wasn't so very much driving force to the explosion. Another time
I could make the force even lower."

"Here's gold in this bit of rock!" cried Harry, turning, his eyes
sparkling.

"Yes; but not enough to look promising," replied Mr. Dunlop, after
examining the specimen. "But we'll look through the rest of the
stuff that's loose."

The two men who had hung back soon joined them.

"I wouldn't care about filing a claim to it," Mr. Dunlop, shaking
his head after some further exploration. "This rock wouldn't
yield enough to the ton to make the work profitable."

"Just a little, outcropping streak, possibly from the claim that
I have below," was Mr. Dunlop's conclusion "By the way, Reade,
how did you explode the mine?"

"With a magneto," Tom explained, then ran and took the battery
from behind the tree from which he had fired it. "I buried the
wire, of course, so that no one would trip over it," he added.
"Just after I got it attended to Alf Drew happened along, looked
forlorn, and wanted a job. So I had almost forgotten the mine,
until I realized that the thing was planted right in front of
where Dolph Gage's crew were hidden. By the way, Jim, where is
Alf?"

"All the information I've got wouldn't send you two feet in the right