Page:The Secret of the Caves.djvu/103

refractory instrument. It was no use. He put the light in his pocket.

"I'll have to fix it to-morrow," he said. "It won't work any more to-night by the looks of things."

"Here's mine," offered Biff.

But Frank declined.

"No thanks. One of you chaps take the lead for a while. I can follow easily enough."

Joe took the lead, as Frank suggested, and the little party moved on again.

It was rough going. The floor of the cave became piled high with rocks, evidently from cave-ins that had occurred in times past; in other parts it was pitted with little gullies and holes. In trying to avoid these, the chums gradually became separated.

Frank stumbled along behind. He felt the loss of his flashlight, but said nothing, relying on finding his way by the radiance provided by the lights carried by the others.

Soon, however, the three lights became scattered. Joe had gone to one side to avoid a huge boulder; Chet had gone to the other side and encountered a pit that prevented him from returning to Joe's trail; Biff had tried to follow Chet and had blundered into a labyrinth of rocks.

Frank stood uncertainly for a moment, then called out.