CHAPTER XXII
SNOWED IN
Naturally, thirteen young folk in a cave could not be content to sit before the fire inactive. They played games, they sang songs, they made up verses, and finally Madge produced a pencil and a notebook and they wrote a burlesque history of "George Washington and the Cherry Tree."
The first author wrote a page of the history and two lines on the second page. Then the second read those last two lines and went on with the story, leaving another two lines at the top of the next page, and so on.
It was a wonderful piece of literary work when it was finished, and Madge kept it to read to the S.B."s when they got back to Briarwood Hall.
"For, of course," she said, "we"re not going to be forever shut up in this cave. I don"t want to turn into a "cave man"--nor yet a "cave woman"!"
"See if the snow has stopped--that"s a good boy, Tommy," urged Helen.
"Of course it hasn"t. Don"t you see how dark it is, sis?" returned her twin.
But he started toward the mouth of the cavern. Just then Bob looked at his watch in the firelight, and exclaimed:
"No wonder it seems dark--do you know it"s half after four right now?"
"Wow! mother will be scared," said Ralph Tingley.
Just then there came a cry from Tom. Then followed a heavy, smothered thud. The boys dashed to the entrance. It was pitch dark. A great ma.s.s of hard packed snow filled the opening, and was being forced into the cave itself. In this heap of snow struggled Tom, fairly smothered.
They laid hold upon him--by a leg and an arm--and dragged him out. He could not speak for a moment and he had lost his cap.
"How did you do that?" demanded Bob. "What does it mean?"
"Think--think I did it on purpose?" demanded the overwhelmed youth. "I"m no Samson to pull down the pillars on top of me. Gee! that snow came sudden."
"Where--where did it all come from?" demanded his sister.
"From the top of the cliff, of course. It must have made a big drift there and tumbled down--regular avalanche, you know--just as I tried to look out. Why! the place out there is filled up yards deep! We"d never be able to dig out in a week."
"Oh, dear me! what shall we do?" groaned Belle, who was beginning to get nervous.
"Have supper," suggested Heavy, calmly. "No matter what we have to face, we can do it better after eating."
They laughed, but took her advice. n.o.body failed to produce an appet.i.te at the proper time.
"Dear me!" exclaimed Belle, "if only mother knew we were safe I"d be content to stay all night. It"s fun."
"And if we had some salt," complained Lluella. "I don"t like fish without salt--not much."
"You"re a fine female Robinson Crusoe," laughed Tom. "This is real "roughing it." I expect all you girls will weaken by morning."
"Oh, oh!" cried his sister, "you talk as though you thought we would be obliged to stay here, Tom."
"I don"t just see how we"re to get out to-night," Tom returned, grimly.
"Not from this end of the cave, at any rate. I tell you, tons and _tons_ of snow fell into its mouth."
"But you know the other way out, Ruthie?" urged Lluella, half inclined to cry.
"I think so," returned the girl of the Red Mill.
"Then just hunt for the way," said Belle, firmly. "If it has stopped snowing I want to go home."
"Don"t be a baby, Belle," advised her brother Ralph. "Nothing is going to hurt us here."
"Especially as we have plenty of fuel and grub," added Bobbins, thoughtfully.
But Ruth saw that it would be wiser to try to get through the tunnel to the brookside. n.o.body could dig them out at this end, that was sure. So she agreed with Tom and Ralph Tingley to try to follow the same pa.s.sages that Jerry Sheming had taken her through upon the occasion of her first visit.
"How shall we find our way, though, if it"s dark?" questioned Ralph, suddenly. "_I_ can"t see in the dark."
"Neither can the rest of us, I guess," said Tom. "Do you suppose we could find torchwood in that pile yonder?"
"Not much," Bobbins told them. "And a torch is a smoky thing, anyway."
Ruth was hunting the dark corners of the big cavern in which they had camped. Although Jerry had been at the far end of the tunnel when he was captured by the constable and his helpers--outside that end of the tunnel, in fact--she hoped that he had left his lantern at this end.
As it proved, she was not mistaken. Here it was, all filled and cleaned, hidden on a shelf with a half-gallon can of kerosene. Jerry had been in the habit of coming to the cave frequently in the old days when his uncle and he lived alone on the island.
So Tom lit the lantern and the trio started. The opening of the tunnel through the hill could not be missed; but farther along Ruth had a dim recollection of pa.s.sing cross galleries and pa.s.sages. Should she know the direct tunnel then?
She put that anxiety aside for the present. At first it was all plain traveling, and Tom with the lantern went ahead to illuminate the path.
They came out into one of the narrow open cuts, but there was little snow in it. However, a flake or two floated down to them, and they knew that the storm still continued to rage. The moaning of the wind in the tree tops far up on the hill reached their ears.
"Some storm, this," observed Tom.
"I should say it was! You don"t suppose the folks will be foolish enough to start out hunting for us till it"s over; do you?" Ralph asked, anxiously.
"They would better not. We"re safe. They ought to know that. Preston will tell them about the caves in this end of the island and they ought to know we"d find one of "em."
"It"s a wild spot, just the same," remarked Ralph. "And I suppose mother will be worried."
"Ruth isn"t afraid--nor Helen--nor the other girls," said Tom. "I think these Briarwood girls are pretty plucky, anyway. Don"t _you_ get to grouching, Rafe."
They pursued their way, Tom ahead with the lantern, for some rods further.
Suddenly the leader stopped.
"Now what, Ruthie?" he demanded. "Which way do we go?"
The pa.s.sage forked. Ruth was uncertain. She could not for the life of her remember having seen this spot before.