Page:Dave Porter on Cave Island.djvu/239

Rh "Fine shots, both of them," declared Captain Sanders. "Now load up again, Dave, so as to be ready for anything else that shows up."

"I am afraid I have scared the rest of the game," declared our hero, and so it proved, for after that they saw nothing but some small birds.

They passed through a thick woods and then came rather unexpectedly to a wall of rocks, all of a hundred feet in height. At the base of the wall was an opening leading into a broad cave. Near the entrance was the remains of a campfire.

"Somebody has been here and that recently!" cried Phil, as he examined the embers.

"Must be Merwell and Jasniff!" cried Dave. "For if they were strangers they would come out and see what the shooting meant."

"Shall we go into the cave, or continue on the way to the shore?" questioned the senator's son.

"Oh, let us take a peep into the cave first," cried Phil. "It looks as if it was inhabited."

The others were willing, and lighting a firebrand that was handy, they entered the cavern. In front they found the opening to be broad and low, but in the rear the ceiling was much higher and there were several passageways leading in as many different directions.

"What an island!" murmured Roger. "Why, one could spend a year in visiting all the caves!"