“Because,” answered Harry, “someone came to the edge of the pit and called down, and then ran away without giving us any help. We were all afraid he had gone away after some of the half-breeds, and so it seemed that the first thing to do was to get out of sight. After we got in here, they thought they could find their way out by following this tunnel and get to the camp.”
In a short time Jimmie returned with several pieces of wood from which splints were made, and then the boy’s arm was tenderly cared for.
“There!” Ned exclaimed at the conclusion of the operation, “now you’ll be all right in just no time!”
“It’s a good thing we’re all Boy Scouts, eh?” Jimmie chuckled. “And it’s a good thing, too, that one part of the education of a Boy Scout is the care of the injured.”
“I never realized before what an advantage it is,” Harry said with a faint smile. “I was beginning to think I’d have to remain here all night with the broken bones of that arm grinding together.”
“Isn’t it about time Jack and Frank were coming back?” asked Ned.
“They should have been here long ago,” replied Harry.
“I hope they haven’t met with any accident,” Jimmie put in. “I’ll tell you what I’ll do,” he went on, “I’ll just take a slide down that incline and see if I can dig ’em up anywhere.”
“Perhaps you’d better let me go,” Ned advised.
“Aw,” Jimmie complained, “you always want to cop out all the fun!”
“Well, go on, then,” Ned laughed. “If you bump your head against a rock, or get dumped into a pool of water something like the one out there, you mustn’t blame me. Remember that I wanted to go.”
Jimmie approached the long incline, his electric pointing the way, and soon shouted back:
“This is all right! There’s a turn here, and the going is good. Come on in, you fellows. Mighty fine in here!” he went on.
Ned and Harry, the latter now fairly free from pain, made their way slowly to where Jimmie sat hunched up against the side of the wall.
“Cripes!” he exclaimed, “what makes it so wet in here?”
Then Harry explained how the old channel had been cleared of water.
“The boys must have been going some,” Jimmie put in. “But look here,” he went on, “suppose that old crevice you are talking about should clog or something of that kind? We’d be in a nice mixup down here, wouldn’t we?”