u!"

"All right, let her go!" shouted Tommy.

"The pumps are working, and the water is lowering in the mine!"

"That's nice!" laughed Sandy.

"And we've found out what caused the sudden flooding," the caretaker
went on. "It seems that a partition, or wall, between the Labyrinth and
the Mixer mines unaccountably gave way. The Mixer mine has been flooded
for a long time and, as it lies above the level of the Labyrinth, the
water naturally flowed into our mine as soon as the wall was down."

"But what caused the partition to fall?" asked Will, opening the door
for the admission of the caretaker.

"No one knows!" was the answer.

"If you look about a little," Tommy suggested, "I think you'll find
traces of dynamite. Who discovered the break in the dividing wall?"

"A gang under the leadership of Ventner, the detective!" was the reply.

The caretaker was very much surprised and not a little annoyed at the
effect his answer had upon the four boys.

"I don't see anything humorous about that!" he said as the lads threw
themselves down on the bunks and roared with laughter.

"It looks funny to me!" Tommy replied. "If we had never showed up here,
the mine wouldn't have been flooded. As soon as we start away or promise
to leave the district, which amounts to the same thing, this cheap skate
of a detective finds the break, and all is well again!"

"Why, you don't think that he had anything to do with the trouble at the
mine, do you?" questioned the caretaker.

"Oh, of course not!" replied Sandy. "Ventner had nothing to do with
cutting the ladder! That fellow will land in state's prison if he keeps
on trying to murder boys by sawing ladder rungs!"

"I had forgotten that," said Canfield.

"Well, don't forget that this man Ventner is playing the chief villain's
role in this drama!" Tommy advised. "And another thing you mustn't
forget," the boy continued, "is that you're not to say a word to him
that will inform him that he is suspected."

"I think I can remember that!" replied the caretaker.

The boys prepared a hasty supper and then, suit cases in hand, started
for the little railway station. There they inquired about the arrival
and departure of trains, bought tickets, and made themselves as
conspicuous as possible about the depot.

"Keep your eye out for the third boy," George chuckled, as the lads
walked up and down the platform.

"Don't get excited about the third boy," Will replied. "We'll find him
when th