His companions joined him on the ridge and looked down. The beach appeared deserted. The rising moon cast a dim glow through light clouds. The soft hiss of the waves lapping the sand below was periodically drowned out by the roar of the breakers that loomed up dark and menacing beyond.
Pete licked his lips nervously, grasped the handrail of the old staircase, and stood still for a moment listening. Bob and Jupe listened, too.
All they could hear was the dull roar of the surf and the beating of their hearts.
“Well, good luck one and all,” Pete said tightly.
As the boys took the first step down, they felt certain they heard the ocean roar a little louder, as if in anticipation!
The stairs were dark and the salty night wind stung their faces. The towering cliff wall jutted towards the ocean, casting long, gloomy shadows on the moonlit sand.
The staircase held their weight, and they ran down the last few steps with more confidence, jumping off to the sand with relieved sighs.
Jupiter looked up. Only an occasional light was burning in the houses along the ridge.
They trudged along the damp dark sand and passed the old staircase that had collapsed under them earlier.
As they approached the cave entrance, they came to a halt, listening intently and looking about carefully.
No one, as far as they could detect, was moving inside or anywhere about.
Jupe looked up. The cliff wall jutted out blocking his view of the ridge. He scowled, feeling this was important somehow, but not sure why.
At last he nodded, “All clear.” They slipped quickly inside and again Jupiter paused to listen. Pete was puzzled Jupe was acting as if they were on a commando raid.
“Why the big act?” Pete whispered. “I thought this wasn’t supposed to be so dangerous,”
“It never pays to be careless,” Jupe whispered back. Pete flicked his torch on and let the light play on the walls of the cave. Then he lowered it to the ground ahead. He gasped in surprise.
“Do you see what I see?” he demanded. “The cave ends right there — just behind the pit. How did those two skin divers get out?”
Jupiter walked forward slowly and flashed his light around.
“It’s a smaller cave than I expected,” he said thoughtfully. “And that’s a good question, Pete. How did those skin divers leave? And where did they disappear to?”
They walked about and tested the cave walls.
“Solid,” Pete said. “That’s great!”
“What do you mean, Pete?” Bob asked.
“Don’t you get it?” Pete answered. “Look how small this cave is! And that pit is pretty small, too. What I mean is, no dragon could ever fit in here!”
Jupe looked puzzled. “And yet Mr. Allen said he saw a dragon come out of the sea and enter this cave under the cliff.” He looked intently down at the pit. “Those skin divers didn’t just vanish into thin air. We’ll have to assume there’s another cave entrance here somewhere. Or another opening somewhere in this cave. There may be other, larger passages running close by.”
“Wow!” Bob suddenly exclaimed. “I just remembered something!”
Quickly he told his companions what he had read in the library and heard from his father.
Jupiter’s eyes were thoughtful. “A tunnel, you say?”
Bob nodded excitedly. “It was supposed to be the first underground railway system on the West Coast. It was never all finished, but part of it was, and still exists. Sort of like a ghost railway.”
“That’s interesting, Bob,” Jupe said. “But that tunnel could be miles away. And we don’t know that whoever started the tunnel came this far with it, or started at this end.”
Bob looked deflated. “I guess you’re right, Jupe.”
“We’ll look for it while we’re here,” Jupiter said. “But the best way to find the tunnel would be from a map. We could probably get one at the Seaside City Planning Board offices.”
“After over fifty years?” Pete laughed. “Whoever drew up that map probably died a long time ago. And if the map is still around my bet is it’s buried somewhere under a lot of old papers and dust.”
Jupiter nodded. “Could be, Pete. But as long as we’re here tonight, we might look for the tunnel while we continue our investigation.
“I was thinking of that little passage we found this morning behind the boards. That should be safe enough to start with, I imagine.”
Pete and Bob nodded in agreement and moved over to the boarded section. Jupe brushed some of the sand and dirt away from it, exposing a large board. As he did so, Bob saw Jupe’s eyes suddenly gleam with excitement.
“What is it, Jupe?” Bob whispered.
Jupe was looking puzzled.
“I’m not quite sure yet,” he said. “It looks like plywood.”
“Plywood?” Bob repeated.
“I believe so,” Jupe said, feeling the board. “But I’m not certain yet as to how it relates to this mystery. Just now we’d better go ahead with getting some of the sand away so we can move these boards.”
Soon the plank they had moved before was loose enough. They got it out of the way, slipped through the narrow opening, then carefully replaced it. Then they flicked on their torches to see where they were.
They were in a small, narrow cave. The ceiling was low, leaving them just enough room to stand without stooping. It was damp and sloped abruptly to a low shelf of rock in the rear.
“Another dead end,” Pete muttered. “It doesn’t lead anywhere.”
Jupiter shrugged. “However, it does make an ideal hiding place for smugglers or pirates. I imagine it’s been used a lot in the past. The old planks indicate that they tried to keep it a secret place.”
Bob flashed his light on the cave floor. “Pirates, eh? Maybe they left us a few gold doubloons.”
He and Pete dropped to their hands and knees and felt carefully in the thin film of sand for treasure.
Pete was the first to give up. “Nothing,” he said, disappointed. “If they ever did use it to hide their loot, they sure were careful about picking it all up when they left.”
Bob kept searching on hands and knees until he reached the far end of the cave. “Maybe they swept some of it into the corner,” he whispered.
Jupiter was flashing his light at the boarded-up section. He scraped some of the dust and sand off the boards and was examining them when he heard Bob cry out.
“What’s up, Bob?” Jupe asked.