Caves That Time Forgot Read Online Free

map. “Yes. We’ll find a camping spot before night so we can cook us a good meal. We’ll have to do some hunting, though. The food we brought with us won’t last very long. And we don’t know what they’ll have at the village. So let’s go!”
    They divided up the knapsacks containing their food, bedding, clothing, and equipment. The girls carried the smallest loads. They started walking along the east side of the river and soon discovered a path.
    â€œLook here,” Jake said, “this thing’s been traveled. People must come from the village to the sea.”
    â€œThat or animals,” Reb guessed. “All animals like to go to water, but I guess it’s probably both.”
    All afternoon they hiked. The jungle grew more dense as they made their way inward. Now huge trees towered overhead, sometimes shutting off the light of the sun and sometimes arching over the river from both sides until it was like walking down the aisle of a dim cathedral.
    Late in the day Dave drew to a halt. “That’s some nice ground over there and plenty of firewood. Let’s camp here for the night.”
    â€œSuits me!” Reb said. “What do you want us to do, Captain Dave?”
    Dave glared. “You can go gather firewood. You girls can get ready to cook a little something.”
    â€œWhat about you, Dave?” Josh inquired.
    â€œI’m going to scout around—see what I can find out while the rest of you set up camp.”
    Dave walked farther upstream, and Wash said, “Well, we got our orders from Captain Dave. Let’s get busy.” He looked about at the towering trees. “Sure is quiet in here. I don’t like it when it’s too quiet. Makes me think something’s ready to jump on me.”
    â€œWash! Don’t talk like that,” Abbie said, shivering. “Let’s get a fire built—a big one.”
    Soon they had a fire going and meat roasting on spits over it.
    Dave came back, shaking his head. “Can’t tell a thing about this place,” he complained.
    He sat down, took the meat Sarah offered him, and put it between two slices of bread. He waved the sandwich toward upstream. “This area turns into almost a swamp,” he said. “I hope the path holds out. I went on a tour once in the Everglades. There were alligators and snakes and everything else.” He shuddered. “I hate snakes!”
    â€œSo do I,” Abigail said and moved closer to him. “What if we have to turn back?”
    He looked at her in surprise. “That’s the one thing we won’t do. We’ve got to go on, no matter how hard it gets. If it gets too bad on land, we’ll make a raft and pole our way up the river. It would be hard going, but we could do it.”
    â€œThat’s the way to talk, Dave,” Josh said. “You’re right—we’ve got to go on. Goél wouldn’t be sending us on a foolish mission. It’s important, whatever it is.”
    â€œWhat kind of people can they be, I wonder?” It had been a hard day, and Sarah was growing sleepy. “We’ve seen some strange varieties in our journeys—snakepeople, and giants, and dwarfs, and Gemini Twins.” The thought of the twins they had encountered on their first adventure made her smile. “I wish Mat and Tam were with us now. They were a lot of fun.”
    Reb grinned. “You couldn’t get them to go on a trip like this. They liked their comfort too much.” He looked upriver. “ I wish we had some hosses to ride. It’d sure beat walking through this old swamp. But we’ll make it.”
    Jake looked around. “We’ve gotten real close, haven’t we, the seven of us? Back in Oldworld we didn’t even know each other, and now we’re closer to each other than anybody else. I guess that’s the way it is when you go on adventures with people. I hope we always stay close