For some distance they walked in this fashion, then Natachee stopped, and the white man heard him strike a match. A moment later his blindfold was removed.
“Your candle,” said Natachee sharply, and lighted it from the one he himself held.
The white man gazed curiously about him.
“Look!” cried the Indian. “Look and say if I, Natachee, lied when I told you of the gold that is so near the place where you work—if only you knew where to find it.”
Natachee the Indian had not lied. Thousands upon thousands of dollars in golden value lay within the circle of the candlelight.
Hugh Edwards stood amazed. He could not know the full extent of the vein, but a fortune of staggering proportions was within sight. The farther end of the chamber was an irregular mass of rocks and earth that had quite evidently fallen and slid from above; but the remaining walls and ceiling were as obviously cut by human hands.
The white man looked at his companion inquiringly.
“An old mine?”
The Indian, with an air of triumph, answered:
“The Mine with the Iron Door.”