The Cave

William, wearing a long face, hesitated as he mounted the steps to the porch of his home. A thousand questions filled his mind which he was afraid his mother might ask, and he searched for possible answers. Slumping into a chair, he tried to think how to meet any situation that might arise. At the same time he was worried about his brother and wondered what might have happened to him. He didn’t hear his mother come out on the porch. Her voice startled him as she asked, “What are you sitting out here for, William?”

He shrugged his shoulders. “Just like that, mother. Resting up.”

“Did you win the game?”

“No. No, mother, we lost.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” She looked at him and saw how miserable he felt imagining that it was because of the lost game. She tried to cheer him up by saying, “Don’t feel so badly, son. It’s not so terrible to lose a game.”

“Yes, mother.”

“Where is Wallace?”

The question came suddenly and hit him like a bombshell. He expected it, yet he was caught off guard. Hesitating, trying to think of the exact words he was going to utter he finally said, “He went with Jack; said he’d stay there for supper.”

“Very well.” She smiled down at him. “You’d better go and wash up.”

He rose and entered the house. He took a shower and changed his clothes and fussed, trying very hard to delay his coming down to the dining room. When he heard his mother call him for the second time, he left his room and descended the stairs. Entering the dining room his eyes almost popped out of his head to see his twin brother and Jack at the table. His father noticed the look of consternation on his face and asked, “Anything wrong, son? You look pale.”

“No, Dad. I feel fine and dandy.” Trying to keep his voice level as possible, he asked, “I thought you were staying at Jack’s for supper?”

Wallace had a mouthful. “Changed our minds,” he mumbled.

William was overjoyed. Passing behind his brother’s chair, Wallace got poked in the head. It was a signal of affection rather than of anger. Sitting down at the table, William was all smiles and suddenly he remembered that he was terribly hungry.

When the boys met, Wallace was attacked with a million questions, but at first he wouldn’t answer a single one. When the time came, he told his story. A lot of discussion ensued. One thing was agreed upon by all, however. They had to go and investigate the cave while they had the chance. Tomorrow was Sunday. So they would leave in the afternoon, camp out for the night and return the following day. After deciding upon the plan, Nuthin’ raised another question. “Don’t you think it’s about time we informed the police or government agents?” he asked.

Paul answered quickly and precisely. “No. Absolutely no.”

“W-w-why not?” queried Bluff.

“For a thousand reasons,” replied Paul. “But one is sufficient. If we tell the police, they’ll most likely put some guards there and the secret will leak out, then that gang will get wise and beat it.”

That seemed to satisfy most of them but Nuthin’ was insistent. “But what can we do by ourselves?” he demanded.

“We’ll just have to wait and see.”

They met at the outskirts of the town, coming there in twos and threes; they didn’t want anyone to see them and ask them embarrassing questions. They carried with them only enough provisions to last them until the following day. Hiking briskly, with a minimum of rest stops, the group arrived at their destination at about five o’clock. Holding a conference, it was decided that only Wallace and Jack would enter the cave, while the other boys hid themselves at various distances, and kept a sharp lookout. Before the group parted, Paul warned the two, “Now don’t stay there too long. We’ll give you forty minutes. If you’re not out by then, we will come after you.”

The two nodded in agreement. Waiting for the others to take their places of hiding, they finally heard Paul’s whistle, the signal for them to proceed. Wallace and Jack crept forward. At the entrance, Wallace paused to point out to his friend the remarkable work of deception. Then, shaking with excitement, he pulled the door ajar and peeked in. It was dark inside and he saw nothing. Pulling the door a bit wider, the two boys crept in, and used their flashlights.

Paul and the other boys watched Jack and Wallace enter the cave and saw the door close behind them. Time dragged on their hands. They lay in hiding places and watched the sun move steadily in its westward course. In a couple of hours it would be dark and they had yet to set up camp. But the boys didn’t think of it. Their minds were in the cave and they wondered what Jack and Wallace were seeing and finding. Every minute seemed to them an age. They trembled with excitement. Paul saw William signal that he wanted to come over, which he did. “Wish they would come out all ready so we can go in and see what’s inside,” William whispered.

“Give them their allotted time,” Paul answered.

Side by side, they lay there and itched with impatience. Tired of watching the entrance to the cave, they let their eyes wander elsewhere. William took out his watch and counted off each minute. As the forty minutes were drawing to a close, they again glued their eyes to the entrance of the cave. William whispered, “They’re not out yet. You think they’re all right?”

“Of course they’re all right. Give them time to come out. They still have five minutes.”

But when the five minutes were up, the two boys still had not emerged yet. Paul waited. Five minutes later he called the boys together to discuss the situation. It was decided that they would wait fifteen minutes more and if Jack and Wallace were not out by then, Paul and Bluff were to go in after them, the others were to remain outside.

In the meanwhile, let us see what happened to Jack and Wallace. Having crept into the cave on their hands and knees, Jack used his flashlight, throwing the beam of light straight ahead. The cave was about forty feet deep and beginning at the entrance it gradually widened until it attained a maximum width of about ten feet. The two boys crept forward until they came to about the middle of the cave. Playing their flashlight all around them, they found the place truly empty—absolutely bare of anything. The two boys looked at each other dumbfounded. Jack laughed good naturedly. “Can you imagine anything like it? If we knew nothing about that gang, we couldn’t suspect a thing by coming into the cave.”

“You’re right,” answered Wallace. “But I have a suspicion that this is not the whole of the cave.”

Jack snapped his finger enthusiastically. “Those are just my sentiments,” he cried. “It’s evident that they use this place for a store room and a hideout. Now if this was all there was to the cave and they stored their stuff right here, then they would be discovered by the first person who happened to come upon them. On the other hand, the fact that they have operated successfully and were not caught shows that there must be another place leading out from here where they can quickly hide.”

