CHAPTER XXVIII
THE LOST LANDSLIDE MINE
"They cut the ropes! See, here is where it was done, on this jaggedrock!"
As Dave spoke he pointed to a sharp edge of stone. Beneath it were bitsof rope, showing how the fetters had been sawed in twain.
"One of 'em must have got loose and then freed the other," remarkedRoger.
"But who was on guard?" demanded Tom Dillon, sharply. He looked at theboys and then at Abe Blower.
"I was, but I--I guess I fell asleep," faltered Phil, sheepishly, andgrew red in the face.
"Fell asleep!" cried Abe Blower. "I guess you did!" And his tone ofvoice showed his disgust.
"I--I am awfully sorry," continued the shipowner's son. "I--I reallydon't know how it happened. It wasn't the thing to do."
"Never mind, it's done and that's the end of it," put in Roger, quickly,for he could see how badly his chum felt over the occurrence. "I guessyou were pretty tired."
"I was, Roger. Just the same, I had no business to fall asleep. I'm madenough to kick myself full of holes," went on Phil, grimly.
"Let us see if they took anything with 'em," came from Tom Dillon, as heturned to where their things and the animals were, but they had not beendisturbed.
"I guess they were too scared to touch anything," declared Dave. "Theywere glad enough to save themselves. I imagine they ran away as soon asthey were free." And in this surmise our hero was correct. Link had beenthe one to sever his bonds and he had untied Job Haskers, and then bothof them had lost not an instant in quitting the locality, being afraidthat some of the others might awaken before they could make good theirescape.
"Well, I am just as well satisfied," whispered Roger to Dave and Phil."I didn't want to hold them, anyway. All I want them to do is to leaveus alone."
"But you don't want them to discover the lost mine, Roger," returned ourhero.
"Oh, certainly not! We'll have to keep on the watch for them as well aslook for the mine," answered the senator's son.
A search was made, and it was soon ascertained that their enemies werenowhere in that vicinity. Then breakfast was had, and a little laterthe search for the lost Landslide Mine was continued.
As before, the different members of the party separated, and thus theday went by. Several times one or another of the boys or the men thoughthe had found some landmark, but each time the clew proved a false one.
"It looks as if we were going to be stumped,--just as those othersearching parties were stumped," remarked Roger, dismally. "Maybe thelost mine will remain lost forever!" and he sighed deeply.
"Oh, I wouldn't give up yet!" cried Dave, cheerfully. "We have stillsome more ground to cover."
"Of course, we have," said Phil. "Oh, we are going to find that mine, notwo ways about it!"
"I hope so," and Roger sighed again. He felt that if the mine was notfound, matters would look pretty blue at home for all concerned.
The following morning dawned bright and clear, with no warning at all ofwhat was in store. An early breakfast was had, and once more all handsseparated in the hunt for landmarks which might guide them to the lostmine.
Dave was working his way along a small ridge of outcropping rocks, whenhe came to one rock that stood out much higher than the rest. From thispoint he gazed around, to see if he could locate any of the others ofthe party.
As a distance he made out Roger and Phil, who had just come together.Then, turning around, he glanced below him and made out several otherpersons on a lower ridge of the mountainside.
"Link Merwell and Job Haskers, and that Sol Blugg is with them," hemurmured. "Evidently they are not going to give up the hunt."
Dave watched the party of three for several minutes and then continuedhis own hunt. Roger and Phil had now disappeared from view, and AbeBlower and Tom Dillon were far away,--almost to the top of the mountain.
A quarter of an hour passed and Dave discovered something which heconsidered worth investigating. Just above his head was an openingbetween the rocks,--an irregular slit fifteen or twenty feet high andtwo to four feet wide.
He had seen many openings before, but this was peculiar for the reasonthat one edge of the rocks looked as if it had been drilled and blastedaway. More than this, within the split lay the broken-off handle of ashovel.
"Oh, what if I have found the lost mine!" he thought. "Thatshovel-handle proves that somebody has been here, and, yes, that iswhere somebody bored into the rocks and set off a blast! I mustinvestigate this, and if it looks promising I'll call the others. No usein exciting Roger unless it's worth while."
Dave climbed up to the split and peered within. All was so dark that hecould see but little. Yet he made out what looked to be a fairly levelbit of flooring and he swung himself to this, first, however, placinghis handkerchief on a rock outside, for it had been agreed that ifanybody went into any sort of opening he should leave something behind,so that the others, coming that way, might know where he was.
