along there
was no telling what might have happened to you."

"That was a close call," said Jeems. "It was when you, Jim and Juarez
were off hunting, and the boys had gone fishing. They got back just
in the nick of time." Then he went solemnly to work to tell of the
thrilling escape he had had. At the climax of his narrative, Tom and
Jo burst into roars of laughter.

"What's the matter with you two guys?" inquired Jim. "I bet my hat
that you were at the bottom of this rascality."

The two admitted their guilt, and, after his surprise was over, Jeems
took it good-naturedly, while even Jim had to laugh, for it was
certainly a successful practical joke.

"Sometime," said Jim prophetically, "you two kittens will get caught
up with."

The boys had now ridden above the stunted trees that marked the limits
of timber line, but they did not cross over the barren, rocky summit
that rose above them for two thousand feet, covered with a broad
mantle of snow, but instead bore south through a deep gorge, that
threatened to close its rocky jaws upon them at every turn. But Jim
was too good a scout to lead them where they would be trapped.

Before noon they had made their way out of the gorge and were upon the
northwestern slope of the great mountain. Looking off, while they gave
their horses time to breathe, they saw a somewhat different looking
section of the range than that which they had been traveling through
the past day. From the height where they now stood the vast region
beneath them was made up of low mountains, extending onward like
recurring billows of the sea, hemmed in by peaks and higher mountains.

"Down there somewhere is the Lost Mine," said Jim, with a sweep of his
hand.

"Talk about a needle in a haystack," growled Tom, "this beats it."

"You talk as if you were sitting on the needle," declared Jim. "Try to
talk cheerful even if you do feel bad."

"It isn't quite as bad as it looks, Tom," said Jeems encouragingly.
"You see that mountain with the rocky hump on it. That mine, according
to my calculations from the chart we have, ought to be there or within
two miles of it."

"We will dig over every inch of that mountain," declared Tom, his
eyes shining with enthusiasm, for he dearly loved money.

"We don't want you to become a miser, Tom," said Jim judiciously, "so
I will appoint a committee to take care of your share."

"Eh?" cried Tom, his jaw dropping, then recovering, he yelled, "No
you won't, Jam