"Yes, I was beginning to get anxious. What happened?" Will explained. "Now how am I going to get you out?" asked the younger brother. "Shall I throw the rope down to you?" "Guess you'll have to. Only don't come too close. I'll tell you what you'd better do. Go up on that little ledge opposite here, on the other side. Fasten the rope to a tree or stump, and throw one end down here. Then I can pull myself up. If I put any strain on the rope on the side where you are now, there may be another cave-in." Will started to do as his brother had directed, but he had not gone far before there came another rumble of the earth, and more dirt slid down into the hole where Jed was hidden from sight. "Jed! Jed! Are you hurt?" cried Will. "Did it fall on you?" But there was no answer, and, waiting in the fast gathering blackness, Will felt a great fear in his heart. What if Jed had been killed, and he was left all alone there in the mountains, with that band of unprincipled men close after him? "Jed! Jed!" he cried again, but no answer came back. Will started forward, and then he recollected that if he went too close the landslide might be made worse than it now was. He tried to see some path by which he might get nearer, but it was too dark. "I must kindle a fire so as to have light," he said. He gathered some dry wood, and soon had a little blaze. By the glare of it he went as close as he dared and peered down into the place where Jed was imprisoned. All he could see was bare earth and piles of rocks. "Jed! Jed!" he shouted in a frenzy of fear. "Where are you? Are you alive? Speak to me!" Was it an echo, or was that a voice replying to him? At first he could not be sure what it was, then, as he listened, he made sure that it was some one answering. "Where are you?" he cried. "Farther down," came the faint reply. "I'm all the way in under now, and can't see any way out. Your voice sounds right over my head." "Can you hear me now?" asked Will eagerly. "Yes. You're right over my head. Knock on the ground so I can hear it." Will stamped his feet, and at once his brother cried: "Hold on! That's enough. You nearly brought the whole ceiling down on me. You're right above me, that's sure enough." "How can I get you out?" "You'll have to dig a hole--sink a shaft, I suppose, so you can lower a rope through. But be careful how you do it. You'd better wait until morning." "And leave you there all night--buried in a cave!" Back came the faint answer: "I don't mind. This is a big place, and there's plenty of fresh air. Stand by until morning, and then see what you can do."