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Show 94 Which they didn't. Just then from some far corridor of the mine drifted the echo of a shout. It was Bixby, so distant they couldn't understand his words. Immediately Rollins cupped his hands. "Bix! Bix! I'm down here! The boys too!" he screamed, his voice reverberating through the tunnels. "Come on, Bix. Help me!" Quickly the boys darted away from the shaft. By the dim light of Rollins' match they could make out three more tunnels opening into the room. They sidled toward the closest one as Rollins kept on screaming for his partner. With a glance back, Josh shook his head in relief. "Boy, were we lucky-so was he." 'Yeah? Well, fallin' in there served him right. He can rot there till we find sons cops to pull him out. They ducked into the tunnel, which was narrower than the one they had left. On each side they could touch rock as they felt their way along. Twice Cap dared to light a match to get their bearings where other tunnels branched off. Behind them they could still hear Rollins shouting, but now his voice echoed so that it was impossible to tell from where it came. After fumbling their way through the musty darkness for what seemed miles, finally they could hear no more voices. Sometimes they stumbled, sometimes fell, but they rushed on, dreading the sounds of footsteps or the stab of a flashlight beam. Josh felt the old terror knot his stomach again. At every step he felt he might pitch headlong into a shaft as Rollins had done. He began to count the timbers they passed to keep his mind off their plight. |