"Say, how're we going to get up when the hole gets too deep?" asked
Ted. "We ought to have a ladder or something."
"There's a ladder in camp," answered Jan. "Grandpa had it when he put up our real rope swing. Don't you remember, Ted?"
"Yes, that's right. We'd better get it if we're going any deeper,
Hal," he added.
"Course we're going deeper. Gold mines are real deep. I guess the ladder would be a good thing."
"Then we'll go for it. Jan, you can come and get us something to eat, too. I'm awful hungry."
"So'm I," said Hal.
While Jan was in the tent-kitchen begging Nora for some cookies and sandwiches, Ted and Hal carried the small ladder, which was not very heavy, up to the big hole they had started. By putting one end of the ladder down inside, allowing it to slant up to the top of the hole, the children could easily get down in and climb up.
After they had eaten the things Jan got from Nora, they began digging again. The hole was soon so deep that the dirt which was shoveled and hoed away from the bottom and sides could no longer be tossed out by Ted and Jan.
"We've got to get a pail and hoist up the dirt," decided Hal. "That's what they do in gold mines. One of us must stay at the bottom and dig the dirt and fill the pail, and the other pull it up by a rope."
"We'll take turns," said Teddy.