an inch or so of the loose material, the moment he
stepped upon it Joe's feet slipped from under him and falling on his
back he shot downward like an arrow.

I held my breath as I watched him, horribly scared lest he should go
flying down the whole remaining length of the slope and over the
precipice; but my suspense lasted only a few seconds, for presently a
great jet of snow flew into the air, in the midst of which Joe vanished.
The next moment, however, he appeared again, hooking the snow out of his
neck with his finger, and called out to me:

"All right, Phil! I fell into a hole where a tree came out. I'm going to
shovel out the snow now. Don't let go of that rope whatever you do."

So saying he set to work with the shovel, making the snow fly, while I
sat on the rocks a hundred feet above, watching him. In about a quarter
of an hour he looked up and called out to me:

"I've found it, Phil. Right in this hole. It's the hole our big tree
came out of, I believe. Can't tell how much of a vein, though, the
ground is frozen too hard. Bring down the pick, will you? Come down to
the end of the rope and throw it to me."

In response to this request, having first tied a knot in the end of the
rope and fixed it firmly in a crack in the rocks, I went carefully down
as far as it reached, when, with a back-handed fling, I sent the pick
sliding down to my partner.

"Don't you think I might venture down and help you, Joe?" I called out.

"No!" replied Joe with much emphasis. "You stay where you are, Phil. It
would be too risky. I can do the work by myself all right."

Still keeping my hold on the rope, therefore, I sat myself down on the
shale, while Joe, pick in hand, went to work again. Pretty soon he
straightened up and said:

"I've found the vein all right, Phil; I don't think there can be a doubt
of it. Good strong vein, too, I should say."

"How wide is it?" I asked.

"Can't tell how wide it is. I've found what I suppose to be the porphyry
hanging-wall, right here"--tapping the rock with his pick--"and I've
been trying to trench across the vein to find the foot-wall, but the
shale runs in on me faster than I can dig it out."

"What do you propose to do, then, Joe?"

"Try one of those other holes further along and see if I can't find the
vein again and get its direction. You sit still there, Phil. I shall
want you to give me a hand out of here soon."

With extreme caution he made his way along the line of stum