“Busted!” Clay called back. “Wrecked! smashed!”
“Then you’ll have to swim!” Alex decided. “And you’ll have to be quick about it, for there’s a lot of natives climbing up on that shelf who don’t look very good to me.”
CHAPTER XXI.—THE CLUE IN THE ROCKS.
Clay looked quickly about, but there was no one in sight. Alex, from the old mine dump, pointed downward, so the boy knew that the natives referred to were near the river and working upward.
“If they get up by that route they’ll be doing something,” Don remarked. “Never heard of any one doing it.”
“Well, there are people coming up, just the same,” Clay went on.
“Then they’re coming up to look up the mine!” Don declared. “There’s probably been a lot of talk about the mine lately, and the people of the county are all stirred up over it!”
“They haven’t got anything on us,” Clay grinned. “We saw it first!”
“You’re right about that, but here’s the bunch coming! Hear their voices? Suppose we duck out of sight? Can we get back into the mine?”
“I can,” replied Clay, and in a minute the shelf where the boys had stood was empty.