"No," Victor replied. "But it doesn't matter much what you take out of the ground—the problems are pretty much the same."

"Well," I explained, "we have to haul this guano quite a ways to the exit, and I think there must be a way to abolish all that trouble."

"Can't you sink a shaft right over where the guano is located?" he suggested.

Victor Queen J. H. Lockhart

"It might be a tough job to tunnel down," I mused.

"Just use a bit of dynamite," was Queen's solution.

"I've never used the stuff, and I sort of hesitate to experiment. What do you know about it?"

"Used it in Mexico quite a bit. Saves a lot of digging time, and there's no need for danger if a man knows what he's doing."

"Believe that might be our answer. How about joining us?"