"Did you feel that?" cried Jed.
"I should say I did," answered Will. "A regular electric shock, that's what it was. Felt as if I had hold of the business-end of a battery."
There came another flash of lightning, a far-off one, for the forked tongues of it shot down behind a distant, towering peak, but the effect on the little party of gold-seekers was even more pronounced than before. Gabe fairly leaped into the air, in spite of his injured leg.
"Tarantulas and centipedes!" he cried. "Something's the matter!"
"We're on top of a natural electric battery!" shouted Ted Jordan.
"No, we're not, but it's almost as bad," spoke one of the men. "I know what it is."
"What then?" cried several.
"We're on a part of the mountain that's filled with iron ore. The electricity is attracted to it, and we're getting shocks from it. I was in a place like this once before, out in Australia, and a lot of natives were killed during a storm. The iron ore acts just like a live wire."
"Then we'd better get off," said Will. "I don't want to be electrified any more."
"Move's the word, and we can't be any too quick," spoke Gabe.