"About three feet this side of the other end; don't you see something sticking out?"

Fred squinted one eye and peered upward critically.

"Don't you see a thing?" demanded John eagerly.

"Maybe I do," replied Fred. "Is something sticking out up there?"

"That's just what I thought. What is it?"

"It looks like the end of a box."

"Just what I thought myself," exclaimed John triumphantly. "Let's get it."

"We can't reach it from this end."

"I know it. We'll have to climb up on top of the hill."

"Come on," urged Fred, now also keenly excited.

Outside the cave, Grant sat puzzling over the numbers. Most of his time he now spent in this way, and though he was apparently no nearer a solution than when he had started, his determination was stronger than ever.

"Where are you two fellows going?" he demanded as John and Fred rushed past the spot where he was seated.

"Just up on top of the hill," said John evasively. He and Fred had decided not to tell any of the others of their discovery until they had investigated it thoroughly themselves.

"You seem to be in an awful hurry," remarked Grant. "What's up?"

"Tell you later," answered John, and they quickly pa.s.sed out of Grant's sight. A moment more and they had arrived at the top of the opening which led down into the cave.

"I can't see anything from here," exclaimed John, after a hasty examination. "The shadow of my head gets right in the way and I can't see a thing."

"Let me look," urged Fred, but he could make out nothing either.

"I tell you what to do," he exclaimed a moment later. "Hang onto my feet so I won't fall and get wedged in there, and then lower me into the hole."

"That's a good scheme," said John eagerly. "You're little and skinny and ought to be able to get in there all right."

"Never mind the 'little and skinny' part," said Fred shortly. "You hold onto my feet."

Anyone who might have pa.s.sed by that way and seen John holding fast to a pair of legs sticking out of a hole in the ground would have been puzzled as to what was taking place. Grant's curiosity had been aroused by the strange actions of his two friends and he had followed them.

Imagine his surprise to see what John and Fred were doing, but he said nothing. He stood quietly near by and neither of his comrades was aware of his presence.

"Can you see anything, Fred?" called John.

"Not a thing," came back the m.u.f.fled reply. "I can feel something, though."

"Is it a box?"

"I can't tell, I think it is."

"Can you move it?"

"I should say not. It's stuck fast."

"What do you want to do?"

"Pull me out and I'll tell you."

A moment later Fred emerged, his face covered with dirt.

"What are you two doing?" demanded Grant, who now approached the two conspirators. "You look as though you were training to be a mole, Fred."

"There's a box down in there," said Fred. "We want to get it out."

"A box!" exclaimed Grant. "How big is it?"

"I could only feel one end of it. It's about a foot wide I should say. I don't know how long it is for all the rest of it is buried in there."

"Couldn't you budge it?"

"Not an inch. We'll have to dig it out."

"I'll get that knife Sam made," exclaimed John. "That'll be just the thing."

"Sam's up by the flag on watch," Grant called as John started off. "I think he has the knife with him. Who discovered the box?" he inquired, turning to Fred. Grant was now as excited as the other two boys had been.

"John did," said Fred.

"How did he happen to do it?"

"Oh, he was looking up from the bottom and just happened to see it. He showed it to me and we came up to investigate."

"Maybe this one has the real stuff in it," said Grant excitedly.

"Maybe so," Fred agreed. "All I hope is that we can dig it out."

"I guess we can," said Grant confidently. "Here comes String now."

John came running up, out of breath, and handed the knife to Fred. "I told Sam we had discovered a box," he panted. "Sam says that if there are any diamond horseshoes in it they belong to him. That's the only condition on which he would let me have the knife."

"All right," laughed Fred. "Sam gets all the horseshoes."

"Are you going to do the digging, Fred?" asked John.

"I guess I'd better. Let me have the knife."

Holding the home-made blade in his right hand he was once again lowered into the tunnel. John and Grant each held fast to one leg. It was hard work for Fred for he was in comparative darkness and was compelled to feel around to discover where to dig. It was practically impossible for him to see anything.

"How's it coming?" called John after a few moments had elapsed.