Each of the party had provided himself with a dry stick of wood, to usefor a torch if one was required, and Dave now lit the stick he carriedand swung it into a blaze. With this in hand he commenced an inspectionof the opening he had discovered.
The cave, if such it can be called, proved to be long andnarrow,--little more than a split in the rocks. At some points theroofing was out of sight. The flooring, too, was irregular, and our herohad to proceed with care, for pitfalls were numerous and he had nodesire to tumble into one of these.
"This mountainside is a good deal like Cave Island," he muttered, as headvanced. "That was honeycombed with caves and so is this. No wonderthey have landslides here. The ground and rocks are bound to settle,with so many openings to fill up."
He had gone forward about a hundred and fifty feet when he found theopening leading upward. Then of a sudden he gave a cry of wonder anddelight.
Just ahead of him were a number of heavy timbers, such as are used forshoring in mines. And among the timbers lay a pick and a crowbar and theremains of a smashed lantern.
At that instant Dave remembered one thing that Roger had told him, whichwas that Maurice Harrison had always branded all of his tools with hisinitials. Eagerly, our hero caught up the pick and held the handle inthe light of his torch. There, on the broad part of the pick's handle,were the initials:
_M. H._
"It's the lost mine!" shouted the youth. "The lost mine as sure as fate!Oh, I must get out and tell Roger and the others of this!"
But then he hesitated. What if this should prove to be only someabandoned "prospect" and not the real mine at all?
"I'd better look around a little first and make sure," he reasoned. "IfI can only find some of the gold Mr. Harrison spoke about, I'd besure."
He looked at the lantern and the crowbar and saw that both contained theinitials found on the pick. He placed the three articles in a heap, andthen climbed over the broken timbers to the opening beyond. As he didthis a current of pure, cold air struck him.
"There must be other openings to this cave or mine," he reasoned."Otherwise it wouldn't be so well ventilated. Well, I'm glad to have thefresh air. Where is that gold? If this is really the mine I ought to seesome of it in the rocks."
He walked along, throwing the light of his torch on the rocks as he didso. For several minutes he saw nothing that looked like gold, and hisheart sank. But suddenly he gave a low whistle and in his excitementalmost dropped his torch.
For in a crack of the rocks he had come across a small "pocket," as itis termed by miners. In the pocket lay a quantity of sand, and on top ofthis an irregular object about as large as a small hen's egg.
"A nugget! A nugget of gold!" cried Dave, as he rubbed it off andinspected it by the light of the torch. "A nugget of gold just as sureas sure can be! Oh, this must be the lost mine!"
In feverish haste he set his torch up in a crack of the rocks andcommenced to scoop the sand from the pocket with his hands. Out cameanother nugget and then another, and then half a dozen, all about t
hesize of hickory nuts. Then the pocket grew so deep and narrow he couldnot reach down into it. He took up the crowbar, and with it ascertainedthat the opening with the sand and nuggets was of unknown depth.
"It's the lost Landslide Mine!" said Dave to himself. "The lost minebeyond a doubt, and all this gold belongs to Mrs. Morr! Oh, won't Rogerbe glad when I tell him the glorious news!"
Gathering up the nuggets he had found, Dave placed them in his pocket toshow to the others, and then started to leave the place.
As he did this, he heard a peculiar rumbling sound, coming from adistance. He stopped to listen, and the rumble grew louder and louder.
"What in the world can that be?" he asked himself. "Sounds like a trainof cars rushing through a tunnel. I wonder----Oh!"
Dave stopped short, and it is no wonder that a sudden chill passed overhim. The very rocks on which he was standing had begun to quake. Thenfrom overhead several stones fell, one so close that it brushed hisshoulder.
"It's an earthquake, or another landslide!" he gasped. "I must get outof this, or I'll be buried alive!"
And then, torch in hand, he started for the opening to the mine.
He had hardly covered half the distance to the outer air when there cameanother quaking, and more rocks fell, one hitting him on the arm. Thetorch was knocked from his hand and he tripped and fell. Then came acrash and a roar, and to Dave it seemed as if the end of the world hadcome. He was more than half-stunned, and he fell against a wall ofrocks, wondering what would happen next.