locate the Landslide Mine!" laughed Roger. "I think it is going to be
hard work--and we may not get a trace of it."

"Did you bring those papers and that map?" questioned Dave.

"I did."

"Let us go over them now," cried Phil. But this was not to be, for there
were other things to attend to just then, and the girls demanded a good
share of the boys' attention.

The following morning found the three youths in a summer-house attached
to the Wadsworth estate. This was located down near a tiny brook and was
overgrown with vines and bushes. It was a cozy retreat, especially on
such a hot day in July, and the boys proceeded to make themselves at
home by throwing off their coats and caps.

"Now let us get down to business on this thing," said Dave; whereupon
the senator's son brought forth his papers, and the map of the mining
district wherein the Landslide Mine was supposed to be located.

"That lost mine is supposed to be somewhere along this old trail," said
Roger, pointing with his finger. "This trail is known as the Rodman
Trail, because a fellow named Billy Rodman discovered it. As near as I
can make out, the papers say the mine was on this Rodman Trail, half a
mile north of Stony Cut and to the west of the Four Rocks."

"Huh! That ought to be dead easy to locate," was Phil's comment. "All we
have to do is to walk along the trail half a mile beyond Stony Cut and
then to the west of the Four Rocks,--and there you are."

"Exactly, except for two things," replied Roger. "The landslide wiped
out Stony Cut and the Four Rocks, too."

"Oh!"

"But some one must have some idea where Stony Cut was located," said
Dave.

"My idea is to hunt up that old miner, Abe Blower, and see if he can't
locate Stony Cut for us, even approximately, and tell us something about
Four Rocks--how it used to look before the great landslide. Then, after
we've got that information, we'll start on the hunt."

"Do you think we'll find Abe Blower in Butte, Montana?" asked Phil.

"More than likely. He was there some time ago, mother heard. He and
Uncle Maurice used to be great chums."

"And are you sure the mine is valuable?" queried Phil, after a pause.

"It must be, otherwise my uncle wouldn't have been so anxious about it."

Again the boys went over the papers and also the map, talking the
proposed trip over from various points of view. They all agreed that
locating the lost mine would be no easy task.

"Supposing somebody else locate