Page:The Campaign of the Jungle.djvu/269

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THE CAVES UNDER THE MOUNTAIN.
239

to the skin." The vaulted cave soon came to an end, however, and now they found themselves in an opening cut up into a hundred different chambers, like a coal mine supported by arches. Each looked at the other in perplexity.

"We can easily miss the way here," said Larry, soberly. "We had better lay out a course and stick to it."

"Right you are, lad." Leroy pointed with his hand. "This seems as good a trail as any. Shall we follow it?"

"Yes." And forward it was again. Presently they came to another chamber, and here the slope was again upward, much to their satisfaction. "If we keep on goibg upward, we are bound to get out at the top, sometime," was the way Larry calculated.

Climbing now became difficult, and in a number of places each had to help the other along. Then came a wall twelve feet high, and here they were compelled to halt.

"It looks as if we were blocked," remarked the Yorktown sailor after an examination.

"I'm not going to give up yet," answered the boy. "If we can't get up any other way, we can