DETECTIVES 173-180

CHAPTER XXII--UNEXPECTED NEWS 180-187

CHAPTER XXIII--A MISADVENTURE 187-195

CHAPTER XXIV--BILL'S MISHAP 195-202

CHAPTER XXV--JOE'S INTERVIEW 203-210

CHAPTER XXVI--TURNING THE TABLES 210-217

CHAPTER XXVII--AN UNLOOKED-FOR DENIAL 217-224

CHAPTER XXVIII--OPINIONS 224-230

CHAPTER XXIX--A QUESTION OF TITLE 231-237

CHAPTER XXX--A SUIT AT LAW 237-244

CHAPTER XXXI--SKIP 244-253

CHAPTER XXXII--ACQUITTED 253-262

CHAPTER XXXIII--VICTORIOUS 262-269

CHAPTER XXXIV--THE NEW MINE 270-273

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

"Raise him up!" Skip shouted, and in another instant Fred was
suspended over the old shaft _Frontispiece_

Fred set off at full speed, and almost immediately a shout went
up from the rioters: "The sneaks are sending for help! Stop
that boy!" 74

"You four are to act as sentinels," said the superintendent. "Study
this map and you will hit upon a scheme" 95

"Please don't drag me off," Skip said, piteously. "I'll never hurt
you or anybody else again" 128

DOWN THE SLOPE

CHAPTER I

THE BREAKER BOY

"Jest moved here, eh?"

"Came last Friday."

"And you are going into the breaker?"

"Yes."

"For thirty-five cents a day?"

"That is all the company pays, and a green hand can't expect to get
more."

"Were you ever in a mine before?"

"I never even saw one."

"A trip down the slope will be enough to make you wish such a place in
which to earn a living never existed. Why don't you try something else
before it is too late?"

"What do you mean by 'too late'?"

"When a fellow is in debt to the company's store he can't afford to be
independent, and it is about the same as selling yourself outright for
enough to eat and drink."

"I won't get into debt."

"Wait a week, and see if you can say the same thing then."

"I mustn't get trusted. I'm the only one to whom mother can look for
support. We hadn't any money with which to go to the city, and so came
here. It isn't likely I shall be oblig