The boy was satisfied that neither Toombs nor any of the half-breeds possessed any information concerning the hidden mime. According to Norman’s story, only the Hoola Indians knew about the wonderful deposit which the boys had blundered upon during their trip to the underground passage. His thought now was that the Indian with Toombs might be leading that individual to the treasure.
Wishing earnestly that he had not started on such a mission alone, the boy followed on until the two stopped at the very verge of the Devil’s Punch Bowl. By this time Jimmie was completely exhausted. He had been on his feet all night, laboring under great excitement, and had had only a short bit of rest after breakfast. He was, therefore, more than glad when Toombs and the Indian paused at the Devil’s Punch Bowl and threw themselves on the ground.
Lying behind a boulder, the boy saw the Indian pointing down into the pit, and it seemed to him that he was directing the attention of his companion to the old channel where he, Jimmie, had met with such exciting adventures.
“It’s dollars to doughnuts,” the boy mused, “that that’s Sigma, the Indian, Norman referred to. If it is, he’s showing Toombs where the gold mine is. That’s just our luck, anyway!”
Foot by foot the boy passed from one rock to another until he came within sound of the men’s voices. He could not understand what the Indian was saying, but Toombs seemed to be able to grasp the meaning of the uncouth words used.
“And you say there are tons of gold under there?” the boy heard Toombs ask. “Is there any way of getting at it at once?”
Jimmie saw Sigma nod his head vigorously.
“Can you understand exactly what I say?” Toombs asked in a moment.
Sigma nodded again, and the Wall street man went on:
“What we want to do right now,” he said, “is to get the gold out without any publicity whatever. Do you understand that?”