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Page 13
"What makes you think it's Ventner?" asked the caretaker. "Did you
see his face? I don't think he is here."
"I didn't see his face," answered Will, "but I saw the shape of his
shoulders and the hang-dog look of him."
"You're prejudiced against Ventner," laughed Canfield.
"I admit it!" replied Will. "He looks to me like snake in the grass.
I don't think anything he could do would look good to me."
"Now," Canfield said, "perhaps we'd better be mapping out a plan of
campaign. There are three gangways leading in three different
directions. We'll leave one of the lights burning at the shaft, then
we'll each take a light and proceed into the interior, making as much
noise as we conveniently can, and flashing the light into all the
chambers and cross headings we come to."
"How long are these gangways?" asked Will.
"Somewhere near a half a mile straight ahead," was the answer.
The caretaker went away swinging his electric searchlight, and Will
and George pushed forward in their respective passages.
After proceeding a short distance, George heard Will calling to him.
"There's some one just ahead of me in the gangway!" Will declared. "I
think we ought to go together!"
"Do you think it's that bum detective?" asked George.
"I certainly do!"
"Well, we can go together if you like," George said. "We can't cover
quite as much ground in that way, but I guess we can accomplish more
in the long run!"
The boys had proceeded only a short distance when they heard Canfield
calling to them. A moment later they heard the caretaker's steps
ringing on the hard floor of the gangway down which they were
advancing. He came up to them, panting, in a moment.
"There's something mighty queer about this mine," the caretaker
declared. "It was punk dry only two days ago, and now there are four
or five feet of water where the gangway I started to follow dips down.
"And look there!" Will exclaimed holding his light aloft and pointing,
"you can see plenty of water ahead! I guess all the gangways are
taking a washing, and the water seems to be rising, too!"
"Is there any way by which the mine could be intentionally flooded?"
asked George. "There may be some one planning trouble for the
owners."
"There is only one way that I know of in which the mine could be
flooded intentionally," replied the caretaker. "There is a large
drain, of course, in what is known as the sump. Considerable water
runs off in that way, and the rest of the drippings are taken out by
the pumps. If this sump drainage could become clogged, the mine, of
course, would become flooded though not to such an extent, unless the
pumps were kept constantly at work."
"Then I guess you'd better set the pumps going," Will suggested. "We
can't get into the mine in its present condition unless we swim."
"Haven't you got a boat?" asked George.
"Why, yes," replied the caretaker. "There's a couple of boats
somewhere in the mine. The operators placed them here thinking they
might come in handy at some future time, but I haven't any idea where
they are now. Still, I think they're not far away."
"If you'll go and set the pumps in motion," Will advised, "George and
I'll look around for the boats. We may need them before the pumps get
under motion the way the water is pouring in now."
"I guess Tommy and Sandy don't come back because they're penned in by
water," George suggested, as the boys began searching the vicinity of
the shaft for the boats.
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