ago."

"What part of the world is he searching?" asked Will.

"He seems to think that the boys ran away because of some childish prank
put on by them the night before. They broke some windows in a couple of
shanties down by the tracks, or, at least, the other boys say they did,
and Joe thinks they ran away because of that. He accounts in that way
for their not calling after their pay envelopes."

"So he thinks they've gone out of the country, does he."

"Yes," was the reply. "He comes back here every few days to ask if I
have heard anything regarding the youngsters, and then goes away again.
If you leave it to me, I don't think the fellow is working very hard in
the case. There's a half a dozen saloons in a little dump of a place
about ten miles away, and my idea is that he puts in a good deal of his
time there."

"You don't seem to take to this detective?" asked George.

"Oh, I don't know as he's so much worse than the average private
detective," replied the caretaker. "He's out for his day's wages, and
the easier he can get them, the better it suits him.

"So you don't know who wants these boys, or what they're wanted for?"
asked Will. "Lawyer Burlingame never took you into his confidence so far
as to post you on the details of the case."

"He never did!" answered the caretaker.

"Is he liberal with his money?" asked George.

"He pays all the bills I send in," was the answer. "And seems to keep
this bum detective pretty well supplied with ten-dollar bills."

"We may have to investigate this investigator!" laughed Sandy.

"Did Mr. Horton say anything to you about your lodgings while here?"
asked the caretaker. "It's getting too cold here for me, and we may as
well be shifting to warmer quarters."

"You said a short time ago," Will began, "that you rather thought we
ought to begin this search in the mine itself."

"That's my idea!" answered the caretaker.

"Do you think the boys are hiding in the mine?"

"Well, there are some things connected with the case which point in that
direction," replied Canfield. "For instance, there's a lot of queer
things going on under ground."

"Ghosts?" demanded Tommy.

"You're not steering us up against a haunted mine, are you?" asked
George with a wink at his chum. "That would be too good to be true!"

"I haven't said anything about ghosts or haunted mines," chuckled the
caretaker. "I'm only saying that there are queer things taking place in
the mine. Now there's T