THE GROUND OPENS AT THE RIGHT TIME.

Jack dropped but a few feet and landed unhurt in absolute darkness.

“Thought you’d drop in.”

It was Bob’s voice and the next moment Bob’s arm was about his shoulder.

“Keep perfectly still now and they may go past us,” he whispered.

“But suppose they drop in too?”

“I think they are too far to the right. Listen.”

The sound of their pursuers could be plainly heard now as they pushed their way rapidly through the woods.

“I tink we geet ’em plenty queek, now,” they heard one say.

“Oui, they only leetle distance off,” another answered.

“You bet we mak’ short work dis time we geet em.”

But their voices were growing fainter and soon died out all together.

Bob gave a big sigh of relief.

“Talk about luck,” he said. “Whoever dug this bear pit and covered it over so slick certainly did us a good turn.”

“He sure did. They’d have had us by this time.”

“We’d better stay right where we are for awhile. When they find out that we aren’t ahead they may come back.”

He was correct in his surmise for inside of a half hour they heard them returning.

“Here they come,” he whispered. “Keep perfectly still and perhaps they won’t find us.”

Then men were now talking rapidly in French and they could only catch a word here and there, but they got enough to understand that they were puzzled to know what had become of them.

“Don’t move,” Bob whispered. “They are pretty close.”

For fully a half hour they could hear the men beating the woods all about them but their luck held and finally they must have given up the search for all was quiet. They waited another half hour to be sure that they were not coming back then Bob said:

“Now the question is are we going to be able to get out of here.”

It was pitch dark in the pit, the covering having sprung back into place as soon as they had dropped through. By feeling about they found that it was nearly circular and about eight feet in diameter, with perpendicular walls.

“How deep should you say this pit is,” Bob asked. “Not far from eight feet, I should judge.”

“Just my estimate. Now, you’d better get up on my shoulders and see if you can climb out.”

But the pit was a little deeper than they had thought, and standing on his brother’s shoulders, Jack found that he could barely touch the covering with the tips of his fingers.

“No go that way,” he announced as he jumped down.

“Then I’m afraid we’re in a pickle.”

“Where’s your flash?”

“Lost it yesterday morning. It must have fallen out of my pocket. Got yours?”

“I have it all right but the battery’s played out. It must have been a punk cell that fellow gave me for it hasn’t been used but a little. Wait till I see him again.”

“If you ever do,” Bob said and then quickly added, “I didn’t mean to say that. We’ve been in worse fixes than this and came out all right.”

“Yep, but I don’t recall any of them just now,” and Bob noticed a note of despair in his brother’s voice.

“How are you fixed for matches?” he asked.

“Got a box about half full.”

“Suppose you light one and we’ll take a look. I used the last one I had the other night.”

Jack struck the match and as the light flared up they looked eagerly about them but the sight was not encouraging. Beside themselves there was absolutely nothing in the pit.

“Doesn’t seem to be much here to work with,” Jack said gloomily as the match died out “Not a whole lot that’s a fact.”

“Suppose we can dig toe holds in the side?”

“I’m afraid it’s too soft but we can try it.”

Bob’s surmise was correct. They had no difficulty in digging niches in the sides of the wall with their knives but the earth was so soft that it crumbled away as soon as they tried to step in them.

“Failure number two,” Bob tried to make his voice as cheerful as he could but feared that he was not very successful.

“How about the third?”

“The third is going to be slow but I believe it will be sure. You said that you could just touch the top didn’t you?”

“Yep, just brushed it.”

“All right then. Now all we’ve got to do is to take our kit spoons and dig into the wall till we get a mound a foot or more high, then I guess you can make it.”

“Brains do come in handy once in a while for a fact,” Jack declared much more cheerfully.

They lost no time but went about the task at once. To their great satisfaction they found that the work went much faster than they had thought it would. The wall was of soft dirt, and with the strong spoons they could scrape it down with little difficulty. Every few minutes they would stop and heap the dirt up in a mound against the side of the pit and pat it down with their feet. It was just damp enough to pack well and in a little less than two hours Bob declared that he believed they had a pile high enough.

“If it’ll only hold,” he said as he tested it with his weight while Jack struck a match and held it close.

“It’s none too solid,” he announced. “But mebby she’ll do.”

He got to his brother’s shoulder’s while he stood to one side of the mound.

“Go easy now,” he cautioned as Bob stepped forward.

“Easy it is.”

But alas for their hopes. The added weight of Jack was to much for the mound of dirt and it gave away just as his fingers reached the covering.

“I was afraid it wasn’t strong enough,” Bob said as Jack again jumped from his shoulders.

“And your fears were well founded, worse luck,” Jack groaned.

“Well, no use in crying over spilt milk or dirt either for that matter. We’ll have to dig more down and build it stronger that’s all.”

So they worked for another hour when Jack declared that they must have about enough dirt to fill the pit with.

“If we keep on much longer we can build a mound clear to the top,” he declared.

This time they took more pains in packing the earth good and solid and it held. Jack found that his head just hit the covering when he stood on Bob’s shoulders. Leaning his back against the wall he reached up with his hands and started to make an opening. This proved easy as the top was spanned with long poles which in turn were covered with boughs on which was laid a covering of dirt and leaves. Quickly he pulled aside some of the boughs letting in a flood of light.

“Steady now,” he called. “I’m going up.” Grasping hold of two of the poles he had little trouble in raising himself through the opening and a moment later was on the ground.

“Just a minute now till I find a pole for you to climb up on,” he called back.

In a few minutes he had found what he wanted in the shape of a small fallen pine and in another five minutes Bob was standing by his side.

