The two children listened. They heard it again, a little nearer. They called back; then they began to walk down the tunnel in the dark, with their hands on the wall. They stopped and listened again, but now they couldn’t hear anything. Slowly they went back to their river.
They slept again and woke up very, very hungry.
‘Perhaps it’s Tuesday now,’ Tom thought. ‘What can I do? I must do something!’ Then he had an idea.
‘Becky, listen, I’ve got a long string in my pocket. I can go down some of the small tunnels and get back to you with the string. You wait here.’
Slowly and carefully Tom went down the first tunnel on his hands and knees. Then the tunnel wall on his right finished and there was nothing. Tom put on his hand to feel the floor. And just then, away to his right, he saw a hand – a hand with a candle.
At once Tom called out. ‘Help!’ he cried.
The hand moved, and Tom saw and arm and a face. It was Injun Joe! Tom was very afraid, but Injun Joe was afraid too and he quickly ran away down the tunnel.
Tom went back to Becky, but he did not tell her about Injun Joe. Tom waited for an hour, then went into a different tunnel with his string. Then a third tunnel …
