"I don't feel like givin' over the search so easy; s'pose we four have a reg'lar hunt in the morning?"
"Sam and I will go now," Fred said. "We shall feel better for a little exercise after being cooped up in the house so long."
"Very well. Take a turn at it this afternoon, an' if you don't succeed Joe an' I'll try to-night."
The boys set off without delay, but they were a long while reaching the slope, for every person on the street thought it necessary to congratulate them upon having escaped a terrible death, and at the breaker Donovan delayed the search by making minute inquiries as to the condition of affairs in the drift just prior to the accident.
"Any one would think from all these questions that you believed somebody was responsible for the trouble," Sam said with a laugh.
"P'rhaps I do. Billings an' Skip Miller disappeared on the same day, an' that looks suspicious to me, though Mr. Wright won't listen to anything of the kind."
"It's a big satisfaction to know they have left," Fred added, "and we have gotten rid of them cheaply. Do you know where they went?"
"Out of the village somewhere; Harvey saw them walking up the track."
"Then we can reckon that there'll be no more mischief done for a while. Come on, Fred, let's get down the slope."
The boys left the breaker without noticing that Chunky was trying to attract their attention, and were soon in the lower level making a systematic search.