214
Panning Gold on the Klondyke 215
Where Deserts Yield Millions 236
The Eater of Mountains 237
The Top of the Chilkoot Pass 260
Pass in the Sierra Nevadas 261
Hydraulicking in Colorado 300
America's "Gold-Ship" at Work 301

THE BOY WITH THE U S. MINERS

CHAPTER I

UNDERGROUND TERRORS

"Ay, lad," said the old miner, the pale flame of his cap-lamp lighting
up his wrinkled face and throwing a distorted shadow on the wall of
coal behind, "there's goin' to be a plenty of us killed soon."

"Likely enough, if they're all as careless as you," Clem retorted.

"Carelessness ain't got nothin' to do with it," the old man replied.
"The 'knockers' has got to be satisfied! There ain't been an accident
here for months. It'll come soon! The spirits o' the mine is gettin'
hungry for blood."

"Nonsense, Otto! The idea of an old-timer like you believing in
goblins and all that superstitious stuff!"

"It's easy enough for you to say 'nonsense,' Clem Swinton, an' to
make game o' men who were handlin' a coal pick when you was playin'
with a rattle, but that don't change the facts. Why, even Anton, here,
youngster that he is, knows better'n to deny the spirits below ground.
The knockers got your father, Anton, didn't they?"

Anton Rover, one of the youngest boys in the mine, to whom the old
miner had turned for affirmation, nodded his head in agreement. Like
many of his fellows, the lad was profoundly credulous.

From his Polish mother--herself the daughter of a Polish miner--Anton
had inherited a firm belief in demons, goblins, gnomes, trolls,
kobolds, knockers, and the various races of weird creatures with which
the Slavic and Teutonic peoples have dowered the world underground.
From his earliest childhood he had been familiar with tales of
subterranean terror, and he knew that his father had often foregone a
day's work and a day's pay rather than go down the mine-shaft if some
evil omen had occurred.

Yet Anton was willing to accept modern ideas, also. Clem was both his
protector and his chum, and the boy had a great respect for his older
comrade's knowledge and good sense. He was aware, too, that Clem
was unusually well informed, for the young fellow was a natural
student and was fitting h