Page:Hendryx--Connie Morgan with the Mounted.djvu/217

Rh pital the three officers who had accomplished the rescue, closely examined the surviving members of the crew of the ill-fated June Altroff, Neither the captain nor the chief engineer could throw any light whatever upon the cause of the accident. The engineer affirmed that the steam pressure had been well within the safety limit, and the captain testified as to the recent overhauling and inspection of his boilers.

"She jest up and nachlly let go without no cause nor reason whatsumever," he concluded, and at the words a man in the adjoining cot, who had been frightfully scalded in the explosion, raised a bandaged hand and beckoned weakly to the officers. Connie and Dan McKeever bent over him.

"It's in my coat," he muttered thickly; "the thing that made the boat blow up."

"You mean a bomb?" cried McKeever.

"No—gold," muttered the man. "It's a nugget. One hundred an' four ounces, she weighs! An' she saps men's lives!" McKeever glanced significantly toward Connie who stood upon the other side of the cot. Interpreting the glance, the injured man continued, speaking with difficulty: "You think I'm out of my head, but I ain't.