"Let us go to the top of Chase Mountain," suggested Sam. "I haven't beenup there for three years."
"Second the suggestion," replied Tom. "We can take a lunch along andmake a day of it," and so it was arranged.
Chase Mountain was about three miles away, on the other side of HumpbackFalls, where Sam had once had such a stirring adventure, as told indetail in "The Rover Boys at School." It was a ragged eminence, and fromthe top a view could be had of the country for many miles around.
The day seemed to be a perfect one when the three youths started, andwhen they reached the top of the mountain they enjoyed the vast panoramaspread before them. They likewise enjoyed the substantial lunch theirAunt Martha had provided, and ate until Tom was ready to "bust hisbuttons," as he expressed it.
"Let us try a new path down," said Sam, when it came time to go home,and he and Tom led the way, over a series of rocky ridges and cliffsanything but easy to traverse. In some places they had to drop ten andfifteen feet, and once Tom came down on his ankle in a manner that madehim cry with pain.
"You look out for yourself," warned Dick. "If you sprain an ankle uphere we'll have a job of it getting you home."
"No sprained ankle for mine, thank you," replied Tom. And he was morecareful after that.
As Dick came after his brothers he saw something peculiar at one side ofthe path he was pursuing. It appeared to be a tin lunch box suspendedfrom a tree limb by a bit of wire. The box was painted red and seemed tobe new.
"That's strange," said the eldest Rover boy to himself. "Who would leavesuch a thing as that in that position? I'll have to investigate."
Without telling Sam and Tom what he was going to do, Dick left the pathand plunged into the bushes which grew between himself and the tree fromwhich the tin box was suspended. Among the bushes the footing wasuncertain, and hardly had he taken a dozen steps when he felt himselfsinking.
"Hi! this won't do!" he cried in alarm, and then plunged down into a bighole, some bushes, moss and dead leaves coming down on top of him.
In the meantime, Sam and Tom had gone on. Coming to where the pathappeared to divide, they turned to the right, only to find, five minuteslater, that they had made a mistake.
"Where in the world can Dick be?" murmured Sam, after he and his brotherhad called again. "I thought he was right behind us."
"So did I, Sam. It's mighty queer what's become of him. If he fell overa cliff----" Tom did not finish, but heaved a deep sigh.
With anxious hearts the two boys endeavored to retrace their steps upthe mountainside. They had to climb up one of the cliffs, and just asthis was accomplished it began to rain.
"More bad luck," grumbled Sam. "If this keeps on we'll soon be soaked."
"Spit, spat, spo! Where did that mountain path go!" cried Tom, repeatinga doggerel often used by children. "Dick! Dick!" he yelled, at the topof his lungs. Then Sam joined in the call once again. But as before,there was no answer.
It must be confessed that the two Rover boys were now thoroughlyalarmed. As they had climbed up the mountainside they knew they must beclose to the spot where they had last seen Dick. What had become oftheir big brother?
"Tom, do you think he could have fallen over some cliff and rolled tothe bottom of the mountain?" questioned Sam, anxiously.
"How could he roll to the bottom with the trees so thick? He would haveplenty of chance to catch hold of one of them."
"Not if he was knocked unconscious."
"Well, where can he be?"
"I don't know."
It was now raining steadily, and to protect themselves the two boyspulled their caps well down over their heads and turned up their coatcollars. They came to a halt under the wide-spreading branches of ahemlock tree.
"It beats the nation, that's what it does," declared Tom. "Maybe theearth opened and swallowed him up!"
"Tom, this is no joke."
"And I'm not joking, Sam. I can't understand it at all."
"Is that the path over yonder?" continued the youngest Rover, pointingto a spot beyond the opposite side of the hemlock tree.
"It looks a little like it," was Tom's reply. "Might as well go over andmake sure."
Leaving the shelter of the tree, they made their way through the bushes,which were now beginning to drip from the rain. As they progressed Sampushed a big branch from him and let it swing back suddenly, therebycatching Tom full in the face.
"Wow!" spluttered the fun-loving Rover, as he staggered back. "Hi! Sam,do you think I need a shower bath? I'm wet enough already." And Tomcommenced to brush the water from his face.
