Never a Babcock screamed more wisely. But for that scream Portia would have been unsaddled and but for Portia—a life might have been lost.
CHAPTER XX
ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL
The chief event of the day was to be the exploration of "Si Waterman's Folly." This occurred immediately after dinner.
Jim and Herbert, aided by Mr. Winters's strong arms, found small difficulty in removing the decayed plank covering which the old miner had placed above his narrow-mouthed shaft. This had once rolled easily enough upon deftly applied rollers and had been arranged to protect Mr. Waterman from detection when excavating, in search of that gold which he believed lay buried in south meadow. He was a secretive man who shared no secrets with his neighbors if he could help it, yet whose very idiosyncrasies betrayed them.
"Well, that's a good job done!" cried Seth, as the cover was pushed aside. "See there?"
He placed his heel upon the boards, which at once broke into fragments beneath his weight.
"Why, anybody might have stepped upon it and fallen through!" cried Dorothy, astonished.
"Yes. A good job to have prevented such an accident. But the hole, or shaft is—Hello, friend GHOST! Come out of that, if you please; all your neighbors have come to visit you and expect you to show the honors of your retreat!"