Page:Dave Porter in the Gold Fields.djvu/295

Rh of the rocks and commenced to scoop the sand from the pocket with his hands. Out came an other nugget and then another, and then half a dozen, all about the size of hickory nuts. Then the pocket grew so deep and narrow he could not reach down into it. He took up the crowbar, and with it ascertained that the opening with the sand and nuggets was of unknown depth.

"It's the lost Landslide Mine!" said Dave to himself. "The lost mine beyond a doubt, and all this gold belongs to Mrs. Morr! Oh, won't Roger be glad when I tell him the glorious news!"

Gathering up the nuggets he had found, Dave placed them in his pocket to show to the others, and then started to leave the place.

As he did this, he heard a peculiar rumbling sound, coming from a distance. He stopped to listen, and the rumble grew louder and louder.

"What in the world can that be?" he asked himself. "Sounds like a train of cars rushing through a tunnel. I wonder Oh!"

Dave stopped short, and it is no wonder that a sudden chill passed over him. The very rocks on which he was standing had begun to quake. Then from overhead several stones fell, one so close that it brushed his shoulder.

"It's an earthquake, or another landslide!" he gasped. "I must get out of this, or I'll be buried alive!"