erb, with a
sorry attempt at humor. "Who all's in this party anyway? Are we all
here?"

"I guess so," said Joe, and at the sound of his voice Bob jumped.

"What are you doing here?" he asked. "I thought you were going to guard
the door."

"That's what I should have done, but I played the big idiot," retorted
Joe bitterly. "I couldn't resist coming after you fellows to be in on
the big fight. I suppose while I was trailing you boys somebody sneaked
in the door and signed our finish."

"Looks like it," said Bob, feeling himself to make sure there were no
bones broken. "And now, instead of delivering Cassey to justice we're
prisoners ourselves. Say, I bet the old boy isn't laughing at us or
anything just now."

"I'm awful sorry, Bob," said Joe penitently. "I thought if I kept my eye
on the door----"

"Oh, it's all right," said Bob generously. "Accidents will happen and
there's no use crying over spilled milk. I suppose the most sensible
thing for us to do right now is to hustle around and find a way out of
this place."

"Maybe there isn't any," said Jimmy dolefully. "Then what'll we do?"

"Stay here and let the rats eat us, I guess," said Herb cheerfully, and
Jimmy groaned.

"Gosh, don't talk about eating, old boy," he pleaded. "I'm just about
starved this minute."

"You'll probably stay starved for some little time longer," said Bob
unfeelingly. He had risen cautiously to his feet, and finding that their
prison was at least high enough for them to stand up in, reached his
hands tentatively above his head.

As, even by standing on tiptoe, his fingers encountered nothing but air,
he decided that they must have dropped further than he had thought at
the time.

A hand reached out and took hold of him and he realized that Joe was
standing beside him.

"Must have been some sort of trap door opening inward, I guess," said
the latter. "You didn't see anything, did you, Bob?"

"No. It happened too suddenly. One minute I was reaching forward to grab
hold of Cassey and the next moment I found myself flying through space."

"Humph," grunted Joe. "It was lucky for Cassey that we all happened to
be in a bunch," he said. "He couldn't have gotten rid of us so quickly
if we'd been scattered about----"

"As we should have been," added Bob. "Just the same," he added, after a
minute, "I don't suppose it would have done any good if one of us had
been left up there. It must have been the men who were with Cassey who
spra