seized him by the shoulder.

"Hold on!" he cried. "Did either of you bring the giant-powder and
detonators along?"

Weston glanced at Devine, who shook his head.

"I didn't, anyway," he said.

For a moment or two there was a silence that was expressive of dismay,
as they realized that in the haste and confusion they had saved only
the things that could be replaced. The result of this might prove
disastrous, for giant-powder and detonators are comparatively dear in
that country, and in any case are not obtainable in the bush. To hire
labor was in the meanwhile out of the question, and the progress two
men could make cutting through hard rock with only the pick and drill
was, as they were quite aware, likely to be remarkably small. Saunders
made a little dejected gesture.

"Then," he said, "they're still in the lean-to behind the shack; and
it would be kind of wiser to crawl back into the adit. The case of
detonators was lying bang up against the giant-powder."

This was a significant statement, for it must be explained that
although giant-powder, as dynamite is generally called in the west, as
a rule merely burns more or less violently when ignited by a flame, it
is still a somewhat unstable product, and now and then explodes with
appalling results on apparently quite insufficient provocation. In use
it is fired with a detonator, a big copper cap charged with a
fulminate of the highest power, and when lighted in this fashion the
energies unloosed by the explosion, though limited in their area, are
stupendous. The detonator is almost as dangerous, for a few grains of
the fulminate contained in it are sufficient to reduce a man to his
component gases. At least, this was the case a few years ago.

Several men besides its owners had sought shelter from the heat and
sparks in the adit, and they evidently agreed with Saunders that it
was advisable to crawl back into shelter as soon as possible; but
Weston stood still. He had for the past few weeks been looking
disaster in the face, and this had produced in him a certain savage
desperation which is not altogether unusual in the case of
hard-pressed men who feel that they have everything against them. In
his mood, which was not a pleasant one, each fresh blow stirred him to
a grimmer effort, made with a curious quiet fury from which his
comrades now and then almost shrank. Turning abruptly, he shook
himself free from Saunders' grip.

"Well," he said, "I'm going to brin