The men are either in the
tunnel or out of it. If they're in we don't dare set off the blast, and
if they're out they'll show up, sooner or later, for supper. I never
knew any of 'em to miss a meal."

"If such a thing were possible," said Walter Titus, "I would say that
our rivals had a hand in this, and had induced our men to bolt in order
to cripple our force. But we haven't seen any of Blakeson & Grinder's
emissaries about, and, if they were, how could they get the ten men out
of the tunnel without our Seeing them? It's impossible!"

"Well, what did happen then?" asked Tom.

"I'm inclined to think that the men came out and neither you, nor any
one else, saw them. They ran away for reasons of their own. We'll take
another look in the morning, and then set off the blast."

And this was done. There being no trace of the men in the tunnel it was
deemed safe to explode the charges. This was done, a great amount of
rock being loosened.

The laborers hung back when the orders were given to go in and clean
up. There were mutterings among them.

"What's the matter?" asked Job Titus.

"Them afraid," answered Serato. "Them say devil in tunnel eat um up! No
go in."

"They won't go in, eh?" cried Tim Sullivan. "Well, they will thot! If
there's a divil inside there's a worse one outside, an' thot's me! Git
in there now, ye black-livered spalapeens!" and catching up a big club
the Irishman made a rush for the hesitating laborers. With a howl they
rushed into the tunnel, and were soon loading rock into the dump cars.

Chapter XVI

On the Watch

The mystery of the disappearance of the ten men--for mystery it
was--remained, and as no side opening or passage could be found within
the tunnel, it came to be the generally accepted explanation that the
laborers had come out unobserved, and, for reasons of their own, had
run away.

This habit on the part of the Peruvian workers was not unusual. In
fact, the Titus brothers had to maintain a sort of permanent employment
agency in Lima to replace the deserters. But they were used to this.
The difference was that the Indians used to vanish from camp at night,
and invariably after pay-day.

"And that's the only reason I have a slight doubt that they walked out
of the tunnel," said Job Titus. "There was money due em."

"They never came out of the front entrance of the tunnel," said Tom.
"Of that I'm positive."

But there was no way of proving his assertion.

The thir