Will.

"There are times," Tommy explained to Canfield, "when the gift of frank
speech is taken away from Will, so you mustn't blame him for not
answering. He'll tell you all about it when the time comes."

The caretaker went away with a puzzled look on his honest face.

CHAPTER IX

WHO DISCOVERED THE LEAK?

"You've got to explanation me," George laughed, as the caretaker left
the room, and the boys began picking up their clothing, preparatory to
the alleged journey. "I can't understand what you mean by saying that
you'll watch out for a boy tramp in the railroad yards."

"It's a sure thing, isn't it?" Will asked, "that the boys we are in
search of are in the mine? We don't know what they're in there for. They
may be hiding there because of some fool notion they have in their
heads, or they may have been sent here for some definite purpose."

"You bet they've been sent here for some definite purpose," George
replied. "They never came here to work on the breaker without having
some well-defined motive. Boys answering to their description don't
accept such jobs as they accepted here!"

"Well, the boys are in the mine," Will continued. "As stated, we don't
know what they're there for, but we know they're there. Now, this third
boy comes to the mine and works just long enough to get in touch with
the other two. Then he disappears."

"Buys a lot of provisions and goes down the river to leave his hat on
the bank!" laughed Tommy. "I guess that was a pretty poor imitation of a
suicide or a drowning accident, either!"

"But this boy didn't get to be intimate with the two breaker boys,"
contended George. "He talked with them about two minutes after the
fight, according to Canfield, but paid no further attention to them
after that. If he had any secret understanding with them, he must have
done a whole lot of talking in a mighty short space of time."

"The right kind of a boy can say a good deal in a minute and half!"
laughed Tommy. "But suppose we let Will go on and explanation us about
that boy tramp in the railroad yards. I think I know what he's getting
at, but I'm not quite certain. Go on, Will, it's up to you."

"In order to make the connection," laughed Will. "I'll state for the
third time that we know that the boys are in the mine. It may also be
well to state, once more, that we are reasonably certain that this third
boy came to the mine for the specific purpose of communicating with the
other two. No