Mr. Hatfield moved deeper into the chamber, away from the pile of balsam.
“Say, here’s something!” he cried. “I’ve found—”
But Dan and Brad did not learn what it was their leader had discovered in the darkness. In bending over he unintentionally had given the rope about his waist a quick jerk. At the mouth of the cave, the Cubs began to pull him in.
“Hey!” Mr. Hatfield exclaimed. “What’s coming off? I didn’t give the signal.”
Again the rope jerked. To avoid being pulled into the pool, Mr. Hatfield had to retreat backwards around the ledge.
“Those Cubs!” he exclaimed with an annoyed laugh. “They’re pulling me in! Either they’re worried because we’ve been gone so long, or something’s happened at the cave entrance!”
As the Cubs at the cave entrance pulled steadily on the rope, Mr. Hatfield was forced to move briskly along to keep from being swept off his feet. He jerked on the rope several times as an indication that he was safe. The signal, however, seemed to be misunderstood. At any rate, the steady pull continued.
“Come on, Brad! Dan!” Mr. Hatfield exclaimed. “They’ll be dragging you in next.”
Already Dan had felt a tug on the rope about his waist. He and Brad followed the Cub leader across the rock shelf to the tunnel of shallow water.
“It’s probably getting late,” Mr. Hatfield said, splashing along. “Either that, or something has gone wrong at the mouth of the cavern.”
As the three proceeded toward the cave entrance, the pressure on their ropes suddenly relaxed. Evidently Mr. Holloway and the waiting Cubs now realized that there was no need to pull the three in. However, the trio continued toward the exit, knowing that it was too late to do any more exploring that night.
Coming within view of the cave mouth, they paused in astonishment. The gap between the rocks barely was discernible as a circle of light.
“Why, it’s nearly dark!” Dan exclaimed. “No wonder the Cubs decided to haul us in!”
“We were in that cave a lot longer than we realized,” Mr. Hatfield agreed.
Mr. Holloway and the Cubs greeted the three explorers eagerly as they emerged from the dark hole amid the rocks. Once on the beach it was much lighter, but the sun had set and long shadows had fallen across the river.