Presently the heavy voice ceased speaking, and then a lighter tone was heard.  At first Will could not distinguish the words used, but directly his heart almost bounded into his throat as he listened to Tommy’s voice saying: 

“I’ll break your crust, you old stiff, if you come near me!”

So the boys were still in a position to defend themselves!  Will beat frantically on the wall and threw his light hither and yon in search of some opening through which his voice might be heard.

Directly there came an answering sound from the other side.

CHAPTER IX

TWO HUNGRY BEARS

The Little Brass God was gone!

George, still lying upon the floor of the cavern, stretched his legs and arms, to see if he was all there, as he mentally commented.

After a time he arose to his feet, clinging desperately to the wall because of his weakness, and called to Thede, who, as the reader knows, had left hours before, in search of the injured lad’s chums.  There came only echoes in reply to his shouts.

There was a pile of wood near at hand and, gathering numerous dry fagots, the boy staggered dizzily toward the heap of ashes in the center of the cave.  It seemed to him that the first thing to do was to get warm.

He was hungry, too, but warmth was the important thing just then.  A few red coals still remained, and a blaze soon grew under the boy’s careful hands.  In a short time there was a roaring fire.

After thawing the chill out of his bones, the boy began looking around for his friend of the night before.  He looked at his watch and noted that it was eight o’clock.  His revolver was gone but his search-light was still in his pocket.

He remembered in a moment that he had handed his revolver to Thede before starting to cross the light zone in the center of the cavern.  Whatever had taken place during his hours of unconsciousness, it was evident that he had not been robbed.

It seemed to the boy, as he stood looking through the opening which gave a view of the forest to the north, that he had lain on the hard floor of the cavern for countless aeons.  He did not remember what had caused the wound on his head.  He only knew that he had been seized with a sudden dizziness and had fallen, after hearing pistol shots.

Standing before the fire with the cheerful light of the blaze on one side and the dazzling light of the sun on the snow on the other side, the uncanny incidents of the night before seemed like a dream to the boy.

He even found himself wondering whether he had actually caught sight of the Little Brass God, leering down upon the watcher from the wall.

Then he recollected that Thede had first called his attention to the ugly image whose evil eyes seemed to take on malevolent expressions in the light of the dancing flames.