At first I thought all of you had been killed, so I ran down here to investigate." But Dave paid little heed to the last part of this statement.
He had seized hold of one side of the canvas, holding it up.
"Dick!" he called lustily.

"Tom, Greg, Dan, Harry!" There was no response.

The thunder continued to boom louder than ever.
"Hold this canvas up," Dave Darrin ordered sharply, and Ripley, knowing that Towser was eyeing him, obeyed.

Inside crawled Darrin, shaking each of his friends in turn and calling to them.
"I can't wake 'em! I can't get 'em to speak," reported Darrin, crawling out again, his face white with anguish.

"I'm afraid they've been-----" "Yes," nodded Ripley, in a hoarse voice.