CHAPTER X
THE MYSTERY OF THE LEATHER BAG
After reading the doctor's note, Hal picked up the lantern and swung itaround so as to get a wider view of the cave. He was able to see thewall at the other edge of the cataract, but was not sure of the depth ofthe cavern.
Then he set the lantern down again and searched his pockets until hefound a piece of white paper and a pencil. For a few moments he castabout him for a hard, smooth surface on which to lay the paper, but thebest he could find was the plain flat handle of his pocketknife. Withthis on his knee and bending close to the light of the lantern, Hallaboriously inscribed the following:
"I'm all right till morning. I'm going to explore the cave."
He tied this note to the rake and reached it back to Pepper. Then hewaited for the answer he saw the doctor preparing. It came presently andwas as follows:
"Be careful and don't fall into another trap. We're going back to theother side. Maybe we'll try to get you before morning."
Hal saw the two men depart and then turned his attention to the darkdepths of the cavern.
The floor was smooth, though irregular. The mouth opening upon thewaterfall was about ten feet wide, but the passage narrowed somewhatfurther in. Here it made a sharp turn to the right, and Hal followed thepassage a hundred feet, when he was stopped by a wall of earth androcks. There was no further exploration to make, for this was the end ofthe cave.
Hal flashed his lantern all around and above, but could find nothingmore of particular interest, except the general formation of the cave.He was not certain that he could see the ceiling. At one placeparticularly there seemed to be a black void above.
The right wall of this part of the cave slanted upward like the side ofa steep hill. Moreover, this side was jagged and irregular, so that Halwas certain he could climb up some distance. The other side hung overlike a huge cliff, slanting at the same angle.
"This looks like a big crevice in the rocks," mused the boy as he gazedup and around him. "I wish some more of the boys were here withlanterns. I'd like to hunt till I found something worth coming here for.It looks like a shame to have such an adventure as this and findnothing.
"Oh, yes," he suddenly remembered; "there's the bag of souvenirs. Ihaven't examined them yet. I'll go back and see what they are."
So he turned to the mouth of the cave and set the lantern down on thefloor, while he stooped over and untied the string around the opening ofthe leather bag. Pulling it apart, Hal was soon fingering a curiouscollection of many sorts of stones and quartz, some of which shonebrilliantly in the light of the lantern.
"My! they look as if they might be worth a fortune," exclaimed the boyas he picked up one after another and examined them eagerly, "for Mr.Miles said he wouldn't take a thousand dollars for them."
As he had nothing else to do, Hal continued to examine the curios forsome time, becoming more and more impressed with their novelty. Some ofthem evidently had been altered in shape by the hand of man,particularly a few that looked like Indian amulets, and Hal wasconvinced that the collector had visited some deserted pueblos or cliffhouses.
"Dr. Byrd said Mr. Miles had spent some time in the mountains," hemused: "and I bet he can tell some interesting stories of the placeshe's been in. When he gets well enough to be around, I'm going to askhim to tell us all about his adventures. He must have had some with thatairship in the mountains."
Hal's meditations and his interest in the contents of the leather bagwere interrupted finally by the reappearance of lights approaching alongthe river bank. He drew the string tight around the receptacle and tiedit. Then he awaited the approach of his rescuers.
As they came near, he saw that they were bearing two wide planks, oneman at either end of each, the leaders carrying the lanterns. Evidentlythey had decided not to wait until morning before attempting to releasethe boy from his strange prison.
Finally they reached the flat rock near the waterfall and the two plankswere laid across the intervening space between the shore and the cave.Hal adjusted his end of the planks so that they rested firmly; then hepicked up the leather bag and his lantern and walked across the bridge.
Without further delay, they turned and walked down the stream again. Noattempt was made to discuss the affair until they had forded the riverand returned to the stage road near which the automobile had been left.Hal was then the first to speak.
"Where's Frank?" he inquired.
