ow did get the money?" asked Sandy, as the boys
cleared away the heaps of slate, "what then?"

"Then we'll have to take it away from him!"

"We'll catch him first."

"We've got him blocked in, haven't we?" asked Sandy.

"Oh, we know that he can't get out," Dick cut in, "but we know, too,
that there are a lot of shallow benches along that gangway. We can't
walk in and pick him out in a minute. Besides," the boy continued, "when
we find him, we may find his pockets empty."

"That's just what we will do!" Elmer agreed. "He'll hide the money in
another place, and swear that he never found it!"

"I wish we'd kicked him out of the mine!" exclaimed Sandy.

The boys continued their search until daylight, and then, leaving Tommy
and George still on guard, they went up to the old tool house for
breakfast. The lads were by no means elated over what had taken place.
They believed that Ventner had succeeded in finding the money, and were
certain that, even if located in the mine, he would deny any knowledge
of it.

"I guess we got you boys into a mess by insisting on having the
detective roaming around," admitted Elmer, as the boys were eating a
hastily prepared breakfast. "I guess we should have listened to you in
regard to that. There is no knowing how much trouble we have made!"

"He may help us find the money after all!" laughed Will.

"Yes," cut in Sandy, "it may be easier to get it away from him than to
find the place where it was hidden."

"Oh, yes, if we could lay our hands on him and order him to give up two
hundred thousand dollars, and he would say: 'Yes, I've been waiting to
find the owner,' that would be all right, too! But the thing isn't
likely to turn out in that way! He'll hide the money, and swear he never
found it! Then, when everything quiets down, he'll sneak back and get
it!"

This from Jimmie, who seemed to take a rather gloomy view of the
situation. The boys remained at the old tool house only a short time.
Their minds were fixed so intently on the work in hand that they hardly
knew whether they had had any breakfast at all.

As they passed down the ladders to the lower level, they heard something
which resembled a pistol shot, and almost tumbled over each other
getting down into the gangway. Will and Elmer were first to reach the
cross-heading where the explosion of dynamite had taken place.

They called to Tommy and George, but received no answer. They walked for
some distance down the gang