ome back to see how the pickings are
these fine days."

When Jimmy showed this fighting disposition the others were generally
careful not to knock the chip off his shoulder. He had acquired habits
when living on the Bowery long ago as a bootblack that could not be
easily shaken off; though any one formerly acquainted with Jimmy would
never have recognized him nowadays.

"It would be worth coming all the way up here if we could run across
something like that, wouldn't it now?" remarked Jack, trying to look
sober. "Think of how we could take the breath away from the rest of the
troop at home, when we told them of meeting up with a lot of those old
huskies, we've all read about in history. Jimmy's been devouring one of
Clark Russell's stories, '_The Frozen Pirate_,' while on the train
coming through Canada, and that's what makes him think of that crowd.
But as we haven't any boats, and the smoke keeps on hanging miles away,
likely enough we won't get any chance to know what kind of men are
aboard those vessels out yonder."

"Besides," put in Ned, "we mustn't forget that we've got some serious
business on hand of a different character from looking up pirates. Land
sharks are enough for me to tackle just now. I'm wondering whether we'll
be lucky enough to find where this mine is located near here. Once we
get on the track of that and things are likely to warm up a bit."

"Then I reckon we'll just have to comb the whole country roundabout, so
as to learn what's what," suggested Jack, always a hard one to give up
anything on which he had set his mind.

"The sooner we begin that job the better," added Frank, anxious to be
doing something that would count.

That was the way with these energetic fellows. Whenever they had a
charge committed to their care, they were eager to get it moving. Ned
often had to hold them in check, for fear lest they show too much
ambition.

He looked around in the endeavor to decide which direction they had
better choose, in order to seek traces of the working which was marked
on the map so plainly. It was given such prominence that one might
easily believe he would find all manner of shafts, sunk, with machinery
throbbing busily, and scores of brawny miners hard at work, bringing out
the rich deposit of copper ore.

Ned, however, did not deceive himself into such a belief. He had had
some little experience with stories of this type, and knew the vast
difference between the reality and the wo