"Is he always doing that when you see him?", asked Tommy.
"You bet he is!" answered Dick.
"What's he doing it for?"
"You'll have to ask Elmer that."
"But you know, don't you?"
"Of course I know, but I'm not going to tell, cause we all agreed that the story should never be told by any member of our party until Elmer gets ready to tell it. So you see you've got to wait!"
"If I had my way about it," gritted Tommy, "I'd go back there and geezle that bum detective and wall him up in a chamber until he got hungry enough to tell the story himself. Then we wouldn't have to go sneaking around the mine in order to keep out of his way!"
"That would be a foolish move," insisted Dick, "because every stroke of the pick Ventner takes he helps us along in the game we're playing."
"You're the original little mystery boy, ain't you?" said Tommy rather crossly. "All right, I'll get even."
The detective now moved farther along the cross-cutting and attacked a column of mingled rock and coal which helped to support the roof.