"We took him back to the school and put him in bed," replied Mr.Frankland. "Evidently you could see and recognize him from behind thewaterfall."
"Yes," answered the boy. Then he continued: "It wasn't his fault that Iwas trapped behind the fall. It was all an accident. He slipped and hitthe board with his foot."
Hal's companions were amused at this unconscious charity toward Frank.If there had been light enough they probably would have winked at eachother. In his fear of the gallows, the former youthful terrorizer hadconfessed just how he happened to kick the plank into the waterfall and,as he thought, dropped Hal to a fearful fate.
With little delay, except to crank the machine, they all got into theautomobile and soon were bowling along the stage road. As they wereleaving the canyon, Dr. Byrd inquired:
"What kind of place is that cave, Hal?"
The boy gave a brief description of it; then he added:
"It's a dandy. It isn't so awfully big, but it's big enough; and it's sodifferent from most caves."
"You didn't find any rubies or garnets or streaks of gold there, didyou?" inquired Mr. Frankland, nudging the boy, who sat beside him in theback seat.
"No, but there might be something of the kind. I wish we could go backwith lots of lanterns and examine the place carefully."
"I think we'll forget all about that cave for a while at least,"announced the doctor with an air of decision. "It came near proving afatal discovery, and I feel like waiting until I've had time to get overthis scare."
Hal had offered his suggestion rather doubtfully, for he felt that ascolding was due him and Frank for their boldness in crossing the riverand continuing their search along the steep shore on the west side.However, the adventure had proved successful, for the lost bag ofspecimens had been found; so the boy did not feel nearly so much like aculprit as he would have felt in the face of failure.
But the doctor said nothing more that might sound like criticism. He wastoo thankful for the discovery and rescue of the lost boy for that.
Presently the talk was changed to the bag of specimens. Naturally muchwonder was felt because of the place where it had been found. Halexplained his theory that in falling from the aeroplane it had struck aslanting projection of rock and bounded into the cave.
"Of course that's barely possible," said Dr. Byrd; "but it's hardlyprobable. I can't get away from the belief that the bag did not breakloose in the air."
"You think it fell to the ground with the aeroplane?" Hal inquired.
"Yes. Why not? I can't conceive what force could have broken or pulledit loose before the machine hit the ground. Did it just happen to comeuntied from the strut at that time? Barely possible."
"How did it get into the cave then?" asked Mr. Porter.
"Somebody put it there if it didn't fall there," volunteered Pepper.
"Of course," said the doctor.
"Somebody _might_ have put it in the cave," agreed Hal reflectively. "Weweren't the first ones to discover the place."
"How do you know?" inquired Dr. Byrd quickly.
"By the plank we found in the bushes. It was there for a bridge, thatwas plain. Somebody's been using the cave for something."
Exclamations of surprise greeted this information.
"Did you find anything in the cave that tended to prove your suspicion?"asked Mr. Frankland.
"Nothing except the leather bag."
Hal hoped that his suggestions would arouse the interest of Dr. Byrd tosuch an extent that he would decide upon further i
nvestigation, but hewas disappointed. If the owner of Lakefarm felt any such desire, hefailed to express it.
On their arrival at the school, the automobile was run into the garage,and then a general move was made for their bedrooms. While the doctorexplained matters to his wife, Hal and the two instructors had gone tobed.
The noise Hal made in entering the dormitory and walking along the hallawakened Bun Bowler, who was sleeping with his brother Frank. EagerlyBun slipped out of bed and peeped through the slightly opened doorway.
"Oh, they've brought Hal back," he said to himself. "I wonder where theyfound him."
Had it been Frank he would have yelled out a congratulation, in spite ofthe lateness of the hour and the rule requiring quiet in the dormitory,but Byron crept quietly back into the bed. As he crawled over hisbrother--Frank always insisted on sleeping in front--the latter gave astart and a jerk and cried in a voice of terror:
"I won't do it any more! I won't do it any more! I won't threaten toclout anybody in the jaw--never, never again!"