e curve, he saw that the balloon was gone.

"Gone!" he murmured, dazed at the suddenness of it.

A hasty examination of the surroundings gave them no sign of the missing
men.

"Must have broken loose and sailed away with them."

At that instant he caught the gleam of a light on the western sky.

"Camp fire of the Bolsheviki. We can't wait another moment," he muttered.
"And it wouldn't do any good if we did. They're gone."

He turned and led his men back to the ship.

A half hour later the little schooner was pop-popping her way through a
narrow channel to open water beyond. She carried, besides her crew and
provisions, a hundredweight of gold taken in the last three days from Mine
No. 2, and twice as much taken from the robber yellow men. Thirty-five per
cent of this would do wonders in Vladivostok. Johnny was sitting and
thinking of these things and of a wireless message he had received but a
few days before, when he suddenly began wondering where Pant was.

"Say," he exclaimed, turning to one of his men, "where's Pant? Haven't
seen him since we put out."

Sure enough, where was he? They searched the ship. He was not to be found.
At last Johnny spied a note pinned to his spare parka. It was written by
Pant.

"Dear Johnny," it read, "you will pardon me, I am sure, for leaving your
service at this time. But you won't need me down there and Vladivostok
sounds too tame. Up here there is real adventure.

"Good-bye,
"PANT."

Johnny looked at the man beside him and the man looked at him.

"Queer chap," murmured Johnny. "But a real sport at that."

"No use to try to find him."

"Not a bit."

"Queer chap," Johnny murmured again, "Queer eyes."

"That Pant was just short for Panther Eye," said the miner. "Men gave him
the name. One of them claimed he was hunting panthers once with a skillful
surgeon. A panther tore his right eye out. The surgeon shot the panther
and grafted an eye into Pant's empty socket. The fellow claimed he'd seen
him with those yellow goggles off. Said his pupil contracted in the light
like a great cat's eye. But you can't believe half those men tell you."

"No, you can't," said Johnny. "I guess every chap has a right to have a
secret or two about himself and keep them. Pant had his and kept it.
That's about as far as we'll ever get on that mystery. What say we go to
chow?"

CHAPTER IX

STARTLING PERILS

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