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  CHAPTER XXXI

  THE BOY SCOUTS AS EXPLORERS

  "Oh! Shucks! there she goes again!" exclaimed Bobolink, when the torchsuddenly whiffed out, to leave them in the dark.

  Bobolink sometimes carried the light when the splinter of wood Paul hadheld burned to its finish. He was not as careful as he might be, andconsequently twice already had they been compelled to stop and use aprecious match in order to renew the illumination.

  "You want to be more careful, Bobolink," remarked Paul, as he applied amatch to the still smouldering torch his companion carried.

  "I was trying to keep from trouble," grumbled the one who had been atfault; "but something just seemed to snuff it out. Did anybody hear asound like a dog growling right then?"

  "Oh! my, what do you mean, Bobolink?" asked Joe; "you're just trying toscare us, and you know it. 'Taint fair either. I felt a draught of air,and that was what puffed your light out. There ain't any wild animals inhere, are there, Paul?"

  "I don't think so," replied Paul, smiling at Joe's alarm; "because youcan nearly always smell the den of a fox or a wildcat. Now, what are youstaring at, Bobolink?"

  "Look there, what d'ye call that, fellows?" demanded the torchbearer,pointing ahead to where the little light just managed to win out againstthe gloom.

  "Been a fire in here, that's sure," observed Jack, eagerly advancing.

  In another minute all of them were bending over a flattened heap ofashes, undoubtedly the remains of some fire made by unknown people whohad occupied the cave.

  "Wonder whether they were tramps, or thieves?" Bobolink was saying.

  "Perhaps neither," remarked Paul, who was looking closely about him,with the intention of allowing nothing of moment to escape his gaze.

  "Huh! then you think perhaps that Ted Slavin and his crowd might havemade this fire; is that it, Paul?" asked Bobolink, quite satisfied tohave another do his thinking for him.

  "Well, hardly, because these ashes have been here a long time, perhapsseveral years, for all we know," remarked Paul.

  "Go back a little further, Paul, and say the mound builders left 'em,"chuckled the doubting Bobolink, who always had to be shown.

  "Look for yourselves. You know what fresh ashes are like. These havesettled down a long time. If it was outdoors now, the rains would havewashed them away; but sheltered in this cave they've just blown about bythe current of air. And see here why I know no boy sat beside thisfire," and while speaking Paul walked over to pick up several things hisquick eye had discovered.

  "An old shoe, and a big one at that!" said Jack, nodding his head, as ifagreeing with his chum's version.

  "And a tomato can with the top cut away," broke in Bobolink, as helooked, "and a stick in the hole of the cover. Say, Paul, I guess you'reright, because I've seen tramps heating coffee in that style. It wasn'tTed and his crowd after all; and I guess the old mound builders didn'thave tomato cans to use."

  "Or coffee to put in them," laughed Paul, turning the can upside down,and allowing some dark grains to fall on his palm; at which Bobolinksniffed, and then threw up both hands as though giving in.

  "Shall we go on further?" asked Paul. "I'm ready to leave it to therest."

  "Sure," declared Jack, without hesitation.

  "Count me in on that, Paul," came from Joe, stoutly.

  "I'm all to the good," remarked Bobolink; "because, you see, we want toknow what sort of a joint we've got here; and if there's any front doorto the same. We just sort of fell in at the back entrance; which I takeit was hardly the proper thing for decent fellers to do. Skidoo, Paul;we're on your track!"

  For some little time after that they found nothing of interest. Thepassage kept winding in and out, in a way that was "some confusing," asBobolink said. And since there were other passages branching off themain stem Paul thought it wise to bring his red chalk into play.

  Accordingly, he marked an arrow that always pointed along the rightchannel, and was calculated to lead them back to where the balance ofthe troop was quartered.

  "That's a cinch!" was the way Bobolink greeted this action; and indeedit seemed that no one could possibly miss the route with such a guide athand.

  But they had forgotten that light was absolutely necessary in order totell the way these arrows pointed. Pretty soon Jack awoke to the factthat they no longer seemed able to pick up small pieces of wood whichcould be used as torches.

  "And our supply has nearly run out, too," he added, holding up only onemore piece.

  "That looks serious," said Paul; "and perhaps after all our smartnesswe're going to get lost in the dark. How many matches in the crowd?"

  A hasty search revealed the act that all told they could only musternine; for they had been using quite a number.

  "That isn't much to count on, if we have to depend on them till we getback to where we can find wood again," remarked Paul, thoughtfully."What shall we do, boys?"

  "I'm willing to leave it to you," replied Jack; who suspected that hischum had an idea of some sort, which he was ready to spring on them.

  Both the others agreed with Jack; for they knew that Paul was betterable to grapple with such an emergency than either of them claimed tobe. And besides, it is so nice to have another fellow do all thethinking at such times.

  "Then listen," said the patrol leader; "the fact that we can feel adraught of air plainly here tells me there must be another opening tothe cave not very far off. If that is the case perhaps we could reach iteasier than go back over all the ground we've covered. What say,fellows?"

  Every boy declared himself in favor of pushing on into the unknownregion that lay before, rather than to take chances trying to retracetheir steps. Perhaps the spirit of adventure lured them on more or less,for it appeals to almost every lad with red blood in his veins.

  "That settles it, then; and we'd better get off at once," remarked Paul,satisfied that it was all for the best.

  The last torch was speedily used. Then they crept along in the dark fora time, after which one of the matches was struck very carefully, inorder that they might see their surroundings.

  "Wow!" exclaimed Bobolink as he found himself looking into what seemedto be a very deep and black hole; "wasn't it lucky we got the glim goingwhen we did? I guess I'd dropped into that pit if we'd held off anylonger. My good little angel must have warned me to light up."

  After that they were even more careful. None of them felt like taking aheader into such a gulf, since a fall might break limbs, or do evenworse.

  "That was my last match!" announced Bobolink, after a while.

  "I've got just one more," said Jack, dolefully.

  Paul had another, and Joe was completely out. Still there did not seemto be any end to the passage; and Paul, for the first time, began tosuspect that they had made a serious mistake in deciding to go ahead,instead of retreating.

  "I'm just getting played out, and that's no yarn," announced Bobolink,who had been limping for some little time, and grunting, as he wouldhimself have said, "to beat the band."

  "Suppose then, you three wait here for me," proposed Paul; "I'll makemy way along further, and try to find out if there is any hope offinding an opening. I promise to keep one hand on the wall here, so Ican get back again."

  They were loth to have him go; but Joe was almost "all in" too, and Jackthought he ought to stay with the cripples. So Paul crawled away, withbut one match in his possession, and feeling in anything but a cheerfulmood, although he would not discourage his chums by saying a word thatwould add to the gloom.

  He moved cautiously as he advanced, remembering how ugly that pit hadlooked when Bobolink struck his match; and not wishing to find himselftumbling into such a sink. Just how long he was creeping along in thisway after leaving his chums Paul hardly knew, but he must have coveredquite some distance. And thus far the current of air did not seem towarrant a belief that an opening was very close by.

  He was feeling discouraged, and on the point of giving it up as a badjob when he tripped over some ob
ject that, of course, he had not seen inthe pitch dark. In trying to save himself from falling he upsetsomething that made quite a clatter as it struck the rocks; when toPaul's amazement he heard a voice call out:

  "Who's that?" and accompanying the words came the scratching of amatch.