ht, we will try to get outside quickly."

"Well, he's going to help us," volunteered Harry. "I'll see to that.
Just notice this big rock I am holding."

"Don't get excited, hoys," urged the stranger. "I'm doing everything I
can to get all of us out of this mess. Our troubles all came about
simply because of the fact that we were not 'Prepared.'"

"Then you believe in being prepared?" asked Jack.

"That's my motto--'Be Prepared'!" answered the stranger.

"That's our motto, also," put in Harry eagerly. "I wonder where you
got that motto. You don't talk like the United States."

"Huh! I should say not!" declared the other. "But I came from a place
that is every bit as good as the United States," he added.

"There's only one place that I know of," stated Ned emphatically, "that
answers that description. What part of Canada are you from?"

"Vancouver," was the ready response. "Do you know the place?"

"Well, we ought to. We put in some time in British Columbia chasing a
man who robbed the United States government."

"Good," declared the stranger. "My name is Gilmore--David Gilmore. I
belong to the Moose Patrol of Vancouver."

"Dave, for short, I suppose," put in Jack in a more friendly tone.

"To my friends--yes," answered David with a short laugh.

"Now, boys," began Ned, "if it's agreeable, I suggest--"

A shriek of agony cut short the suggestion Ned was about to make. By
common consent the boys drew closer together as the awful sound echoed
through the narrow confines of the low tunnel in which they were
imprisoned. All thoughts of introductions were driven instantly from
their minds, to be replaced by their desire to render aid.

"The searchlight, Dave," said Ned quickly, falling naturally into the
use of the shortened appellation. "Let's make haste."

A circle of flame from the searchlight in David's hand was his reply to
this request. It fell upon the damp, slimy walls of the tunnel,
illuminating a small space in their immediate neighborhood. The boy
swung the searchlight to a position where it would give them a view of
the area through which they had just come.

An appalling sight met their eyes. The explosion had wrecked the roof
and sides of the narrow space. Heaps of broken rock and other debris
choked the passage. Beneath one of the lumps projected the feet of a
man. Beyond that the boys could dimly see the forms of one or two
others. It seemed that several men had been unfo