Randy gave a cry of relief and dashed into the cave. Ted and his sister entered more slowly; they had a little more time to waste than Randy. When they entered, they found Randy hastily discarding his old oxygen cartridge and replacing it with a new one. When he was through, he helped Jill with hers while Ted attended to his own.
When they were done, they sat down on the floor of the cave and drank in deep, refreshing draughts of the precious gas they had feared they would never breathe again.
“Isn’t this great?” Ted remarked. “Just like a cold drink on a hot day!”
“Speaking of food, I could use some,” Jill said. “I’m starved after all that!”
“Let’s go back and get it,” Randy proposed. “We dropped the food case when the elephant ant was chasing us.”
“If it’s the ant you’re afraid of, they do most of their hunting at night,” Randy reassured her. “I don’t think there’s much chance of meeting it.”
They started out over the trail they had followed in such haste the night before. After a while they found their food case where they had dropped it. All made a run for it at the same time. The sight of food settled their nerves, and they ate nearly all of the supply in the case. When they were through, Randy happened to look up into the distance and jabbed Ted in the ribs.
“Look!” he exclaimed. “Somebody’s coming!”
Ted and Jill leaped to their feet. They shaded their eyes with their gloved hands in order to see better.
“Father’s with them!” Jill said joyfully.
Ted uttered a deep, long sigh. Their frightening adventure was over at last.
The Kentons had just risen from the supper table after a wonderful meal that had featured fresh fruits and vegetables from their own garden. Two days had passed since the adventure in the Great Martian Forest. This was a night of celebration, and Mr. Matthews was present.
“Now tell us the surprise you had for us, Father,” Jill begged, as they all sat in the living room together. Mrs. Kenton had left cleaning up until later in order to be in on the exciting talk of the evening.
“Not until I know for sure,” Dr. Kenton replied. “I’ll get a phone call in a few minutes about it.”
“Can’t you even tell us what it’s _about_?” Jill went on.
“I wouldn’t want to build up false hopes for nothing, Jill,” her father said. “You can wait a little while.”