ubtedly a good one, and we'll take a look at the country about
Nankin."

There was a crossing not more than six miles from the station where the
boys had taken the train, and they were all ready to jump when the
engineer slowed down and whistled his note of warning. It was quite
dark, although stars were showing in a sky plentifully scattered over
with clouds and, as the boys dropped down out of the illumination of the
windows as soon as they struck the ground, they were not seen to leave
the train by any of the passengers.

In a moment the train rushed on, leaving the four standing on the
roadbed looking disconsolately in the direction of the town.

"Now for a good long hike!" exclaimed Tommy.

"It's for your own good!" laughed Sandy.

"I can always tell when anything's for my own good," Tommy contended.

"You don't look it!" chuckled Sandy.

"When anything's for my own good," the boy continued, "it's always
disagreeable! It makes me think of a story I read once where the man
complained that everything he ever wanted in this world was either
expensive, indigestible or immoral."

"Well, get on the hike!" laughed George. "You can stand here and
moralize till the cows come home, and it won't move you half an inch in
the direction of the mine!"

"And look here," Will exclaimed as the boys started up the grade, "when
we get within sight of the lights of the station, we must scatter and
keep our traps closed! We can all make for the mine by different routes.
Ventner thinks we are out of town now, and the chances are that he'll be
plugging around trying to accomplish some purpose known only to himself.
For my part I don't believe he is employed on the same case we are! He's
working here for some outside parties!"

"That's the way it strikes me!" George agreed. "If the detective had
been honestly trying to assist us, the mine wouldn't have been flooded,
the pumps wouldn't have broken down, and the electric motors would have
been found in excellent working order."

"Did you notice the suit he had on when he stood talking with us at the
station?" asked Will. "That was a blue serge suit, wasn't it?"

"It surely was!" Tommy declared, quick to catch the point. "And there
was a tear down the front of it which looked as if it had been made by
the scraping of a saw! I guess if you'll match the shreds we found on
the saw with the breaks in that coat front you'll find where the saw got
in its work, all right!"

"And ther