antime keeping on the alert for the possible
appearance of the bear or of any other wild beast.

The rain continued to come down as heavily as ever after they had
finished their brief meal, and growing impatient they began to
wander around the cave, peering into this corner and that. Soon
Shep found an opening which led to a cave still higher up, and
through this they crawled.

"This must be the second story," said Whopper. "See any bedrooms?"

This little joke made them all smile and put them a little more at
ease. The upper cave was not as large as that below, and from an
opening at one end they could look out on the mountainside. But the
opening was near the top of a cliff, so getting out that way was
impossible.

"I guess we'll have to climb down again, to get out," said Snap.

He had hardly spoken when there came a blinding flash of lightning,
followed immediately by a thunderbolt that was deafening. The
cave was filled with a curious smell, and Giant and Whopper were
practically stunned for the moment.

"Gracious, that was a crash---" began Snap, when he broke off short.
A crash of another kind outside had reached his ears. A big tree
standing directly over the cave was coming down, split in twain by
the lightning stroke. It struck the top of the cave with tremendous
force, causing a number of loose stones to rattle down on the heads
of the young hunters.

"We must get out of this!"

"The place must be caving in!"

"We'll be buried alive if we don't get out!"

The falling of the tree caused some rocks to shift, and a moment
later one fell close to the opening, blocking it completely. Then
came an other shower of small stones and dirt. Bewildered and badly
frightened, the boys ran to another part of the cave and hugged the
big rocks. At that moment they all felt the cave might be their tomb.

"I---I wish we had never co---come in here," groaned Whopper.

"I'd give all I am wo---worth to be out," answered Giant.

Snap and Shep said nothing, wondering what would happen next. A few
more loose stones came down, and that was all.

"I believe the worst is over," said the leader of the club at last.
"The lightning knocked down a tree and that loosened those stones,
that's all."

"That's all!" cried Whopper. "Isn't that enough? Did you want us to
be buried alive?"

"I move we get out of here as soon as we can," came from Giant. "Rain
or no rain, I'm not going to stay in this cave any longe