“I agree with you. And I have been thinking how we can start trying to find it.”

“And what’s your plan?”

Wallace rested on his haunches. “Notice how simple and smooth the walls seem to be?”

“That’s right.”

“Well, another part of this cave would have to lead off somewhere through that wall. And my hunch is that it’s near where we are now, on both sides and to the end of the cave.”

“Very good. Then you start on that wall, I’ll start on this one, and we’ll examine carefully every spot. We’ll work so that we meet at the far end of the cave.”

Wallace agreed and they set to work. With their hands, they went over every inch of the wall. They had been working like that for perhaps ten minutes when Jack suddenly screamed, “Wallace! I’ve got it! Here it is!”

Wallace jumped across to his friend’s side. A thick door, about two feet wide and four feet high, had swung out and remained open. Both were so excited with their discovery that neither one thought of determining exactly how it worked. Jack didn’t know what it was that swung the door open. It just happened. Wallace walked through the door first, followed by Jack. So enthused were they that neither one paused long enough to make sure of their exit. As they stepped into this newly discovered additional cave, Wallace used his flashlight. The beam flew back and forth, all around the place. The ceiling here was about three feet higher than in the outside cave. And all around the walls were stored large cases, boxes, utensils of many sorts and such things. Wallace gasped, “Look at all that stuff!”

Jack grasped his friend by the elbow. “Yeh,” he muttered. “Let’s take a look.”

They approached the large cases first. Jack carried his small hatchet with him. Wallace whispered, “Open up one of these cases first, and do it so we can nail it up again and make it look as if no one touched it.”

“Right.”

Jack set to work. In the meanwhile, Wallace roamed about, describing things to Jack as he came across them—cooking utensils, bedding, several iron cots, some clothing, two leather jackets, two holsters and automatics. Jack had pried open one board. He called, “Wallace, come here!”

They looked into the box. It was full of rifles. Their eyes met in astonishment; even though this was what they had been expecting. Jack gasped, “Well, that’s that.”

Wallace said, “Now close it again. Do it so there won’t be any suspicion that it was opened.”

When the job was completed, Wallace looked at his watch. “Hey!” he cried. “We have been away forty-five minutes already. Let’s get out.”

They looked around for the door but they couldn’t see it. It had swung to without their being aware of it. Both boys rushed over to where they thought the door would be; they pounded and pushed against the wall, but in vain. Wallace exclaimed, “Can you imagine a thing like that! We were so excited we forgot we had to come out again and took no precaution.”

Jack agreed. “Yes, it’s our fault. But let’s not get excited. We’ll get out.”

“I suppose so. But the boys out there will become worried if we don’t show up.”

“Then they’ll come after us.”

“But suppose they don’t find the door?”

“We found it, so why shouldn’t they?”

“It was an accident the way we found it. And it is possible that they may not.”

“Well, let’s not cross our bridges before we get there. Let’s do the best we can and look carefully.”

The boys spent fully a half hour pounding their fists against the wall, clawing with their fingers. But all in vain. They sat down on the hard ground to rest a bit and take counsel together. But just then Jack felt a slight puff of cool air and he turned his face to see the door swinging out. He jumped up and grasped it. Simultaneously Paul and Jack cried out. Wallace exclaimed, “Hold it! Let’s see how it works.”

Only a few minutes was necessary to discover that the door worked on an axis and the slightest push anywhere along the rim of the door, set it swinging. But to make sure, two of the boys remained on the other end, the door was swung to, then Jack swung it open again from the inside.

Jack remained at the door and held it open. Wallace showed Paul and Bluff around. They guessed that all the large cases—there were six of them—contained rifles, while the smaller boxes contained cartridges. In about five minutes, they were all prepared to leave again. Jack said, “Wait a minute, fellows. Take a deep breath, then I’ll ask you something.”

The boys breathed in. “All right. Now what?” asked Paul.

“How does the air appear to be, fresh or stale?”

Wallace sniffed the air again and answered, “Fresh,” to which the others agreed.

“Now,” said Jack, “when we first entered here, do you recall whether the air was stale?”

Wallace scratched his head. “I really don’t remember,” he answered.

“That proves that the air was not stale but fresh.”

“How do you figure it out.”

“Because if the air had been stale, it would have hit you right away and you would remember it.”

“What are you trying to prove?” demanded Paul.

Jack exclaimed. “Standing here I felt a very slight draft. That’s clue number one. Secondly, if the air was fresh when we first entered here, then it proves that air is coming in from somewhere.”

“Gee,” exclaimed Paul, “that’s very good reasoning.”

“Yes. But there’s more to it. I’m convinced that there is an exit leading to the outside from this inner room. The reason for it is obvious. The gang had to have an avenue of escape if they were ever cornered.”

“That’s very logical,” added Wallace. “Let’s look for it.”

“Before we do that,” interposed Paul, “I suggest that one of us go out and tell the boys not to worry and be patient. Two of us should conduct the search while one stands guard at this door.”

They agreed and it was decided that Bluff was to return to their companions, Wallace was to stand guard at the door and Jack and Paul were to conduct the search. Bluff left for the outside. “Now,” said Paul, “let’s find the exit.”

Using their flashlights, they scanned the walls and found no clues. So the two boys got busy looking behind the piled cases and boxes. In a few minutes, Paul shouted that he had discovered it. Hidden by a sort of net, the mouth of the tunnel was just large enough for one individual to creep along on his belly. Paul crept in, followed by Jack. Five minutes later, Jack re-appeared and called to Wallace to follow. The tunnel was about thirty feet long, the other end hidden by a lot of shrubbery. Looking around, the three boys discovered that, the camping site which Bud (the stranger) urged them to leave, was right there in front of them, on the other side of the stream.