h came back
into them.

"We weren't too close," Scotty said finally. He gestured up the trail.
Rick looked, and saw a gaping hole some distance away. Beyond it, coming
toward them at as high a speed as the trail allowed, was Brad Connel in
his jeep.

The geologist stopped as he reached the hole, then swung off the trail
and plowed through some scrub and back onto it again. He drew up next to
the boys.

"So it was you who stole the dynamite!" the geologist said grimly. "What
happened? Did it explode while you were fooling around with it?"

The boys stared at him, dazed and openmouthed.

"You're crazy," Rick managed finally. "We didn't steal it, but we almost
got blown up in it. If Scotty hadn't seen the wire, we both would have
been blown to bits."

The geologist's eyes narrowed. "Do you mean to tell me someone tried to
blow you up? That's nonsense!"

"That's what happened, nonsense or not," Rick said curtly.

Scotty added, "And what were you doing here?"

"Came to get my wallet," the geologist answered readily. "I missed it
and figured I must have dropped it up here. It wasn't anywhere else I'd
been. Better get in and let me take you back. If you were close enough
to get nosebleeds you must be shaken up quite a bit."

"We're shaken," Rick agreed. "Our jeep is down at our shot station. We
decided to leave it there and take a hike."

They climbed into the back of Connel's jeep. The nosebleeds had stopped
now, but their faces were smeared with blood. Neither felt like talking,
nor, apparently, did Connel. He stopped at their third station and
asked, "Can you make it? Or do you want to ride back with me?"

"We can make it," Rick said. "Thanks for the lift."

"I'd better stay behind you to make sure," Connel stated.

The boys headed straight back to the hotel, Connel a hundred yards to
their rear. In the parking lot they thanked him again for the lift, then
hurried in to let warm water wash away the traces of their experience.

Later, stretched out on their beds, they talked it over.

"You saved our bacon," Rick stated. "But what really happened?"

"I'm not sure," Scotty replied. "There are two possibilities. One, we
sprung a booby trap. I don't really credit that one much, because we
were rolling away when the stuff let go. If we'd hit a trip wire or
something similar, the dynamite would have gone off right then. So,
second possibility, someone was waiting for us. We jumped back just as
he pushed the pl