ey moved along it was seen that very little labor had been required
thus far to make an opening quite large enough for all practical
purposes. The mass of rock that lay in the dump outside was probably ore
that showed signs of being valuable. It was intended to impress any one
with an exalted idea of the fabulous richness of the discovery, and had
doubtless been well planted for that purpose.

Ned stopped every little while to examine the walls close by. He was
looking for signs of unusual wealth, because the company owning the mine
had declared in no uncertain way that even the sides of the passages
were rich, beyond all conception, in copper.

His examinations thus far did not justify such extravagant terms of
description. There were to be sure signs of the mineral in the rock, and
possibly in quantities that might have paid for mining under ordinary
conditions; but when the vast distance from civilization was taken into
consideration, there would be nothing in the business, unless ore at
least three times more sustaining were shown.

More and more was Ned coming to the conclusion that the affair was a
gigantic swindle, and that the company which Mr. Bosworth headed was in
for a grand plucking, unless warned in time. These men were playing for
high stakes, and squandering lots of money, fully expecting to recoup
themselves a dozen times.

The boys had been moving along in this leisurely fashion for possibly
five minutes, and so far nothing had occurred to break the monotony. Ned
had even begun to fancy that the inspection of the wonderful copper lode
was going to be an easy matter when, as they started to turn a bend in
the passage, he made a discovery that caused him to instantly press the
button of his hand electric light, causing darkness to instantly
surround them.

This gave them an opportunity for observing the movements of several men
who by the light of lanterns seemed to be busily working a short
distance ahead.

Even though the illumination did not seem very good, all of the scouts
could see that these were the trio of miners whom they had tracked from
the shore of the bay.

"Whatever are they doing, Ned?" whispered the irrepressible Jimmy,
apparently greatly perplexed by the strange actions of the men who,
unconscious of the fact that they were being watched, continued their
labors.

"They are hurrying to do just what I said they might," Ned replied, also
in the lowest of tones. "Perhaps the order