"It's a sure thing, isn't it?" Will asked, "that the boys we are in
search of are in the mine? We don't know what they're in there for.
They may be hiding there because of some fool notion they have in
their heads, or they may have been sent here for some definite
purpose."

"You bet they've been sent here for some definite purpose," George
replied. "They never came here to work on the breaker without having
some well-defined motive. Boys answering to their description don't
accept such jobs as they accepted here!"

"Well, the boys are in the mine," Will continued. "As stated, we
don't know what they're there for, but we know they're there. Now,
this third boy comes to the mine and works just long enough to get in
touch with the other two. Then he disappears."

"Buys a lot of provisions and goes down the river to leave his hat on
the bank!" laughed Tommy. "I guess that was a pretty poor imitation
of a suicide or a drowning accident, either!"

"But this boy didn't get to be intimate with the two breaker boys,"
contended George. "He talked with them about two minutes after the
fight, according to Canfield, but paid no further attention to them
after that. If he had any secret understanding with them, he must
have done a whole lot of talking in a mighty short space of time."

"The right kind of a boy can say a good deal in a minute and half!"
laughed Tommy. "But suppose we let Will go on and explanation us
about that boy tramp in the railroad yards. I think I know what he's