rprise to see what John and Fred were doing, but he said
nothing. He stood quietly near by and neither of his comrades was aware
of his presence.

"Can you see anything, Fred?" called John.

"Not a thing," came back the muffled reply. "I can feel something,
though."

"Is it a box?"

"I can't tell, I think it is."

"Can you move it?"

"I should say not. It's stuck fast."

"What do you want to do?"

"Pull me out and I'll tell you."

A moment later Fred emerged, his face covered with dirt.

"What are you two doing?" demanded Grant, who now approached the two
conspirators. "You look as though you were training to be a mole, Fred."

"There's a box down in there," said Fred. "We want to get it out."

"A box!" exclaimed Grant. "How big is it?"

"I could only feel one end of it. It's about a foot wide I should say. I
don't know how long it is for all the rest of it is buried in there."

"Couldn't you budge it?"

"Not an inch. We'll have to dig it out."

"I'll get that knife Sam made," exclaimed John. "That'll be just the
thing."

"Sam's up by the flag on watch," Grant called as John started off. "I
think he has the knife with him. Who discovered the box?" he inquired,
turning to Fred. Grant was now as excited as the other two boys had
been.

"John did," said Fred.

"How did he happen to do it?"

"Oh, he was looking up from the bottom and just happened to see it. He
showed it to me and we came up to investigate."

"Maybe this one has the real stuff in it," said Grant excitedly.

"Maybe so," Fred agreed. "All I hope is that we can dig it out."

"I guess we can," said Grant confidently. "Here comes String now."

John came running up, out of breath, and handed the knife to Fred. "I
told Sam we had discovered a box," he panted. "Sam says that if there
are any diamond horseshoes in it they belong to him. That's the only
condition on which he would let me have the knife."

"All right," laughed Fred. "Sam gets all the horseshoes."

"Are you going to do the digging, Fred?" asked John.

"I guess I'd better. Let me have the knife."

Holding the home-made blade in his right hand he was once again lowered
into the tunnel. John and Grant each held fast to one leg. It was hard
work for Fred for he was in comparative darkness and was compelled to
feel around to discover where to dig. It was practically impossible for
him to see anything.

"How's it coming?" called John after a few moments had elapsed.

"