darkness, more black because of the momentary bright glare, settled down over everything outside the cave. and the rain, that had ceased for a little while just before that loud crash, again pattered down.
“what’s the matter out there?” called ned, who was helping bob with the meal at the campfire in the cave.
“another landslide—a small one,” tinny answered, as he and jerry walked in from the mouth of the cavern.
“is it headed this way?” asked cromley.
“didn’t seem to be,” the mine owner answered.
“what got you all excited then, jerry?” asked bob, looking in the coffee pot to see if the beverage was boiling.
“i saw blue rock,” the tall lad replied. “blue rock—you know—where the treasure chest was lost!”
“is that so?” came interestedly from cromley. “come to think of it, we must be somewhere near[221] the place where the stage went over. we’ll take a look in the morning.”
“i don’t believe it will do you any good,” stated tinny. “you know my opinion about that treasure chest—it’s a dream—a wild tale like lots of others going the rounds. still, don’t let me hold you back—try to get it if you can.”
“can’t do anything until morning,” observed jerry. “the storm’s worse than ever outside. ned, you stumbled into the right place when you found this cave.”
“it’s better than the abandoned mine cabin would have been,” added tinny. “we have shelter for the horses here, and there’s no danger from lightning.”
“and from the way it sounds outside it’s striking all over,” said the mine foreman, as one loud, terrifying crack succeeded another, some even seeming to shake the cavern.
however, they were safe inside, and no better shelter could be imagined. the cave was large and airy. there was even some fodder, such as it was, for the horses. and with a fire to dry them and their soaked garments, with food and hot drink, the plight of the travelers was much improved over what it had been.
“and the best thing about it—or one of the best—is that noddy nixon won’t bother us here,” stated ned.
[222]
“no, he isn’t likely to pay us a call,” agreed jerry.
they were warm and comfortable now, and they sat on the blankets about the crackling fire and ate.
“we’ll spend the night here,” said jerry, as he went over to see how quickly some of his garments were drying. they were still very damp.
“yes, we won’t venture out until morning,” decided tinny. “the storm will be over then.”
“it’s raging and tearing around now like it never would end,” observed cromley, as he hobbled to the mouth of the cave to look out. “it’ll be worse before it’s better, in my opinion,” he added, as he came back to the blaze.
“did you see anything of the blue rock?” jerry inquired.
“can’t say i did,” was the answer. “there’s a regular river pouring down the side of the hill across from this cave. looks like it might wash away the trail.”
“yes, it will not be easy going back,” said tinny. “this storm is one of the worst i have ever known, and we’ll have hard going.”
“thunder mountain is living up to its name,” observed ned, as another burst of the sky artillery made the ground tremble.
there was nothing to do but wait for the passing of nature’s outburst, and with what good[223] spirits they could summon the party prepared to remain in the cave until morning.
they had their blankets, there was food enough, plenty of coffee, and, best of all, they were within a secure shelter. at first they felt a little awed at being in a cave where, perhaps, never the foot of a white man had been set before. but this feeling soon wore off and, tired with their day’s journey, all soon fell into a deep sleep.
there was little use to mount guard. no one was likely to disturb them, for if travelers were abroad on the trail in all the storm, it was hardly possible that they would come to the cave, which had only been opened in the last day or so.
none of the party had any one to fear but noddy nixon and his two cronies, and jerry and his companions took it for granted that the bully was far enough off by this time.
when the storm ceased, none in the cave knew. but it was over by morning, and when jerry, the first to awake, looked toward the cave entrance he saw the golden yellow sunlight flashing on the opposite slope.
“good news, fellows!” he cried, leaping up and tossing aside his blankets. “we’ve got a fair day ahead of us.”
one after another they awakened, stretched, and sat up.
“wow, but i’m stiff!” groaned ned. “i feel[224] like rip van winkle must have felt after his twenty years on the mountain.”
“i’ve got a touch of rheumatics myself,” complained cromley.
“you’ll be all right when you have some hot coffee,” said bob.
“for once in your life, chunky, you have contributed a consoling thought,” jerry chuckled. “so get busy with the mocha beverage.”
there was a spark of fire in the ashes, and this bob soon coaxed to a blaze, on which more of the dry wood in the cave was piled.
soon the appetizing aroma of breakfast was wafted through the cave, and it seemed to stir memories in the horses, for one of them whinnied suggestively.
“they’re hungry and thirsty,” said cromley. “what say i turn them out of the cave? they can get a drink, anyhow. there ought to be any number of puddles of water along the trail.”
“yes, and maybe they can find a bit of grass,” suggested tinny. “go ahead, bill. we’ve got to treat our animals well, for we must depend on them for taking us back to leftover. but be sure they don’t stray.”
“i’ll tie them well,” bill promised.
he took the animals out while bob and jerry got breakfast, which was a simple enough meal.[225] and with the eating of it and the moving about to exercise stiffened muscles, all felt better.
“now we’ll take a look outside,” suggested tinny, as they rose from the circle about the campfire where they had eaten. “that is, if our clothes are dry.”
this proved to be the case, and, donning their garments, the travelers fared forth from the cave to see what had happened in the night that they had spent in comparative peace.
“there isn’t much left of the trail!” cried tinny, pointing.
indeed, a little way beyond where they had turned in to enter the cave there was scarcely the semblance of a road. a mountain torrent, formed by the heavy rain, had washed down the middle of the trail, making a deep gash—a miniature canyon in which even now a little water still trickled.
cromley had tethered the horses near a natural pool at which the animals had slaked their thirst, and now they were quietly cropping some scanty grass that grew on the mountain side.
“where’s this blue rock you were telling about, jerry?” asked ned, as they stood for a moment near the entrance to the cave.
“it was right over there, a bit to the right,” answered the tall lad. “i only saw it by a lightning[226] flash. maybe it was carried down into the gulch.”
“let’s take a look,” proposed bob. “is this anything like the place where the stage coach went over?” he asked cromley.
“well, it is, and it isn’t,” was the somewhat puzzling answer. “it’s about here, but the trail is different, somehow.”
“you must remember,” said tinny, “that the accident happened a number of years ago. since then there have been changes made in the trail—changes by man and changes by nature, such as happened last night. as i remember it, the old stage coach trail ran along up there, bill,” and he pointed to an upper shelf of rock which wound around a spur of the mountain.
“yes,” agreed the old miner, “that’s where it was. and that’s the same color of blue rock, too!” he suddenly cried, pointing in the direction indicated by jerry as the place where he had seen that indigo hue. “yes, i’m pretty sure this is the place. but what a change!”
well might he say that, for the havoc of the storm was great.
“let’s take a look,” proposed ned.
“be careful,” warned tinny, as the boys walked down the gashed trail, away from the cave.
“oh, come with us, tinny,” urged ned.
[227]
mallison laughed, but set off after the rest of the party.
as they approached the place where jerry had seen in the glare of lightning the landslide the night before, they all observed some blue rocks scattered about. it was as though some great shell had exploded, scattering the oddly colored stones.
“i don’t believe we’ll ever find a treasure chest here,” ned was saying, but his words were lost in a rumble and roar that filled the air. instinctively they all glanced up toward the top of the mountain.
trees, bushes and a mass of earth seemed slowly moving.
“look out!” yelled jerry.
“there’s going to be another landslide!” cried tinny.
“and it’s coming this way!” shouted bob.
a moment later they were all in peril of their lives as a mass of the mountain, showing blue in the sun, slid toward them.
