"Well," replied Pete, without lifting his head, "I am glad I am not going up there."
"Are the ghosts so awful thick up there?" asked Julian, who felt his courage oozing out at the ends of his fingers.
"You know something about it—don't you? The ghosts are so thick up there that you can't go down in the mine to shovel a bucketful of dirt without scaring some of them up."
"Well, you will have to excuse me," said Mr. Fay. "I should like to see what those ghosts are, but my work calls me. You will take charge of the boys next spring, will you, Mr. Banta?"
"Sure I will; but they are plumb dunces if they try to work that mine. I will go with them as far as I can, and the balance of the way they will have to depend on themselves."
Mr. Fay said he believed they could do that, opened the door and went out, and Julian and Jack were left alone.
CHAPTER XVIII.
GRUB-STAKING.
"Sit down," said Banta, pushing chairs toward the two boys with his foot; "I want to talk to you about that mine. What loon has been so foolish as to grub-stake you?"
"Grub-stake us?" repeated Julian, for the words were quite new to him.