Page:Dave Porter in the Gold Fields.djvu/18

6 there may be more. Fact is, when I spoke to my dad about going out there, he shook his head and said I had better keep away—that the search ought to be conducted by experienced men who understood the lay of the land and all that."

"Oh, we could be careful," returned Dave, impulsively. The idea of going in search of the lost mine appealed to him strongly.

"Sure, we'd be careful," added Phil. "Aren't we always careful? All aboard for the Landslide Mine, say I! Come on, if you are going!" And he grinned broadly.

"Better wait until after lunch," returned the senator's son, dryly. "We might have something you'd like to eat, Phil."

"All right, just as you say." The other youth dropped back into a wicker chair. "Say, doesn't it just feel good to think that we have graduated from Oak Hall and don't have to go back?" he added, with a sigh of satisfaction.

"I'm glad I have graduated, but I am not so glad that I am not going back," answered Dave. "We had some good times at the Hall."

"So we did—dandy times!" cried Roger. "I tell you, I shall miss Oak Hall a great deal. I shall miss our friends and also our enemies."

"Speaking of enemies, I wonder what ever be came of old Job Haskers," said Phil.

"I don't know and I don't want to know,"