ompany of his
four chums; because there was a great deal of truth in that old maxim,
"in union there is strength."

Hugh now led the way. He had been given one of the lanterns with which
to light a passage across the heaps of broken stones, earth, and
rubbish, cast there at the time in the remote past when the quarry was
in full blast, with workmen delving into the hillside, blasting away
sections through the use of dynamite or powder, and sending out many
wagon-loads of building-stone each of the six working days of the week.

They did not string out in single file, but kept bunched together.
Indeed, this came through no accident, but there was a method in their
madness; because, you see, no fellow would want to be the hindmost
in the file.

Hugh showed a wonderful amount of knowledge of the place, considering
that he had never before in his life placed a foot upon the ground and
had to depend entirely on his former observations. But he kept on as
straight as could be expected, and presently Owen managed to muster
up courage enough to say in a low and most carefully guarded tone:

"Hugh, did you take note of the exact spot where the light showed up?
I'm asking because you seem to be heading direct for somewhere."

"I believe I know where it was," Hugh told him simply. "You see, I
noted several things about the face of the quarry that day we stopped
to look it over; and when I saw that dancing trail of fire I figured
out that it must be at just such a place, which spot I'm heading for
right now. And just as you spoke I had ample proof that I was right
in my guess."

"Why, what happened, Hugh?" demanded Horatio eagerly.

"I caught a faint glimpse of light up there," Hugh told him. "I
wonder none of the rest of you happened to notice the same. It made
me think that some person might be in one of those holes we saw in
the face of the wall---caves, the natives call them, Horatio says.
As this was somewhat deep only a tiny bit of illumination escaped,
and you could just detect that when at a certain angle. Stop short,
now, and see for yourselves, for there it is again!"

Thrilled to the bone they stood and gaped. Hugh was pointing with
his disengaged hand, half holding the lantern back of him so that its
glow might not further interfere with their view.

"You're right, Hugh; that's surely what it is," greed Thad, almost
immediately; and each of the other three went on record with a
corresponding affirmativ