getting at, but I'm not quite certain. Go on, Will, it's up to you."

"In order to make the connection," laughed Will. "I will state for
the third time that we know that the boys are in the mine. It may
also be well to state, once more, that we are reasonably certain that
this other boy came to the mine for the specific purpose of
communicating with the other two. Now this boy didn't drop into the
river. He dropped the provisions he bought for the boat into the coal
mine, and left them there for the consumption of the two boys inside.
That's reasonable, isn't?"

"Fine deduction, as Sherlock Holmes would say to Watson!" laughed
George.

"But this third boy," Will went on, "doesn't go into the mine. He
stays outside to serve as a means of communication between the boys
who are hiding in the mine and some interested person or persons on
the outside. That's perfectly clear, isn't it?

"That'll do very well for a theory," replied George.

"I'll go you a plate of cookies," argued Sandy, "that Will is right,
and that this third boy is hanging around taking messages from the
two boys in the mine and also to the two boys in the mine."

"Didn't I say it was all right for a theory?" chuckled George.

"Now, the point is this," Will continued. "What are those boys in the
mine for? What do they want there? Why didn't they answer our Boy
Scout challenge when we replied to their call of the pack?"