CHAPTER XXI TRAPPED IN THE MINE
As the dump-car moved steadily downward along the rails, Ned Blake heldthe lantern high and peered ahead. The feeble yellow gleam showed therock roof and sides of the tunnel, which gradually narrowed till itbecame barely wide enough to allow the passage of the car. Beyond thesmall circle of light was a wall of pitchy blackness, ever receding asthey moved toward it and closing again behind them as they rumbledonward.
“That small cable runs right along overhead,” declared Ned, holding upthe lantern to better illuminate the roof. “I’m blessed if I can seewhat’s holding it up there!” he continued. “It must be—”
The words were cut short by a warning shout from Dick, and turning, Nedcaught the reflected gleam from the surface of a black pool which filledthe tunnel from wall to wall.
“Jump for it!” yelled Ned, and in an instant both boys had leaped fromthe rear of the car knee-deep into the icy water.
Floundering back up the passage, they gained dry ground, and strainingtheir eyes through the gloom, watched the car as it continued on its waydown the track and disappeared beneath the inky water.
“Wow! We came near getting an all-over ducking!” cried Dick, as hestooped to wring the water from the bottom of his trousers.
“It was mighty stupid of me not to have been looking out for this,” Nedblamed himself. “Of course everybody knows the tunnel runs out under thelake and that the lower end is full of water.”
“The car is still going ahead,” announced Dick. “Look! The cable isrunning out yet.” But even as he spoke, the black wire rope draggingalong between the rails suddenly stopped. “She’s got to the end of thetunnel,” he continued. “Now what!”
For a moment Ned Blake did not reply. He was staring up at the line ofsmall cable stretched tightly along the roof of the mine and passingfrom sight where roof and water-surface met.
“I know what’s pulling so hard on that rope,” he said quietly. “It’sthat buoy.”
“By jiminy! You’re right!” Dick’s voice rose excitedly. “And when thatsmall winch is released, the buoy rises to the surface of the lake!But—but what’s the use of all this? That’s what I can’t make out!”
“Let’s try to make the boys hear and tell ’em to haul us back,”suggested Ned.
Raising their voices in a combined effort, they sent a shoutreverberating up the tunnel, and an answering halloo came faintly totheir ears.
“Here’s where Weary does his stuff!” grinned Dick, as he watched thecable drag slowly out of the water like a great black snake. “He’ll craba plenty over _this_ night’s hard labor!”
Soon the car came into view, looking not unlike some huge amphibian asit emerged from the pool streaming water at every angle. Climbing uponit as it passed, Ned and Dick were pulled up the steep incline, till atlength they came in sight of their comrades grunting at the crank-handleof the winch.
“Well, what did you find?” puffed Beals, as the car came to rest in itsoriginal position.
“Nothing much,” replied Dick.
“Nothing _much_!” groaned Wilbur. “And that’s the fruit of the hardestlabor a man was ever sentenced to! Say, you let _me_ ride down and backa couple of times while you fellows grind that winch!”
“We didn’t find much because there’s nothing down there except water,”explained Ned, “but we’ve got an idea as to what’s pulling on that smallcable,” and Ned proceeded to give his theory of the buoy which he andDick had seen appear and disappear at the surface of the lake.
“Sounds reasonable,” admitted Charlie Rogers. “If anybody outside wantedto get an absolutely exact location of the submerged end of this mine,why that buoy would do the trick for ’em; but what the blazes couldanybody want of it, and why so fussy to be within _inches_?”
“That’s the puzzle,” agreed Ned. “That’s what we got to find out. Sladehinted that if we got inside the cellar we’d soon learn the whole game.So far we haven’t accomplished much. Let’s look around up at this end ofthe mine.”
There was nothing to be seen in the restricted area about the car andwinches, but partly concealed by the stairway was a narrow passage hewnin the rock.
“This is where Coleson started to follow the vein of ore back under thehouse, I guess,” said Ned and moved forward with his lantern.
Half a dozen steps brought him to a door set in the rock wall. A quickjerk threw it back upon its hinges, revealing a small chamber betweenthe walls of which tiers of wooden boxes reached from floor to roof.Crowding together before the open door, the boys stood silent for a longminute.
“What’s in ’em?” Dick Somers’ muttered question voiced the curiosity ofall.
Setting his lantern upon a projecting point of rock, Ned Blakecautiously lifted one of the boxes from the front tier. A dull metallicrattle sounded from within.
“I heard that same noise once before!” exclaimed Rogers excitedly. “I’llnever forget it!”
The box was tightly closed, but by aid of the winch-handle the cover waspried off and the secret of the haunted mine stood revealed to fivepairs of astonished eyes. Ned lifted a bottle from the opened case andread the label on its flat side.
“Canadian Club Whisky.”
“_Bootleggers!_” yelped Dick Somers.
“_Rum-runners_ from across the lake!” wheezed Dave Wilbur.
“There’s no doubt of it,” said Ned, staring at the bottle in his hand.“They come across from Canada and locate the caved-in end of the mine bymeans of the ranges and that buoy. Once anchored there, they can lowerthese cases of whisky onto the dump-car that is waiting down below. Theydon’t have to land and leave tracks on the beach. It’s so simple weought to have guessed it long ago!”
“And once they get the stuff safely stowed here, all they have to do iswatch their chance to load a truck and run it up to Cleveland,” remarkedBeals. “Like every other bunch of crooks and lawbreakers, they thoughttheir scheme was one hundred per cent perfect.”
“Well, I guess it _was_ working pretty fair till we butted in with ourdance proposition,” grinned Dave Wilbur. “It’s no wonder they tried todrive us off the place.”
“Of course, we know they ran their truck up through the old wood-roadand parked it among the scrub oaks opposite the end of the house,” beganDick. “Ned and I found where it stood but—but still there’s one thingthat puzzles me.”
“You’re wondering why we never could find any tracks on the strip ofsand between the house and the woods,” guessed Ned. “That questionbothers me also. Let’s have another look inside the cellar.”
Leading the way with his lantern and closely followed by the other boys,Ned mounted the stairs. At the top he halted abruptly and held thelantern above his head. “Who was the last man in here?” he demanded.
“I was,” replied Charlie Rogers.
“Did you shut this door behind you?” Ned’s tone was sharp.
“I certainly did _not_!” protested Rogers. “It was wide open and Iremember pushing it clear back against the wall in order to give us achance to beat it out of here if anything happened!”
Handing his lantern to Dick Somers, Ned approached the door and tried itcautiously; then putting his shoulder against it he pushed with all hisstrength. “Come here, Fatty,” he grunted. “Put your beef on it!”
Tommy hastened to Ned’s side and together they flung their united weightagainst the oak planks. It was useless. The door was securely fastenedon the other side. They were trapped in the mine.