"Arthur, Robert - The Three Investigators 010 - The Mystery of the Moaning Cave" - читать интересную книгу автора (Arthur Robert)

"There seem to be many loose boulders up there," Jupe observed, "and the mountain-side is very dry. I imagine it's quite common for rocks to fall here. The naval gunnery probably loosened them in many places."

The three boys approached the big rock. It was buried deep in the ground only a few yards from the entrance to El Diablo's cave.

"Look, there are marks on it!" Bob was pointing at the boulder. "Gosh, Jupe, do you think someone pushed it down on us?"

"There are some marks," Jupiter said after he had examined the rock more carefully. "Of course that is not so surprising."

"It hit against a lot of other rocks on its way down," Pete pointed out.

"We didn't see anyone up there," Bob said.

Jupiter nodded. "Still, someone up there might not want to be seen."

"Gee, maybe we better go back," Pete said.

"No, but we'll be even more careful," Jupiter said. "At least rocks can't fall down a mountain at us when we're inside the cave."

With Jupiter in the lead, the boys entered the cave. They turned on their flashlights, and Bob marked the first question mark and arrow at the entrance.

Even with their flashlights on, they could see nothing but a long, dark passage that went straight into Devil Mountain. Its walls were smooth, and the ceiling was just high enough to permit Pete--the tallest investigator--to stand up. For a distance of about forty feet the passageway continued to be a straight tunnel with smooth stone walls. Then it suddenly opened into a large cavern.

The boys shone their flashlights all around the cavern. They were in a huge room with a towering ceiling. The far end of the cavern was so distant they could only just see it.

"It's like a big city railroad station!" Bob exclaimed. "I never saw so big a cave." His voice sounded hollow and faraway.

"Hello!" Pete called.

"Helloа.а.а. helloа.а.а. hello-ooooooo," his voice echoed.

The boys laughed. The echoes seemed to bounce through the cavern. "Helloа.а.а. hello-ooooo!" scouted Bob.

While Pete and Bob were shouting, Jupiter was inspecting the huge cavern more closely with the help of his flashlight.

"Look!" he suddenly called to them.

To their left, in the wall, was a small black hole--the opening of a passage that seemed to lead out of the cavern. The boys aimed their flashlights at the walls on both sides of the cavern. They saw many more openings--at least ten passages that led from the big cavern deeper into the mountain.

"Jeepers," Pete said, "which way do we go?"

All the passages looked about the same--barely high enough for Pete to stand up in, and about four feet wide.

Jupiter frowned. "It is obvious that El Diablo's Cave must be a large complex of passages and chambers all through the mountain."

"Maybe that's why the posse couldn't find El Diablo," Bob said. "There were so many passages that he could stay hidden."

Jupiter nodded. "That seems a likely explanation."

"How does a cave like this get started anyway?" Pete asked, looking around with awe.