"I think it represents the top of a ridge," remarked Tom.

"This other work of art below the ridge-creek appears to me to be a
pine tree with a cross on one side of it."

"You are right, Skipper," said Jeems. "I got as far as that tree, but
that was my limit. I could not make any headway beyond that."

"It looks to me as if that design further down were a pathway with a
mill of some kind on one side and a cabin a little further down."

"Good head, Tommy," said Jim patronizingly. "But what are those stars
near the end of the line?"

"They represent a snow storm, I guess," said Jo.

"Oh, they do!" said Jim. "I suppose that is a hint it will be winter
before we find anything. But what do these numbers below the stars
mean? 400 -- + 1500 -- 30. Is that yards, feet, dollars, or
doughnuts?"

"Isn't that a cross marked before the 1500?" asked Tom the lynx-eyed.

"I guess you are right," said Jim, "but I don't see as it helps any."

"We might as well adjourn," remarked Jo, "we have got our plan, and we
can spend some time studying it out. We have had plenty of exercise
for one day and we can take our time to make a good camp."

"All right," agreed Jim. "To-morrow it's all hands to try to locate
the Lost Mine."

It was clear sailing now for a ways, at least so it seemed, but things
are rarely what they seem, and there was a certain party of men not
many miles distant whose business in that part of the country was to
locate the Frontier Boys, but of this they only had a dim suspicion
from the sight of the man of whom Juarez had caught a fleeting
glimpse.

It did not take the boys long to cover the ground between the cabin
and the place where they had left Juarez with the horses and mules. It
was a little over half a mile from the shelf where the cabin stood to
the group of pines where Juarez was. The upper half of the slope was
covered with tall tufted grass and scattered rocks. The lower part was
a long slide of sand.

"I'll beat you tenderfeet down," vaunted Jim.

"Let's get an even start and I'll show you," said Jo, who was in truth
a fleet runner. "Jeems will give us the send-off, as he is the only
one who has his revolver with him."

So they lined up on the level place in front of the cabin, while
Juarez, who felt that there was something in the wind, came out into
the open and watched the proceedings with interest. He saw that a race
was about to take place and he stood prepared to catch the winner.

"