"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 almost solid rock. Walking was very rough, and they could not tell how far the cave extended or in what direction.
"I am going to call again," said Roger, and going back to the mouth of the cave they set up as strong a cry as before. At first they fancied somebody answered them, but then all became silent.
"Nothing doing," murmured the senator's son, and his face took on a look of deep anxiety. "Dave----" He stopped short.
"What?"
"Nothing, only--do you really think the others were killed?"
"Let us hope not," was Dave's grave reply.
CHAPTER XXIII
LEFT IN THE DARK
The thought that their two companions might possibly have been killed by the toppling over of the sleigh filled Dave and Roger with fresh horror, and for several minutes neither of the youths spoke. They listened for some sound, but none came. Then Roger heaved a deep sigh.
"Perhaps we had better try to climb out," he suggested, timidly.
"I've thought of that, Roger. But what if we slip when we get out? Why, the bottom of the valley is quarter of a mile further down. I don't want such a tumble, on top of the one we have already experienced."
"If we ever get out we'll have plenty of news to send home," was the senator's son's comment.
"True; but let us get out before we think of sending news."
They talked the matter over, and at length concluded to do a little more exploring of the cave. Dave turned up the pocket lantern as high as possible, and as he did this Roger took from his pocket a short, strong cord. "I thought this might come in useful, for tying up our supplies," explained the senator's son, "so I brought it from the last house we stopped at. Tie one end around your waist, Dave, and I will hold fast to the other end. Then I'll walk behind you, and if you go into a hole----"
"I may drag you behind me," finished Dave.
"No, I'll look out for that,--only be as careful as you can."
"I'll take no more risks than are necessary."
They moved forward slowly and cautiously, first to one side of the cavern and then to the other. At last they struck what appeared to be a passageway running parallel to the mountain side.
"Let us follow this," suggested Dave. "It may bring us out somewhere on the road."
Roger was willing to do anything his chum suggested. It was a hard journey, over rocks that were sharp and slippery. In some spots they found a coating of ice and above their heads long icicles hanging from the roofing. Roger slipped and fell and came down with such a jar that a great icicle weighing at least twenty pounds came down close to his head, smashing into many pieces and scattering over both him and Dave.
"Hi! look out!" cried Dave. "If we got one of those on our heads----"
His voice echoed loudly throughout the cave, and then down came two more icicles, one hitting his shoulder. He was thoroughly alarmed and leaped to a spot beyond, literally dragging Roger with him.
"That was a close shave!" murmured the senator's son. "Dave, this spot is full of perils!"
On they went once more, until Dave was almost certain he saw some sort of an opening ahead of them. He pointed it out; and just then the tiny light of the pocket lantern began to flicker.
"Dave, the light is going out!"
"I know it."
"Can't you turn it up a bit?"
"No; the oil is gone," was the answer, after Dave had shaken the lantern to make certain of that fact.
"What will we do if we are left in the dark?"
"Hurry; I think we can reach that opening--if it is an opening."
They ran, and as they did so the lantern flickered up for the last time and went out. Then Dave stopped short and Roger clung to him.
"Don't stop here, Dave!"
"I won't--but we must go slow, or we'll knock our heads on a rock or on the icicles."
They advanced with all the caution they could command. Each was filled with a nameless dread, for if there was no opening ahead what should they do? To go back the way they had come was next to impossible in the dark. A dozen steps, and both went down in a hollow, Roger rolling on top of his chum. The spot was like a huge washbowl, and all of the sides were covered with ice. They tried to scramble out, only to slip back over and over again.
"This is the limit!" cried Roger, desperately.
"If we---- Oh, wait!" He felt in his pocket.
"Hurrah!"
"What is it?"
"I've got five matches. I'm going to light one."
"Make it last as long as possible," was Dave's