CHAPTER III.
A CAVE AND A CAVE-IN.
Let us go back and see what happened to Pawnee Brown at the time thelariat parted and he found himself going down into what seemedbottomless space.
Instinctively he put out both hands as far as he was able, to graspanything which might come within reach and thereby check his awfuldownward course.
The lantern fell from his fingers and jingled to pieces on a protrudingrock.
Then his right hand slid over the ends of a bush growing out of afissure. He caught the bush and held on like grim death.
The bush gave way, but not instantly, and his descent was checked sothat the tumble to the bottom of the hole, fifteen feet further down,was not near as bad as it would otherwise have been.
Yet he came down sideways, and his head striking a flat rock, he wasknocked insensible.
Half an hour went by, and he opened his eyes in a wondering way. Wherewas he and what had happened?
Soon the truth burst upon him, and he staggered to his feet to see ifany bones had been broken.
"All whole yet, thanks to my usual good luck," he thought. "But that's anasty lump on the back of my head. Hullo, up there!"
He called out as loudly as he could, but no answer came back, for Dickand Pumpkin were already gone.
"Well, I always allowed that I would explore the Devil's Chimney someday, but I didn't calculate to do it quite so soon," he went on. "Whatcan have become of those boys? Have they deserted me or gone off forhelp? If I can read character I fancy that Dick Arbuckle will do all hecan for me--and, by the way, can his father's corpse really be downhere?"
He brought forth a match and lit it. The battered lantern lay close athand, and, although without a glass, it was still better than nothing,and, turned well up, gave forth a torch-like flame which lit up thesurroundings for a dozen feet or more. No body was there, nor did hefind any for the full distance up and down the dismal hole.
"The boy was mistaken; his father wandered elsewhere," was the boomer'sconclusion. "Poor fellow, he was in no mental or physical condition topush his claims in the West. He should have remained at home and allowedsome hustling Western lawyer to act for him. If he falls into theclutches of some of our land agents they'll swindle him out of everycent of his fortune. I must give him and the boy the tip when I get thechance." The great scout laughed softly. "When I get the chance is good.I reckon I had best pull myself out of this man-trap first."
He made a careful investigation of the rocks. At no point was thereanything which gave promise of a footing to the top.
"In a pocket and no error," he mused. "I wonder if I've got to stay herelike a bull-croaker at the bottom of a well?"
The rain had formed a long pool between the slanting rocks. He threw achip into this pool and saw that it drifted slowly off between two scrubbushes growing partly under a shelving rock.
With the light he made an inspection of the locality, and a cry ofsurprise escaped him. Beyond the bushes was the opening to an irregular,but apparently large cavern.
The stream flowed along one side of the flooring to this opening.
"Must be some sort of an outlet beyond," he mused. "I'll try it andsee," and in a moment more he was inside of the cavern and crawlingalong on hands and knees.
He had not far to go in this fashion. Twenty feet beyond the cavernbecame so large that he could stand up with ease. He flashed the lightabove his head.
"By Jove! a miniature Mammoth Cave of Kentucky!" burst from his lips.
On he went until a bend in the formation of the cavern was gained. Herethe stream of water disappeared under a pile of loose stones, and theopening became less than six feet in height.
"Checked!" he muttered, and his face fell. It looked as if he would haveto go back the way he had come.
Again he raised his light and gazed about him with more care than ever.
The loose rocks soon caught his attention, and, setting down thelantern, he began to pull away first at one and then another.
The last turned back, he saw another opening, evidently leading upward.
"This must lead to the open air--" he began, when a grinding of stonecaught his ears. In a twinkle a veritable shower of rocks came downaround his head. He was knocked flat and almost covered.
For fully ten minutes he lay gasping for breath. The blood was flowingfrom a wound on his cheek, and it was a wonder that he had not beenkilled.
"In the future I'll have more care," he groaned, as, throwing first onestone and then another aside, he sat up. The falling of the stones hadbeen followed by some dirt, and now a regular landslide came after,burying him up to the armpits.
"Planted," was the single word which issued from his lips. He was notseriously hurt, and was half inclined to laugh at his predicament.Still, on the whole, it was no laughing matter, and Pawnee Brown lost notime in trying to dig himself free.
The stones and dirt were wedged tightly about his legs, and not wishingto run the risk of a broken or twisted ankle, the scout worked withcare, all the time wondering if Dick Arbuckle was back, and never oncedreaming of the peril the poor lad was encountering. The rain wassoaking through the ceiling of the cavern, and the situation was farfrom a comfortable one.
At last he was free again, and striking a match, he hunted up thelantern and lit it once more.
The opening to the inner cave was now large enough to pass through withease, and making sure of his footing, the scout moved forward, straininghis eyes eagerly for some sign of an egress to the outer world.
Presently he saw a number of straggly things dangling downward from therocks and soil overhead.
They were the bottom roots of some great tree standing fifteen or twentyfeet above.
"Not far from the surface now, that's certain," he thought, withconsiderable satisfaction. "And yet, hang me if I can see an opening ofany sort yet."
On and on he went, until nearly a hundred feet more had been passed.
The cave had widened out, but now it narrowed once again to less than adozen feet. The roof, too, sloped downward until it occasionally scrapedthe crown of his sombrero.
The light of the lantern began to splutter and flare up, showing thatthe oil in the cup was running low.
"If only the thing lasts until I find the door to this confoundedprison," he thought.
Suddenly a peculiar hiss sounded out upon the darkness.
Pawnee Brown knew that hiss only too well, and leaping back he snatcheda pistol from his belt.
The hiss was followed by a rattle, and now, flashing the light around,the scout saw upon a flat rock the curled-up form of a huge rattlesnake.
The eyes of the reptile shone like twin stars, and when Pawnee Browndiscovered him he was getting ready to strike.
The rattler was less than six feet away, and the scout knew that hecould cover that space with ease. Therefore, whatever was to be donemust be done quickly.
Like a flash the pistol came up. But ere Pawnee Brown could fire acurious thing happened.
A large drop of water, splashing down from the roof of the cavern,caused the light to splutter and go out.
The scout was in the dark with his enemy.
More than this, he was boxed up in a narrow place, from which escape waswell-nigh impossible.
Aiming as best he could under the circumstances, he fired.
The bullet struck the flat rock, bounded up to the side wall of thecavern and then hit him in the leg.
"Missed, by thunder!"
He jumped past the spot and moved up the cavern a distance of severalyards.
A rattle and a whirr followed, as the great rattlesnake made a viciousstrike in the dark. An intense hiss sounded out when the reptilerealized that the object of his anger had been missed.
Listening with strained ears, the boomer heard the deadly thing slidingslowly from rock to rock, coming closer at every movement.
To flee was impossible, so with bated breath he stood his ground.
Boy Land Boomer; Or, Dick Arbuckle's Adventures in Oklahoma Page 3
