crash of thunder than usual seemed to shake the very mountain.

CHAPTER XXIII

ENTOMBED ALIVE

For an instant Tom and his friends paused at the entrance to the
wonderful cavern, and looked at the raging storm. It seemed madness to
venture out into it, yet they had been driven from the cave by those
who had every right of discovery to say who, and who should not,
partake of its hospitality.

"We can't go out into that blow!" cried Ned. "It's enough to loosen
the very mountains!"

"Let's stay here and defy them!" murmured Tom. "If the--if what we
seek--is here we have as good a right to it as they have."

"We must go out," said Professor Bumper simply. "I recognize the right
of my rival to dispossess us."

"He may have the right, but it isn't human," said Mr. Damon. "Bless my
overshoes! If Beecher himself were here he wouldn't have the heart to
send us out in this storm."

"I would not give him the satisfaction of appealing to him," remarked
Professor Bumper. "Come, we will go out. We have our ponchos, and we
are not fair-weather explorers. If we can't get to the lost city one
way we will another. Come my friends."

And despite the downpour, the deafening thunder and the lightning that
seemed ready to sear one's eyes, he walked out of the cave entrance,
followed by Tom and the others.

"Come on!" cried Tom, in a voice he tried to render confident, as they
went out into the terrible storm. "We'll beat 'em yet!"

The rain fell harder than ever. Small torrents were now rushing down
the trail, and it was only a question of a few minutes before the place
where they stood would be a raging river, so quickly does the rain
collect in the mountains and speed toward the valleys.

"We must take to the forest!" cried Tom. "There'll be some shelter
there, and I don't like the way the geography of this place is
behaving. There may be a landslide at any moment."

As he spoke he motioned upward through the mist of the rain to the
sloping side of the mountain towering above them. Loose stones were
beginning to roll down, accompanied by patches of earth loosened by the
water. Some of the patches carried with them bunches of grass and
small bushes.

"Yes, it will be best to move into the jungle," said the professor.
"Goosal, you had better take the lead."

It was wonderful to see how well the aged Indian bore up in spite of
his years, and walked on ahead. They had left their mules tethered
some d