It was of short duration, however.
The roadster came to level ground again, then rattled and rumbled on over an uneven surface.
The boys noticed a peculiar, hollow sound. The roar of the motor seemed to be echoing from all sides. The car had slowed down, and at last it came to a stop.
Battered and bruised, the lads crouched in their hiding place, wondering what would happen next. They could hear the driver scrambling out of the front seat. Then there was a voice:
"That, you, Alex?"
"Yep."
"What have you got?"
"Big roadster."
"The one we were talking about?"
"You bet."
Other voices followed, voices that echoed and re-echoed, and then footsteps clattered on rock.
"A beauty!" exclaimed some one. "Have any trouble?"
"None at all," said the voice of the man who had been addressed as Alex. "Nobody in sight, so I just hopped in and drove it out."
"Swell boat!" declared some one else. "Fine night to leave it out in the rain."
"That's what I thought," said Alex. "So I drove it in out of the wet."
