ut out an arm, felt
something of an opening, and crawled into it.

"Roger, are you all right?"

"I--I guess so!" came in a spluttering voice. "But I must have rolled
ov--er a hun--hundred times!"

"So did I. We came down on the lightning express, didn't we?"

"Where are we, and where is the sleigh?"

"Don't ask me. We're at the bottom of some place. Come here, there is
more room to breathe."

The senator's son followed Dave into the opening the latter had found.
All was so dark here they could not see a thing. They stood close
together, fearing to take another step.

"Hello! hello!" yelled Dave, when he had his breath back, and Roger
quickly joined in the cry. To their consternation there was no answer.

"Most likely the others went down, too," said Dave.

"Then they ought to be near here."

"Unless they slipped clear down to the bottom of the mountain. If they
did that I guess it's good-bye to them."

"Oh, do you think they've been killed, Dave?"

"I don't know what to think. Let us call again."

They did so, a dozen times or more. But no answer came back. All around
them it was as silent as a tomb.

While procuring their outfit Dave had invested in a pocket lantern, and
this he now brought forth and lit. By the tiny rays he made out that
they had tumbled into a hollow between several large rocks, over which
the snow and ice hung thickly. A big bank of snow was in front of them
and behind was a black-looking space of uncertain depth.

"Roger, I must confess, I don't like the look of things."

"Don't like the look of things? Well, I guess not, Dave! How are we ever
to get out?"

"I don't know."

"But we've got to get out somehow," went on the senator's son, desperately.
"We can't stay here forever."

"Not unless this place becomes our tomb."

"You are cheerful, to say the least," answered Roger, with a shiver.

"I don't intend the place shall be my tomb," went on Dave, sturdily. "I
am going to get out somehow. Let us do a little exploring."

"What! go into that black hole behind us? Why, we may fall into a
bottomless pit!"

"Not if we are careful."

"I don't want to take any more chances--I've taken enough."

Dave held the light low so that he could see where he was going and
walked into the opening behind him for a couple of rods. Roger followed
very gingerly, for he did not want to be left behind. The opening proved
to be a cave in the mountain side and the roof and flooring were of
al