yond.

CHAPTER VII

INVESTIGATING THE PROSPECTOR'S HOLE

The knowledge that some marine animal inhabited the cave was now a
constant topic, particularly with George, who was determined, sooner or
later, to find out something more about it. With this end in view he
made secret preparations, particularly in constructing a lamp which
would not be liable to overturn or be put out by wind or in falling.

Thus far the only light available was obtained from candles made from
the fat of the animals, and it was not the kind of illuminating material
they had been used to. When people knew nothing better than tallow
candles, that light was satisfactory, but when petroleum was once used
tallow candles were entirely unsuitable and too primitive.

The statement by the Professor that the hole into which George fell,
some months before, contained asphaltum, hinted at a possible source of
petroleum, and through the persistent efforts of George, the Professor
agreed to accompany him to the place to make an investigation.

The yaks were yoked, and a good luncheon put up, prepared for a day's
jaunt, the trip being planned for the day of the week which had been set
apart for exploration purposes. Within an hour the team was tethered at
the spot where Harry and George put up the team when they started out on
their former tour of investigation.

"Now, George, we shall have to depend on you to lead the way."

"When I left Harry we were on the little hill beyond that clump of
bushes."

"We must have been much farther away," was Harry's opinion.

"Let us go over at any rate, and we can probably get our bearings from
there."

The spot pointed out was just as much a mystery after reaching it as
before. It was suggested that, as neither knew how to determine the
direction of the "hole" from that point, time might be saved by each
taking a different direction, with the understanding that if anything
was discovered a shot should be fired as a signal.

After carefully noting the two large trees where the team was located,
they separated, Harry going to the north, George to the northwest and
the Professor directly west. The ridge on which they were ran north and
south, and to the west was a decline. It was considerably south of the
trail taken on their former trips, so it was really undiscovered
territory.

The Professor passed down the long incline, carefully noting every set
of bush, such as George declared he had passed throu