"Rats must be thick in the mine!" suggested George.

"Rats nothing!" declared Will. "Those two youngsters are prowling about
in order to see what we are up to!"

As he spoke the boy arose, turned off the electric light and stepped out
into the passage.

CHAPTER XII

A MIDNIGHT ROBBER

There was a quick scamper of feet as Will stepped out, then silence!

"Where did he go?" asked George, joining his chum on the outside.

"Down the ladder!" replied Will.

"Why don't we go and see where he went?"

"That might be a good idea," Will replied. "Do you think it's safe for
us to try to navigate that shaft in the dark?"

"We can stick to the ladders, can't we?" asked George.

"We ought to find out where the kids hang out," Will argued. "I'd like
to get my hands on one of them!"

"I don't think we're likely to do that tonight," George answered. "It
seems to me that about the only way we can catch those fellows is to set
a bear trap. They seem to be rather slippery."

Will, clad only in pajamas and slippers, moved toward the shaft, and
looked down. It was dark and still below, and he turned back with a
little shudder. The situation was not at all to his liking.

"Well, are you going down?" asked George.

"Sure, I'm going down!" Will answered. "I'm only waiting to get up my
nerve! It looks pretty dreary down there. If we could use a light I
wouldn't mind, but it's pretty creepy going down that hole in the
darkness."

"Then suppose we wait until morning," suggested George.

Will leaned against the shaft timbers and laughed.

"It'll be just as dark in here in the morning, as it is now!" he said.
"I think we'd better go on down tonight and see if we can locate the
fellows."

The two boys passed swiftly down the ladder, paused a moment at the
second level, and then passed on to the third. The gangways leading out
from the shaft were reasonably dry now. Lower down the dip they were
still under a few inches of water.

"I don't see how we're going to discover anybody down in this blooming
old well!" George grumbled. "There might be a regiment of state troops
here and we wouldn't be able to see a single soldier!"

"We can't show a light, for all that!" declared Will. "We've just got to
wait and see if _they_ won't be kind enough to show a light."

"You guessed it," chuckled George, whispering softly in his chum's ear,
"there's a glimmer of light, now!"

"I see it!" Will replied.

The boys left the la