Page:Dave Porter in the Gold Fields.djvu/245

Rh "It's down below the split in the rocks. Look!"

He held up his torch so they could look down into something of a sharp-edged basin of rocks. A dozen feet below they could see the water pouring from one hole in the rocks and disappearing farther on.

Nearly an hour had been spent in walking and crawling around the big cave. They had had several narrow escapes from pitfalls and were moving with caution.

"Maybe we had better go back," suggested Roger.

"I was thinkin' thet myself," answered Abe Blower. "Nothin' much in here, so far as I kin see. We might come back later an' have another look—if we don't discover thet lost mine else where," he added.

"You are sure this is the right district?" asked Dave.

"Oh, yes, the lost Landslide Mine can't be very far away," was the old miner's reply.

They turned back, heading, as they thought, for the opening by which they had entered. On and on they walked, occasionally slipping and sliding where the rocks sloped. Then they came to a spot where there was a wide crevice to cross.

"My gracious, did we jump over that when we came this way?" queried the senator's son, as all