ou have done if I'd happened to have left the drift?"

The very idea gave me cold chills all down my back.

"We should have been badly scared, Tom, and that's a fact," I replied;
"but I hope we should have kept our heads. I believe we should have sat
down where we were and shouted till somebody came."

"Well, that would have been the best thing you could do, though you
might have had to shout a pretty long time, for there is nobody working
in this level just now but me, and, as a matter of fact, I should have
left it myself in another five minutes. But it's all right as it
happens; so now you can come along with me. I'm going out the other way
through Yetmore's ground."

"Yetmore's ground?" exclaimed Joe, inquiringly.

"Yes, Yetmore is working the old stopes of the Pelican on a lease--it is
one of his many ventures. In the early days of the camp mining was
conducted much more carelessly than it is now; freight and smelter
charges were a good bit higher, too, so that a considerable amount of
ore of too low grade to ship then was left standing in the stopes.
Yetmore is taking it out on shares. His ground lies this way. Come on."

So saying, Tom led the way to the end of the drift, where, going down
upon his hands and knees, he crawled through a man-hole, coming out into
a little shaft which he called a "winze." Ascending this by a short
ladder, we found ourselves in the old, abandoned workings, and still
following our guide, we presently walked out into the daylight--greatly
to our surprise.

"Why, where have we got to, Tom?" cried Joe, as we stared about us, not
recognizing our surroundings.

Tom laughed. "This is called Stony Gulch," he replied. "The mine used
to be worked through this tunnel where we just came out, but the tunnel
isn't used now except temporarily by Yetmore's men. He only runs a day
shift and at night he closes the place with that big door and locks it
up. The Pelican buildings are just over the hill here, and we may as
well go up at once: it will be quitting-time by the time we get there."

We climbed over the hill, therefore, and having restored our slickers,
went on with Tom down to his little cottage, which was only about a
quarter of a mile from the mine.

It was not until we were inside his house that we explained to Tom the
object of our visit, at the same time handing over to him my father's
check for one hundred dollars. The good fellow was quite touched by this
very simple token of