d
sharply into a narrow gorge through which the Night Hawk brawled
its way to the Saskatchewan two miles farther down.

"We'll scramble down here, Jacob," he said to his broncho,--so named
by Brown, for that he had "supplanted" in Kalman's affection his
first pony, the pinto.

He dismounted, drew the reins over the broncho's head, and began
the descent, followed by his horse, slipping, sliding, hanging on
now by trees and now by jutting rocks. By the edge of what had once
been a small landslip, he clutched a poplar tree to save himself
from going over; but the tree came away with him, and horse and man
slid and rolled down the slope, bringing with them a great mass of
earth and stone. Unhappily, Jacob in his descent rolled over upon
the boy's leg. There was a snap, a twinge of sharp pain, and boy
and horse lay half imbedded in the loose earth. Kalman seized a
stick that lay near at hand.

"Get up, Jacob, you brute!" he cried, giving him a sharp blow.

Jacob responded with a mighty plunge and struggled free, making
it possible for Kalman to extricate himself. He was relieved to
discover that he could stand on his feet and could walk, but only
with extreme pain. Upon examination he could find no sign of broken
bones. He took a large handkerchief from his neck, bound it tightly
about his foot and ankle.

"I say, Jacob, we're well out of that," he said, looking up at the
great cave that had been excavated by the landslip. "Quite a hole,
eh? A great place to sleep in. Lots of spruce about, too. We'll
just camp here for the night. I guess I'll have to let those
coyotes go this trip. This beastly foot of mine won't let me dig
much. Hello!" he continued, "that's a mighty queer rock. I'll just
take a look at that hole."

He struggled up over the debris and entered the cave. Through the
earth there showed a glistening seam slanting across one side and
ending in a broken ledge.

"By Jove!" he cried, copying Jack French in his habit of speech as
in other habits, "that looks like the coal we used to find along
the Winnipeg tracks."

He broke off a piece of the black seam. It crumbled in his hands.

"I guess not," he said; "but we'll get the shovel at it."

Forgetting for the time the pain of his foot, he scrambled down
over the soft earth, got his shovel, and was soon hard at work
excavating the seam. Soon he had a very considerable pile lying
at the front of the cave.

"Now we'll soon see," he cried.

He hurriedly