Dave Porter in the Gold Fields Part 49

"Thank heaven, none of us were killed," added Roger.

"No more underground exploring for me," avowed Phil. "More than once I thought we would be buried alive!"

"That is what I was afraid would happen to me," said Dave, seriously.

"Yes, we can all thank heaven we are out of it."

"And now to hunt up Blower and Mr. Dillon," came from the senator's son.

"If only they are safe!" murmured Dave. For the time being those who had been on the mountainside below them were forgotten.

It was hard work to make their way from rock to rock. All the trails were gone, and they had to proceed with extreme care, for fear of dislodging some rock and rolling down into the valley with it.

"There they are!"

It was Dave who gave utterance to the cry, about half an hour later. He pointed to a distant spur, and there, sure enough, they beheld Abe Blower and Tom Dillon. The old miners had the horses with them.

"I wonder if they were hurt?" queried Phil.

"They seem to be all right," returned Roger. "I wish they would look this way."

"We'll have to signal to them," said Dave.

"How are you going to do it?" asked the s.h.i.+powner's son. "You can't call to them at such a distance. They wouldn't hear you."

"We can give 'em a pistol shot, Phil."

"Why, to be sure! How foolish I was, not to think of it!"

"I'll fire a shot," said Roger, and brought out his weapon.

To the first shot there was no reply, but when a second was discharged both Abe Blower and Tom Dillon were seen to turn around. Then the boys commenced to wave their hands vigorously.

"They see us!" exclaimed Dave, half a minute later. They saw the two old miners wave their hands in return, and Abe Blower discharged his pistol.

"See, they are doing some kind of signalling!" cried Phil, a little later.

All watched with interest. They saw that Abe Blower had taken up a long bit of brushwood and was waving it in a circle to the northwestward.

"They want us to come around in that direction!" said Roger. "Don't you think so, Dave?"

"That's the way it strikes me," was our hero's reply. "See, what is left of the trail is in that direction. But, my! how the whole face of the mountain is changed!"

"Not much trail left!" grumbled Phil. "If we are not careful we'll break our necks reaching them!"

"We'll have to take it slowly," answered Dave.

The three youths set out, and they were glad to see the two miners do the same. The men were on horseback, and the other steeds came behind them.

As the boys had surmised, progress was difficult, and often they had to halt, not knowing how to proceed. Here and there they could see a small portion of a trail, but for the most part the way was new and exceedingly rough.

"If they ever do any mining here they'll have to spend a lot of time first building a roadway," was Phil's comment.

"If the mining pays it won't take long to get a roadway--and bridges, too," answered Roger. "Money can do almost anything, you know."

"Oh, I know that."

"The main thing will be to guard against the landslides," said Dave, grimly. "But I guess they'll know how to do that, too."

On went the boys, over the rough rocks and across patches of freshly turned up dirt. All were utterly worn out, yet not one of them complained.

"There they are!" cried Dave, some time after noon, as they made a turn around some rocks; and in a few minutes the friends were together once more.

"All safe?" asked Abe Blower, anxiously, and then, when a.s.sured that no harm had come to the boys, he added: "Mighty glad to know it!"

"So am I glad!" put in Tom Dillon, heartily. "It was sure some landslide! Almost as bad as the one that wiped out the mine!"

"We've got good news!" cried Roger. "We have relocated the lost mine!

Dave did it!"

"You and Phil did it, too," said our hero, modestly.

"Wot! Have ye located the Landslide Mine?" roared Abe Blower.

"We sure have," returned Phil. "Look here!" And he brought out some of the nuggets he carried. And then Roger and Dave did the same.

"This is grand!" exclaimed Tom Dillon. "Nuggets, an' pretty big ones, too. But how do you know it's the mine?"

"We found some landmarks," answered Roger. "And my uncle's coat and a note-book----"

"And his pick, crowbar, and lantern," added Dave. And then the three boys told their story in detail.

"It must be the lost mine," said Abe Blower. "An' if it is, I congratulate ye!" And he shook hands all around. "Tom, they got ahead o'

us," he added, with a grin.

"So they did," was the answer. "Well, I'd rather have it that way than have those other fellers locate the mine. By the way, I wonder how they fared in the landslide?" the old miner continued.

"Three of them, Merwell, Haskers, and Blugg, were below me," answered Dave. "They were over yonder," and he pointed with his hand.

"Wot! Down on thet ledge?" cried Abe Blower.

"Yes."

"Humph! Then I reckon it's all up with 'em," went on the old miner.

"What do you mean?" asked Roger.

"I mean it's likely they was wiped out," was the reply. "When the fust quake an' slide came I was lookin' down towards thet ledge. I saw some heavy rocks go down, and a big ma.s.s o' dirt, too, an' the ledge was buried out o' sight. If they was down thar, it's more'n likely they was buried alive!"

"Oh, I'd hate to think that!" cried Dave, with a shudder.