As he closed the door and hurried across the camp, Tom found the aroused miners flocking out. Several of them bore rifles, for they, too, had guessed treachery.
"Here's the boss!"
"What's happened, Mr. Reade?"
"Men," Tom called softly, "I don't know what's up. But don't talk loudly or excitedly, for Hazelton has been aroused by the noise and the shake, and I've tried to turn it off. Don't let him hear your voices."
"It was in the mine, sir, wasn't it?" asked one man, hurrying to Reade's side.
"It must have been, Hunter. Come along, all of you. We'll go over to the shaft and take a look."
Several of the men were carrying lighted lanterns. At the shaft one of the first evidences they discovered was the wires running back to the magneto.
"Trickery, here!" muttered one of the men. "Mr. Reade, shall we try to pick up a trail and follow it?"
"No," answered Tom, after a moment's thought. "It would be wasted time. Even if you pick up a trail on this frozen crust, which is hardly likely, you couldn't follow it except by lantern light. That would be slow work. Besides, it would show the rascals where you were and how fast you were moving. They could fire at you easily. No; let's have a look at the damage."
Looking down the shaft, with their rim light, from the top, all looked as usual about the shaft.