I was quite excited about the larger cave I had just discovered and, of course, I wanted to tell Sam all about it, but when he said he never wanted to go into a cave again, I figured maybe he was in no mood to listen, let alone share my enthusiasm. The best plan, it seemed, was to get his mind off his predicament so I tried to get him to talk about other things. He kept talking about how dark and cold it was down there in the hole, and when would Brown come back so that he could get out and why was he so foolish as to listen to me in the first place. All this time I was eager to return to the new, big cave where all the bats were, yet I didn't want to leave Sam alone any more as I could see he was getting madder all the time. So the morning dragged on for him and for me as well. Every few minutes he would call out to me and ask me to look and see if there was any sign of Brown. I had to keep saying no, but to say anything else would have raised false hopes, and I just couldn't do that. About noon I noticed a cloud of dust on the horizon in the direction of Carlsbad, and as I watched it I could see it was getting bigger. That meant Brown was almost here. When I told Sam, he suddenly came to life again. I guess he felt like the condemned man who has just received a pardon. Brown had gotten the rope, and we made a ship's ladder for Sam. We quickly lowered it through the small opening in the ground, and I never saw a man climb a rope ladder so fast before. Sam was mighty glad to see the light of day again. Now that this ordeal was over I couldn't contain myself any more. I had to tell Sam and Brown of my discovery, and I wanted them to explore it with me. Certainly there was adventure ahead. 3 A Business Venture Appears "Early this morning," I began, "while waiting for you to return, Brown, I took a walk around and noted a lot of bats going into a large cave,--a really large cave. Let's go have a look at it." Sam didn't need to say a word. I could tell from his expression and his disappointment that he had no desire to go into any more caves, even if the entrance was on the side of a hill where he could safely get out. "Not me," he exclaimed in no uncertain terms. "Damn your cave. I'm going back to Carlsbad, and the quicker I get started, the better." Sam would have it no other way, and since I felt partially responsible for his feeling the way he did, I decided to take him back to Carlsbad. However, I couldn't get my mind off the new cave. I had to know what it was like inside. So, I made immediate arrangements to return. I didn't want to go alone, so I inquired around and found two men who said they would be interested in going back with me and explore the cave. The three of us set forth on the 28 mile journey to Donahue Springs, Andy Fairchild, a fellow I knew only as Lynn, and myself. [Illustration: Andy Fairchild] [Illustration: Jacob "Jake" Lynn]