Fred followed with a heavy heart, and the two trudged on in silence
until they were within a short distance of the newly-discovered coal
vein, when Bill exclaimed in surprise:

"I'm blest if there isn't Joe! What's up now, I wonder?"

This question was soon answered. The approaching miner cried while yet
some distance away:

"What are you comin' back so soon for?"

"There was no reason why we should stay longer," and without sparing
himself in the slightest, Bill explained what a blunder had been
committed.

"Well, you'd better go to Blacktown agin, or else take the train for New
York."

"Why?"

"The cashier has been swearin' out a warrant for Fred's arrest, an'
it'll be served the minute he gets back."

"A warrant for me?" Fred cried in alarm. "What have I done?"

"The fool thinks you know where the money is, an' that you made the
arrangements with Sam, before he left, to get away with it."

"Mr. Wright won't allow such a thing."

"The letter he wrote seems to have made the cashier's neck stiffer than
it was yesterday, an' I don't reckon it would do much good to depend on
any officer of the company."

"I'll give that feller a piece of my mind," Bill cried angrily, and Joe
replied:

"Don't do it yet a while. He told Donovan this noon that you'd gone with
Fred to put the cash in a safe place, so it may be that the constable
would like to see you by this time."

"Why, where does he think it was?"

"Buried on the mountain somewhere, an' if he sends men out to see if any
diggin' has been done lately, the vein will surely be found."

"I'll go back any way!" Bill cried after a short pause. "Such as him
shan't call me a thief."

"Now, look here, matey, what will be the good of gettin' yourself in
jail? I've told Fred's mother jest how the matter stands, an' she
believes as I do, that it'll be better to hang off a while in the hope
something will turn up."

"An' have the constables chasin' us all over the country."

"It ain't certain they'll do that."

"But it may never be known positively who took the money," Fred added.

"If you're both so anxious to go to jail, wait till it is proved Sam is
a thief, an' then show up to the constable. Things can't be worse for
holdin' on a few days."

"'Cordin' to your own figgerin' there's a chance the coal will be
found."

"I'll take care of that business while you an' Fred keep out of sight.
With what I had, an' what could be borrowed, I've got two hundred