"Forbish must have talked already," he called out, making his way on hands and knees through the pitch-dark tunnel. The shaft was barely wide enough to admit him and angled sharply several times where Overman, Jake Halrohan and Forbish must have encountered large rocks. Horner estimated the distance at fifty feet or more before he came up against Jake's back. He had expected complete darkness here at the nether end of the tunnel, but faint light seeped in from somewhere. "Made it!" Jake cried hoarsely. "Listen to the river." Horner heard it, a faint rushing of water. "The guards," he said. "I took care of one, but not before he blew his whistle. We don't have much time." * * * * * There was not enough room for both of them to dig. Horner waited on hands and knees while Jake clawed at the earth again with his fingers. Soon Horner heard a pounding sound and realized Jake was using his fists to enlarge the hole in the soft mucky ground. "I'm squeezing through!" Jake finally cried, and Horner felt the man's bulk ahead of him shift over to one side and then forward. A moment later, Horner felt cool fresh air caress his cheek. He had not realized how close and fetid it was in the tunnel until now. He sobbed, breathing deeply of the night air. A wind stirred, and hard rain pelted his face. For a few tormenting seconds his shoulders became wedged in the opening, then he was through. Suddenly there was no footing and he rolled over and over down a steep embankment, taking loose earth and stones with him. He came to rest very close to the river. The water sounds were much closer now. "We made it, bucko," Jake said in a low, jubilant voice. "We made it." Just then a siren wailed above them and the night gloom was punctuated by a quick-swinging searchbeam. Horner looked up quickly, knew the light would never spot them down here because of the hill. But the tunnel was something else again. Armed guards could be expected through the tunnel momentarily. "Do we wait, or beat it?" Jake said hoarsely. "What do you think?" Horner called over his shoulder as he got up and bounded down to the river. The bank was steep here; he took four splashing strides and had to swim. The water was icy, the current swift. Horner took a look over his shoulder, saw Jake wading more gingerly into the water as the mouth of the tunnel suddenly erupted in a bright flash of light that illuminated everything. "Stop or we'll shoot!" a voice cried, and Horner let the current take him, his head twisted back so he could see. Jake, the fool, had not yet allowed the water to take him. He was still standing, still floundering uncertainly in the shallows, when the flashlight beam at the mouth of the tunnel caught and held him. "Stand perfectly still, you!" Jake shouted a curse and splashed into deeper water.