ng the trap on us; and if that's so, the fight would have been three
to one."

"I'd like to have tried it just the same," said Joe belligerently. "I
bet Cassey would have got a black eye out of it, anyway."

For some time they groped around the black hole of their prison, hoping
to find some way of escape, but without success. They were beginning to
get tired and discouraged, and they sat down on the floor to talk the
situation over.

The queer thing about this hole in the ground was that it possessed a
flooring where one would have expected to find merely packed-down dirt.
The flooring consisted of rough boards laid side by side, and when the
boys moved upon it it sounded like the rattling of some rickety old
bridge.

"There's some mystery about this place," said Bob. "I bet this is a
regular meeting place for Cassey and whoever his confederates may be. In
case of pursuit all they would have to do would be to hide in this hole
and they'd be practically safe from discovery."

"I wonder," said Herb, "why Cassey didn't do that now."

"Probably didn't have time," said Bob. "I was right on his heels, you
know, and probably he didn't dare stop for anything."

"And so they turned the trick on us," said Joe. "And it sure was a neat
job."

"Too neat, if we don't get out of here soon," groaned Jimmy. "I bet
they've just left us here to starve!"

"I wouldn't put it beyond Cassey," said Herb gloomily. "It would be just
the kind of thing he'd love to do. He's got a grudge against us, anyway,
for doing him out of Miss Berwick's money and landing him in jail, and
this would be a fine way to get even."

"Well, if that's his game, he's got another guess coming," said Bob,
adding excitedly: "Say, fellows, if that was a trap door that let us
down into this hole, and it must have been something of that sort, we'll
probably be able to get out the same way."

"But it's above our heads," protested Herb.

"What difference does that make?" returned Bob impatiently. "One of us
can stand on the other's back, and we can haul the last fellow out by
his hands."

"Simple when you say it quick," said Joe gloomily. "But I bet that trap
door is bolted on the outside. You don't think Cassey's going to let us
off that easy, do you?"

"Well, we could see anyway," returned Bob. "Anything's better than just
sitting here. Come on, let's find that trap door."

This feat, in itself, was no easy one. They had wandered about in the
dark so mu