directly on the front of old
Miller's hut, crushing in the gable and a portion of the front door, and
threatening the hut and its unfortunate occupant with immediate
destruction.

A deep groan and many terrible oaths burst from the boys, and then, with
one impulse, they rushed to the tree and attempted to move it; but it
lay at an angle of about forty-five degrees from the horizontal, its
roots heavy with dirt, on the ground in front of the door, and its top
high in the air.

The boys could only lift the lower portion; but should they do so, then
the hut would be entirely crushed by the full weight of the tree.

There was no window through which they could get Miller out, and there
was no knowing how long the frail hut could resist the weight of the
tree.

Suddenly a well-known voice was heard shouting;

"Keep your head level, Miller, old chap--we'll hev you out of that in no
time. Hurry up, somebody, and borrow the barkeeper's ropes. While I'm
cuttin', throw a rope over the top, and when she commences to go, haul
all together and suddenly, then 'twill clear the hut."

In an instant later the boys saw, by the bright moonlight, the captain,
bareheaded, barefooted, with open shirt, standing on the tree directly
over the crushed gable, and chopping with frantic rapidity.

"Hooray for cap'en!" shouted some one.

"Hooray!" replied the crowd, and a feeble "hooray"' was heard from
between the logs of old Miller's hut.

Two or three men came hurrying back with the ropes, and one of them was
dexterously thrown across a branch of the tree. Then the boys
distributed themselves along both ends of the rope.

"Easy!" screamed the captain. "Plenty of time. I'll give the word. When
I say, 'Now,' pull quick and all together. I won't be long."

And big chips flew in undiminished quantity, while a commendatory murmur
ran along both lines of men, and Whitey, the chief, knelt with his lips
to one of the chinks of the hut, and assured old Miller that he was
perfectly safe.

"Now!" shrieked the captain, suddenly.

In his excitement, he stepped toward the top instead of the root of the
tree; in an instant the top of the tree was snatched from the hut, but
it tossed the unfortunate captain into the air as easily as a sling
tosses a stone.

Every one rushed to the spot where he had fallen. They found him
senseless, and carried him to the saloon, where the candles were already
lighted. One of the miners, who had been a doctor,