his is the true story of that
man's life! If I had a dollar for every time he doesn't know anything,
I'd be the richest boy in the world!"

"Are you thinking of going down the mine tonight?" asked George, with a
wink at Will. "We might try another midnight excursion."

"If you kids go into the mine tonight," declared Will, "I'll send you
both back to Chicago on the first train!"

"Aw, how are you going to find these boys if you don't go into the
mine?" demanded Tommy. "I suppose you'll want us to wait till daylight
when the owners will be looking around to see if any damage was done by
the inundation. The best time is at night!"

"Look here," Will argued, "we've got to do more than lay hands on the
boys! We've got to find out why they are hiding in the mine."

"That's the correct word," agreed George. "Hiding is the word that
expresses the situation exactly!"

"There is no doubt," Will continued, "that the boys were sent here by
some one for some specific purpose. They are hiding in the mine with a
well-defined motive. I have an idea that we might be able to find them
in twenty-four hours, but what is more important, is to find out what
they are up to."

"Well, in order to get the whole story, we'll have to pretend that we
are looking for them and can't find them!" George said.

"That's right!" laughed Tommy. "Give them plenty of rope and they'll
hang themselves. We may as well have the whole story while we're at it."

Before preparing their beds for the night, the boys paid a visit to the
shaft and made their way down to the rungs which had been cut. They
found that they had been replaced by new ones.

There was still water in the lower levels of the mine, but it was slowly
disappearing through the sump, and the indications were that it would be
dry by morning. The boys listened intently for some evidence of
occupancy as they moved up and down the shaft, but all was still.

"This would be a good place to tell a ghost story," Tommy chuckled as
they moved back to their room on the first level.

"There's about a million stories now, entitled The Ghost of the Mine!"
declared Sandy. "Perhaps however," he went on, "one more wouldn't hurt."

"If I see a ghost tonight," declared Tommy, "it'll be in my dreams!"

Sandy and Tommy were sound asleep on their cots as soon as supper was
over, and Will and George were getting ready to retire when the soft
patter of a light footstep sounded in the vicinity of the shaft.