At first Sam and Tom demurred to entering the cave—which looked dark and forbidding. But Dick insisted that he was going ahead, and rather than be left behind they went along.
"We'll light some kind of a torch," said the eldest Rover. "Got some matches?"
"Yes, I brought along a pocketful," answered Sam. "Didn't know but what we'd want to build a campfire this noon."
"We'll want one now—to dry our clothing by," said Tom. "Let us pick up the driest of the sticks."
This they did, and having entered the cave, they made a good-sized blaze. This sent a ruddy glow around the cavern, and as the boys moved about fantastic shadows went dancing on the rocky walls, adding to the weirdness of the scene.
From the fire each of the youths provided himself with a torch, and thus equipped they moved around the cave with care, taking precautions not to fall into any more holes. They soon found the opening on the mountainside long and narrow and running downward.
"We don't want to get lost," cautioned Sam.

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