As the boy ceased speaking, a bumping, swishing sound was heard, and then footsteps sounded in the pit.
“There!” Jimmie exclaimed. “Some one has come down the rope! Now, who is it? One of the boys, Gilroy or a half-breed?”
CHAPTER XVII
A WONDERFUL DISCOVERY
Frank and Jack, when they left Harry near the entrance to the old channel, passed down the incline afterwards followed by their chum and presently came to the turn in the passage. Here they paused for a moment to take note of the situation, and then passed down another incline, much steeper than the other.
“The water must have been going some when it reached this point,” Frank suggested. “Put in one straight drop, these tunnels would make Niagara look like thirty cents.”
“I wish it had worn a little larger passage,” Jack complained, sourly, crawling head foremost into the narrow passage, his flashlight held in advance. “Wouldn’t it be fun seeing Gilroy trying to crowd through here,” he added. “You could hear him puff for a mile!”
This last steep incline brought the boys to quite a large chamber in the rock. Their lights showed glistening spots in the wall, and they naturally stepped to examine them.
“Gold!” shouted Jack in a moment.
“You bet it’s gold!” Frank declared. “I guess I know gold when I see it. Look at it all around us!”
“It is my firm belief,” Jack almost shouted, “that we have struck the mother lode! This is the spot where the gold that is washed out in the placers comes from. Don’t you think so?”