“'No.'
“'Do you know what has happened here?'
“'Well, I ain't blind nor deaf, you bet!'“was my reply, and then before I had a chance to dodge he brought the heavy handle of his bowie down upon my head.
“When I awoke I was in total darkness. My head ached and I felt weak. I groped around, and finally discovered that I was in an abandoned gallery of the mine.
“I crawled toward the outlet, only to find that it had been clogged with rocks since I was placed there.
“But I knew that mine better than the super. I knew another way out that had been forgotten by everybody else, and I used it.
“When I got out I made tracks for a new stamping ground, and brought up at Hellion City, where you found me.”
“And Gregory doesn't know that you're alive, eh?”
“No.”
“Good! We may utilize that fact a little later.”