“One more scrape conquered.”

“Yes, and I was just wondering if we’d always be as fortunate,” Bob said soberly.

“Here’s hoping,” Jack replied as he began to strap his pack on his back.

So much time had been lost that they abandoned all hope of reaching the camp that night.

“We ought to get in in time to make Bangor with the bikes before tomorrow night, so it won’t make a whole lot of difference,” Jack said hopefully as they started off.

“If we weren’t so short of grub it wouldn’t be so bad,” Bob returned as he took an extra notch in his belt. “What I wouldn’t do to a good square meal right now is a shame.”

“Reckon I could do something in the eating line myself,” Jack laughed back.

They camped that night near the spot where they had seen the vanishing cabin. The last crumb of their supply was gone when they finished their supper and even then Jack declared that he was not half filled up.

“Never mind; it’s not good to eat too much just before going to bed, and I’ll get a mess of trout for breakfast,” he promised.

He kept his word, and after a hasty breakfast the following morning they started off in excellent spirits.

Bob’s leg was much better and Jack noted with great satisfaction that the inflammation had entirely disappeared when he examined it just before the start.

They saw nothing of their enemies and reached the camp just after eleven o’clock.

“You look as though you’d had a pretty hard tramp,” the proprietor greeted them as they came into the office.

“Oh, not so bad,” Bob replied easily. “We’re leaving right after dinner. Please make out our bill.”

“Somehow I don’t quite trust that man,” Bob said as they went to their cabin.

“He’s got a bad eye if you ask me.”

They waited impatiently for the dinner horn to sound and at the first welcome blast they quickly made their way to the dining-room.

“There, I’ll bet he didn’t make much profit on that meal,” Jack laughed as he pushed back his chair some forty minutes later.

“I reckon he made up for it on the ones we missed.”

When they went into the office to pay their bill the proprietor tried adroitly to learn something about their trip. But they answered him evasively and escaped as soon as they could without being rude.

“Guess he didn’t get much information though he tried hard enough,” Bob grinned as they returned to the cabin for their wheels.

“You’d make a dandy lawyer, the way you sidestepped him.”

“You were no slouch yourself when it comes to that.”

They reached Bangor shortly before five o’clock and made their way at once to the address given them by the Captain. They were fortunate enough to find the officer in and alone.

“Well, well,” he said as he shook them warmly by the hand. “I was just thinking about you boys and wondering what had become of you. Didn’t know but what I’d have to send out a relief expedition.”

It took the boys a good half hour to tell their story. The captain made no comment, except to ask a question now and then, until they had finished, then he said:

“I don’t think I need tell you that you have done more than well, but I thought I told you that I didn’t want you to get into any danger.”

“Pardon me, but as I remember it, you said ‘unnecessary danger,’” Bob replied.

“Well, perhaps I did use the adjective,” the captain laughed. “But, necessary or unnecessary, it seems that there was danger enough. But the good Lord sent you back unharmed and successful, for which I am deeply grateful. If anything had happened to you I could never have forgiven myself,” and the boys were somewhat surprised to see tears in his eyes.

“What do you make of those vanishing cabins, sir,” Jack asked.

“It’s as big a mystery to me as it can be to you. It’s certainly a strange tale you tell.”

“I’d find it hard to believe myself if I hadn’t seen it, or perhaps had not failed to see it,” Jack smiled.

“Don’t think for a minute that I doubt what you have told me,” the captain said quickly.

“I didn’t mean it that way,” Jack assured him. “I meant that it does sound incredible.”

“Well, there is, of course, some explanation to it and we’ll get to the bottom of it before long or know the reason why,” the captain smiled. “And now I want you to take a couple of days’ rest as my guests. Oh, your Uncle Samuel pays the bills,” he added as he saw the boys exchange glances.

“But we don’t really need any rest, sir,” Bob assured him.

“Better let me be the judge of that You see, it will take me all of that time to make arrangements, and I imagine there’s no great hurry. They won’t be apt to send over another load for a few days at any rate.”

“Might I ask how you intend to go at it?” Jack asked.

“You can ask anything,” the captain smiled, “but that is a pretty hard question to answer just at present because, candidly, I don’t know. What would you suggest?”

“Well, we were discussing the thing while we were watching that cabin and wondered if there was any way in which you could chase that fellow in a plane. Frankly, we couldn’t figure out how you could do it, as they’d be sure to see you and signal him not to light.”

“You didn’t run across any other place near there where a machine could take off, I suppose?”

“There’s none this side of it, that’s sure,” Bob replied.

“I supposed not, and it’s probably about the same the other side.”

“Not much doubt about that, I’m afraid.”

“Well, let’s go to supper and we’ll talk it over later. But you’d better call up your folks first. I know they must be anxious about you,” the captain proposed.

It took but a few minutes to get connected with their home in Skowhegan and they learned that their parents were much worried about them. They told them something of their experiences but left out all about the danger they had incurred.

“Time enough to tell them about that later,” Bob explained as he hung up.

“Can you arrest them on Canadian soil?” asked Bob as they were about to leave the office.

“It could be done, I suppose, but I’d much rather get that fellow with the goods this side of the line.”

They went to the hotel where the captain was stopping and he secured a fine room for the boys next to his own.

“This’ll make it handy for us,” he explained.

After supper they spent a very enjoyable evening at the theatre with the captain, but nothing more regarding plans for the capture of the liquor runners was said.

“We’ll have a good long talk about it in the morning,” the captain told them as he bade them goodnight.

“He’s sure one peach of a man,” Jack declared as they were undressing, and Bob heartily agreed with him.