"It must be a long one," Jimmie said. "Gee, but I was scared stiff when
I saw it burnin' right under where you all were!"
"How did the sneak who set the fuse on fire ever get down there?" wondered Jack.
"Must have been there all the time," Jimmie volunteered.
"But he didn't have the powder, or the dynamite, or whatever thing he figured on blowing us up with, in his pockets, did he?" asked Jack.
"I guess the old Chink down the road, the fellow who kept me talking at the gate, had something to do with storing the explosive there," Ned remarked. "I presume the plot was laid to blow us up the minute the effort to destroy us at the ruined temple failed."
"Merry little time we're having," Frank laughed. "Here, kid, where are you going?" he added, as Jimmie moved away.
"I'm goin' to see why that don't go bang!" answered the boy.
Ned tried to stop him, but the little fellow dodged away and disappeared around an angle of the house.
The boys waited in suspense for a moment, expecting every instant to witness the explosion, then Frank and Jack darted around the corner, in quest of Jimmie.
"Come back!" Ned called, but they paid no heed.