t things about this mine was timber with which to
support the roof of the only drift that was being opened. The
proprietor tried to force his men to continue their work, and open the
drift far beyond a point of safety without the protection of this most
necessary adjunct, and when they refused he became furiously angry.
Their job seemed to have come to an end, and all hands were about to
leave, when, by an opportune gale, a supply of the desired material
was cast up on the adjacent coast.

Every able-bodied man was immediately set to work collecting this, and
in towing raft after raft of the Heaven-sent logs to a land-locked
basin that lay but a short distance from the mine. In this way, even
before the arrival of Peveril and his wreckers, a large amount of the
needed timber had been secured.

Although the miners were well aware that their employer carried on
some other business besides the development of his barren property,
they neither knew nor cared to know what it was. They discovered that
it was in some way connected with the coming and going of certain
vessels, but beyond this they were kept in ignorance.

When one of these vessels reported a party at Laughing Fish also
engaged in a search for wrecked logs, the exertions of the
white-haired mine-owner were so redoubled that before Peveril found
time to work the coast to the northward of his camp, it had been
stripped of every log. Having obtained possession of his coveted
timber, the old man was now making every effort to have it transported
to the mouth of his shaft, believing that, if he could once get it
underground, his right to the logs would remain unquestioned. He had,
however, only partially succeeded in effecting this removal, when, to
his chagrin, Peveril appeared on the scene of activity.

After the defeat of the young man's attempt to capture the raft, his
two Bohemians were easily induced to join the enemy by promises of
better pay than they were getting. As for Joe Pintaud, he was indeed
taken prisoner, but was purposely so loosely guarded that he found no
difficulty in escaping to the schooner of his friends, which came into
port that afternoon, and on which he was carried off to Canada.

Thus was the White Pine wrecking expedition completely broken up, and
only its leader was left to carry out, if he could, its objects. Even
he had been set adrift in an oarless skiff, with the hope that he
would be so long delayed in reporting to his employer