Slowly Chester crawled away.  Reaching the opposite end of the cave, he cautiously poked his head out and looked around.  In the dim light he could see no one.  But he was afraid to call out to Hal—­his voice might be overheard—­so he took his tedious way back to where he had left his friend.

“All O.K.,” he whispered.

“Good,” said Hal.  “Let’s get out of here, then.”

They crawled back along the dark passageway as rapidly as the darkness and the condition of the ground would permit, but before leaving their place of refuge, Chester thought it advisable to peep out once more.

And it was well that he did so.  For, standing almost at the entrance of the cave three figures loomed up against the sky.  Quickly Chester drew back in again.

“Three of ’em out there,” he informed Hal briefly.  “What are we going to do now?”

“You’ve got me,” replied Hal.  “Can’t you pick ’em off with your gun?”

“Oh, I can pick a couple of ’em off, all right.  But what then?  We would probably have a whole brigade upon us in two shakes of a lamb’s tail.”

“I guess you are right,” Hal agreed.  “But we have got to do something.”

“So we have,” replied Chester; “but the question is, what?”

Hal was silent for several minutes, thinking.  Finally he said: 

“Well, I guess the best thing to do is to wait and see what happens.  Perhaps they may leave before broad daylight and not discover this cave.  In that case we shall be safe enough.  Now you stay here and guard this end, and don’t move unless I call.  I’ll do the same at the other end.”

“All right,” said Chester.  “We’ll keep our posts till daylight, whether they go away or not.  Then, if we have not been discovered, we can at least see what we are doing.”

Hal moved slowly along the passageway once more, being very careful not to make any noise.  He crawled on hands and knees, his head thrust out before him.

Suddenly, as he moved slowly along, his head came in contact with another moving object with an audible crack.

He had bumped into a second crawling figure.

CHAPTER XVI.

The struggle in the cave.

In spite of the pain that shot through his head following the contact, Hal did not lose his coolness or his presence of mind.  Although his head hurt badly, he did not utter a sound.

His unseen antagonist apparently was too surprised to make an outcry, or it may have been that he thought he had bumped into a wall.  If the latter were his thought he was quickly undeceived.

As he sat back on his haunches, to rub his head, Hal moved lightly forward, and, judging the distance by the sound of his enemy’s movements, fell on top of him.

He had gauged the distance to a nicety, and before the German could cry out, one of the lad’s hands sank deep into his throat.  But the latter was a powerful man and not to be overcome easily.  He hurled the lad from him with a quick shove, at the same time twisting on the wrist of the hand that gripped his throat.