"I didn't mean to let it slip," answered Sam. "But say----"
What Sam was going to say further will never be known, for just then hefelt himself slipping down into some sort of a hole. He tried to leapback, and made a clutch at Tom's legs, and the next instant both rolledover and over and shot downward, out of the daylight into utterdarkness.
They were taken so completely by surprise that neither said a word. Overand over they went, a shower of dirt, sticks and dead leaves comingafter them. Then they brought up on a big pile of decayed leaves and laythere, the breath all but knocked out of them.
"Wha--what--where are we?" gasped Sam, when he felt able to speak.
"Say, is thi--this a ne--new shoot-the--the--chutes?" asked Tom who wasbound to have his fun no matter what occurred.
"Are you hurt?"
"I don't think I am, but I reckon my liver turned over about ten times.How about you?"
"Shook up, that's all," answered Sam, after rising to his feet. "Say, wecame down in a hurry, didn't we?"
"Yes, and got no return ticket either." Tom looked upward. "Gracious!the top of this hole is about fifty feet away! We are lucky that wedidn't break our necks!"
"Now we are down here, the question is, How do we get out, Tom?"
"Don't ask me any conundrums."
"We've got to get out somehow."
"Unless we want to stay here and save the expense of a cemetery lot."
"Tom!"
"Oh, I know it's no joke, Sam. But what is there to do? Here's a hole atleast fifty feet deep and the sides are almost perpendicular. Do youthink we can climb up? I am afraid, if we try it, we'll end by breakingour necks."
"It certainly is steep," answered the youngest brother, looking upward."Say!" he added, suddenly, "do you suppose Dick went down in some suchhole as this?"
"Perhaps; where there is one hole there may be more. If he went down letus hope he didn't get killed."
As well as they were able, the two boys gazed around them. The hole wasirregular in form, but about fifteen feet in diameter. One side was ofrough rocks and the other dirt and tree roots. At the top thetreacherous bushes overhung all sides of the opening, partly concealingthe yawning pit below.
"The rain is coming in pretty lively," was Sam's comment, presently. "Iwonder if there is any danger of this hole filling up with water."
"I don't think so, but if it does we can swim out."
"Or get drowned."
"Now who is getting blue?" demanded Tom.
To keep out of the worst of the rain Sam leaned against one of the sidesof the hole. He felt it give beneath his weight and before he could savehimself he went down into another hole, and Tom came after him.
The boys were scared and both cried out lustily. They did not fall far,however--in fact, they rather rolled, for the second opening was on aslant of forty-five degrees. They brought up against something soft, butthis time it was not a bank of decayed leaves.
"Sam! And Tom!"
"Dick!"
"Where did you come from?"
"How did you get here?"
"Are you hurt?"
"No, are you?"
"No."
Th
ese were some of the questions asked and answered as the three Roverboys stared at each other. Other questions quickly followed, and Dicktold how he had started to get the tin box and gone down sounexpectedly.
"You want to be careful," he cautioned. "This mountainside is full ofholes and pitfalls. I came down one hole and then shot right intoanother."
"And we did the same thing!" cried Tom. "Thank heaven none of us havebroken bones!"
"Didn't you hear us call to you?" asked the youngest Rover.
"I thought I heard something--but I was not sure. I called back."
"We didn't hear you," answered Tom.
Dick had been trying to get out of the hole into which he had tumbled,but without success. Now the sides were growing slippery from the rain,so the ascent became more difficult than ever.
"We're in a pickle," sighed Sam.
"Oh, we've got to get out somehow," answered his big brother. "We can'tstay here forever."
The opening was almost square, with three sides of rough rock. In tryingto climb up some of the rocks Tom gave one a shove and it slid fromsight, revealing an opening beyond.
"Hullo! another hole!" cried the youth, leaping back in consternation."Why, the old mountain is fairly honeycombed with them."
"I was never on this side of the mountain before," said Dick. "They usedto tell some queer stories about this side."
"Didn't they say some parts were haunted?" asked Sam.
"Yes, and it was said that, years ago, many travelers coming this waydisappeared."
"Well, why shouldn't they, with so many holes around?" came from Tom."If we get out alive we'll be lucky."
With great care they got down on their hands and knees and examined theopening beyond the rocks.
"I believe it's a big cave," announced Dick a few minutes later. "And ifit is, I'm rather inclined to look around inside. Perhaps it will leadto some opening on the mountainside where we can get out."