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

Quickly, each of the boys plunged into a tunnel, hopefully shining his flashlight ahead.

Jupiter found that his passage was natural for only a short distance. Then his flashlight revealed beams and braces that held up the walls, as in a mine shaft. He moved ahead cautiously for a few more yards, studying the floor and walls of the shaft.

Abruptly he came to a wall of rock and dirt that blocked the passage. Kneeling down to inspect the barricade more closely, he discovered a small, hard black stone that puzzled him. It was quite different from any stone he had ever seen. He stuck it into his pocket to examine later.

Just then a yell echoed through the passage.

"Jupe! Bob! Hurry!"



At that moment Bob was in another cavern similar to the first they had found. The tunnel he had been exploring had led him straight into another cavern. He was standing there dismayed because this one, too, had many small passages that led out of it. He had just decided to return to the first cavern and wait for the others when he heard Pete's yell Immediately he rushed back to the entrance of his tunnel.

Meanwhile, Jupiter was racing towards the mouth of Pete's tunnel. Suddenly something came hurtling at him out of the dark. The next thing he knew he was sprawling on the stone floor with some wild creature clawing at him.

"Help!" a voice called in fright.

The voice was almost in Jupiter's ear. It was Bob's voice.

"Bob, it's me!" cried Jupiter.

The hands that were clawing at Jupe relaxed, and the two boys shone their lights on each other.

"Gosh, I thought something had grabbed me," Bob said.

"My reaction was the same," Jupiter said. "It was a case of panic brought on by Pete's call for----"

"Pete!" Bob cried.

"Come on!" said Jupe.

The two boys raced into the passage Pete had taken. The tunnel seemed longer than the others. They had been running for some distance before they saw a light ahead. It was coming from Pete's flashlight.

"Here I am!" Pete called.

Bob and Jupiter burst out of the passage into still another large cavern. Pete stood in the centre, the beam of his flashlight trained on the left wall. He was looking pale.

"There wasа.а.а. something in here!" Pete stammered. "I saw it. All black and shiny!"

Bob and Jupiter focused their flashlights on the wall. They could see nothing at all.

"I tell you I saw something," Pete insisted. "When I came out of the tunnel I heard a noise. I shone my light and sawа.а.а. thisа.а.а. thing! Over there near the wall. It was big. I was so surprised I dropped my light, and when I picked it up the thing was gone."

Bob looked sceptical. "Maybe you were just nervous, Pete. We shouldn't have split up."

But Jupiter walked over to the wall where Pete said he had seen the black, shiny shape. He knelt down.

"Pete wasn't just nervous, Bob," Jupiter said. "Look here."