forced itself upon the attention of the miners. The deeper they went
the scarcer became the indications of artemisium! In fact, such
deposits as were found were confined to fissures near the surface. But
Dr. Syx continued to report a surprising increase in the amount of
free metal in his mine, and this encouraged all who had not exhausted
their capital to push on their tunnels in the hope of finally striking
a vein. At length, however, the smaller operators gave up in despair,
until only one heavily capitalized company remained at work.



VI

A STRANGE DISCOVERY

"It is my belief that Dr. Max Syx is a deceiver."

The person who uttered this opinion was a young engineer, Andrew Hall,
who had charge of the operations of one of the mining companies which
were driving tunnels into the Grand Teton.

"What do you mean by that?" asked President Boon, who was the
principal backer of the enterprise.

"I mean," replied Hall, "that there is no free metal in this mountain,
and Dr. Syx knows there is none."

"But he is getting it himself from his mine," retorted President Boon.

"So he says, but who has seen it? No one is admitted into the Syx