Page:The Secret of the Caves.djvu/95

last sat back with deep sighs of sheer content.

"This old cave isn't so bad after all," said Chet, wrapping his blanket around him like a cocoon and wriggling his toes toward the flames.

The others glanced toward the entrance of the cavern.

It was pitch dark outside, and still raining. They could hear the constant beat of the downpour, the incessant roar of the surf, the splash of the waves, the moaning of the cold wind out in the blackness of the night, and the cave seemed the most comfortable place in the world.

"We owe a vote of thanks to the chap who stacked this driftwood in here," said Biff.

"I'll tell the world!" declared Joe. "We'd have been shivering and hungry yet if it hadn't been for him."

"I wonder who he could have been," mused Frank.

"Perhaps somebody who was down here searching for the smugglers or bootleggers or whoever has been raising all the fuss around here," his brother suggested.

"He hasn't shown up yet," Chet remarked cheerfully. He looked out into the storm and shivered. "Somehow, I have an idea he won't be along to-night, either," he added, edging nearer the fire.

"I guess we'd better have a good night's