Mr. Scholfield and Mr. March and Billy all looked around, perplexed; but they could see nothing.
"Oh, tell us the secret, Guide," said Mr. March. "We are stupid: we can't find it out."
Then Nelly told them; and as soon as she pointed to the red stones they wondered very much that they had not noticed them before.
It seemed a very short way to the ravine, this time: Nelly had reached it before she thought of its being near.
"Why, here it is," she said; "I didn't think we were half way there."
Then she and Rob sat on the ground and watched the others. Rob was very quiet. He was a good deal overawed at the idea of a real silver mine all for their own.
"Do you suppose it's right here, right under our feet, Nell?" said he, stamping his foot on the ground.
"I dare say," said Nelly. "Perhaps it is all over round here: some of them are as big as a mile."
"I wonder if they'll let us go down as often as we want to," said Rob. "They'll have to, won't they, if it's our own mine?"
"That'll be for papa to say," answered Nelly, decidedly. "I've given it to him. It's his mine."