Part 17 (1/2)
”What?” asked Jack.
”Why, there's a big level place just below the cave I was tellin' you 'bout. A plateau. Smooth as a floor.”
The hum of the airplane had died away. The boys and their guide never had caught sight of the machine in the darkness.
Suddenly Frank pointed in the direction whence the sound of the airplane had come, ahead and slightly to the left.
”I thought I saw a light there,” he whispered. ”It was just a faint streak of orange. Now it's gone.”
”Look here,” said Bob to Tom Bodine, ”does that cave face this way or is it on the other side of a hill?”
”It's on t'other side,” answered Tom, ”an' near the top.”
”Well, I'll bet you there's somebody in that cave. And the light that Frank saw was some kind of a signal to the airplane.”
The big ex-cowboy scratched his head.
”Mebbe you're right,” he said doubtfully. ”I don't know 'bout such things. But who'da thought that cave would be discovered. Why, I just come on it accidental like onct when I was wanderin' through these hills.”
”Boys, there's only one thing to do,” said Jack in a determined voice, ”and that's to investigate.”
”Righto, Jack,” said Frank eagerly. ”Here's our chance to get back our airplane.”
”You said it,” declared Bob. ”Let's go.”
”Not so fast,” said Jack. ”First we must have a plan of campaign.
Tom, what's the lay of the land? How far away is the cave? Would it be better to leave our horses here and approach on foot?”
”Cave's not more'n half a mile from here,” answered Tom. ”It's just around the shoulder o' this hill we're on right now and near the top.
I tole you 'bout that big rock in front o' the entrance an' them three lonesome trees at the foot that give you a bee-line to the rock. Well, we can git to them trees without bein' noticed an' tie our horses there an' then sneak up afoot.”
”Is there only the one entrance to the cave?”
”Only one,” answered Tom. ”There's a kind o' chimney up through the rock to the top o' the hill. But n.o.body couldn't git out there in much of a hurry. We won't have to worry 'bout that.”
Frank had an idea.
”How far would those fellows in the airplane have to go to reach the cave after landing?”
”Oh, le's see. 'Bout as fur as us, I reckon.”
”Maybe we can cut them off before they enter the cave,” said Frank.
”They'll be busy about the airplane for several minutes before they start to make their way to the cave. How would they have to approach the cave?”
”Same way as us from the trees on,” said Tom.
”Well, if we hurry,” Frank declared excitedly, ”maybe we can capture them before they reach the cave.”
”Right you are, young feller,” approved Tom. ”But we'll have to leave our horses behind or they might give us away. We can't tie 'em to those trees like we planned.”
”We can't hobble them,” said Jack, thinking quickly, ”because they would wander aside a little distance, anyway. And we may want them again in a hurry.”