Part 47 (1/2)

_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 some abandoned ”prospect” and not the real mine at all?

”I'd better look around a little first and make sure,” he reasoned. ”If I can only find some of the gold Mr. Harrison spoke about, I'd be sure.”

He looked at the lantern and the crowbar and saw that both contained the initials found on the pick. He placed the three articles in a heap, and then climbed over the broken timbers to the opening beyond. As he did this 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 the fresh air. Where is that gold? If this is really the mine I ought to see some of it in the rocks.”

He walked along, throwing the light of his torch on the rocks as he did so. For several minutes he saw nothing that looked like gold, and his heart sank. But suddenly he gave a low whistle and in his excitement almost dropped his torch.

For in a crack of the rocks he had come across a small ”pocket,” as it is termed by miners. In the pocket lay a quant.i.ty of sand, and on top of this 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 and inspected it by the light of the torch. ”A nugget of gold just as sure as sure can be! Oh, this must be the lost mine!”

In feverish haste he set his torch up in a crack of the rocks and commenced to scoop the sand from the pocket with his hands. Out came another nugget and then another, and then half a dozen, all about the size of hickory nuts. Then the pocket grew so deep and narrow he could not reach down into it. He took up the crowbar, and with it ascertained that the opening with the sand and nuggets was of unknown depth.

”It's the lost Landslide Mine!” said Dave to himself. ”The lost mine beyond a doubt, and all this gold belongs to Mrs. Morr! Oh, won't Roger be glad when I tell him the glorious news!”

Gathering up the nuggets he had found, Dave placed them in his pocket to show to the others, and then started to leave the place.

As he did this, he heard a peculiar rumbling sound, coming from a distance. He stopped to listen, and the rumble grew louder and louder.

”What in the world can that be?” he asked himself. ”Sounds like a train of cars rus.h.i.+ng through a tunnel. I wonder----Oh!”

Dave stopped short, and it is no wonder that a sudden chill pa.s.sed over him. The very rocks on which he was standing had begun to quake. Then from overhead several stones fell, one so close that it brushed his shoulder.

”It's an earthquake, or another landslide!” he gasped. ”I must get out of 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 came another quaking, and more rocks fell, one hitting him on the arm. The torch was knocked from his hand and he tripped and fell. Then came a crash and a roar, and to Dave it seemed as if the end of the world had come. He was more than half-stunned, and he fell against a wall of rocks, wondering what would happen next.

CHAPTER XXIX

ANOTHER LANDSLIDE

It was another landslide, cras.h.i.+ng and roaring down the side of the mountain, carrying rocks, dirt, and brushwood before it. The earth roared and shook, and it was said afterwards that the slide could be heard many miles away.

Down in the mine that he had but just discovered, Dave remained crouching against a wall of rock, murmuring a prayer for his safe deliverance from the peril that encompa.s.sed him. Every moment he expected would be his last--that those rocky walls would crash in on him and become his tomb. Roar followed roar, as the landslide continued and more rocks fell. Then the air around him seemed to be compressed, until he could scarcely breathe.

”Oh, if I were only out of this!” he thought, and at that moment he would have gladly given all he was worth to have been in the outer air once more.

Gradually the roaring and the quaking ceased, and Dave breathed a little more freely. He groped around in the darkness and managed to locate the fallen torch, which still glowed faintly. He swung it into a blaze with nervous energy.