OCR Text |
Show 97 dog lick his face, whining. Finally Josh sat up. He felt his arms and legs to see if he was all right. Nothing seemed damaged. "Criminently," came the sound of Cap's voice, "she caved in!" "You okay?" Josh coughed from the dust. "I think so. That crazy galoot caved 'er in when he shot like that. After a few years these tunnel walls get rotten with the air-" They could hardly breathe, so filled with dust was the air. But they struggled up once more and hurried along the wall away from the cave-in. At last, at a cross-tunnel junction, they found clear air and stood taking deep breaths. "These old mines are tricky," Cap said with a shake of his head. "Look around for a torch. They won't bother us now." He lit a match and found an old mine timber that was split. Cap tugged at it, but before he could get the smaller piece loose, his match went out. Josh sighed. "Cap, you think those guys are. . . under that rock back there?" "Some of 'em, probably. Least they can't get through to us now." They could still taste the dust on the air. "Let's get out of here,"Josh finally said. "I hate this dark." "We can't go back that way, y'know. After a long moment, Josh gave a low groan. "You think. . . you think anybody back home is out looking for us yet-us bein1 gone since yesterday and all?" Cap was silent for a time. "Yo're ma, maybe. She might get some folks out. Not my pa, though. He doesn't worry when I don't show up." |