"Look under the rock as it tips back," he told Betty. "See if there
isn't a hole under it. Big enough for a man to go through!"
"Yes!" answered Betty after a breathless fashion. "Yes. A little
more. Oh, come see. It looks almost like steps going down!"
"I'll have to force it back a little farther," he returned. "Maybe it
will balance there. If not we'll have to get loose stones and wedge
under it."
He pried it further and further until at last it would not budge
another inch. He loosened his grip a trifle on the rifle-lever and the
rock began to settle back into its former place. But Betty had seen
and already was bringing fragments of stone to block under the edges.
"Now," she called. "Come see."
He jumped down; the boulder, wedged securely, lay on its side. He went
to Betty and from what they saw before them they looked into each
other's eyes wonderingly.
"The tale was true," he said with conviction. "You and I have found
the way to the treasure."
In the floor was an opening a couple of feet square. Very rude, uneven
steps led down, vanishing in a forbidding black dark. Kendric lay flat
and looked down. Little by little he could penetrate a bit further,
but in the end there lay a region of impenetrable darkness into which
the steps merged.
"You're going down _there_!" gasped Betty.
"_Am_ I?" he laughed. "You wouldn't want us to skip out tonight
without even having looked into it, would you?"
"N-o.
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