there and see what's coming off."

He picked his way cautiously up the rough hillside. But the lantern
retreated as he went forward. As we know, Judson and his gang, led by
Bill, were carrying off Jack. Without realizing how far he had gone,
Raynor kept on and on. Some instinct told him that the dodging
will-o'-the-wisp of light ahead of him had something to do with Jack,
and he wanted to find out what that something was.

But, not knowing the trail Bill was following, and having no light but
the spark ahead of him, Raynor found it pretty hard traveling. At last
he was so tired that he sat down to snatch a moment's rest, leaning his
back against a bush.

As his weight came against the bush, however, a strange thing happened.
The shrub gave way altogether under the pressure. Raynor struggled for
an instant to save himself, and then felt himself tumbling backward down
an unknown height. He gave a shout of alarm, but his progress down what
appeared to be a steep wall of rock, was over almost as soon as it had
begun.

"What happened?" gasped the lad, as, shaken by his adventure, he picked
himself up and tried to collect his wits. "Oh, yes, I know, that bush
gave way and I toppled over backward. I must be in some sort of hole in
the ground. Well, the first thing to do is to get a light."

Luckily Raynor's pockets held several matches, and he struck one of them
and looked about him.

His eyes fell on the bush which lay at his feet.

"No wonder it gave way," he muttered. "The thing is dead and withered.
But"--as a sudden thought struck him--"it will make a dandy torch and
help save matches."

He lit the dead bush, which blazed up bravely, illumining his
surroundings with a ruddy glow. Above him was a dark hole, presumably
the one through which he had fallen. But there was no way of escape in
that direction. He turned his gaze another way. The cave appeared to
recede beyond the light of the blazing branch.

Looking down, he saw that the floor of the cave was thickly littered
with leaves and small branches. This encouraged him a good deal.

"They couldn't have been blown in by the hole I fell through," he mused,
"for the dead bush covered that. Their being here must mean that there
is another entrance to this place."

Carrying his torch aloft, he struck off into the cave. Its floor sloped
gently upward as he progressed and the walls began to grow narrower. The
air, too, rapidly lost its musty odor, and blew fresh