"Half an hour of fast traveling should bring us to where you found the tunnel choked with coal, an' I don't reckon you count on tryin' to get any farther."
"We couldn't do it, no matter how much we might want to."
"Oh, yes; when the doors are opened that pile will come down mighty quick; but while it stays as it is the passage is blocked better than if a dozen men were on guard."
Another time of silence, during which the boys walked rapidly, and then Sam uttered an exclamation of surprise.
"Some one has been working here. Half the coal is pulled away, an' it won't be much of a job to get into the chamber."
"Who could have done it?"
"Perhaps Billings' gang worked a spell after the order to quit was given?"
"What could they have gained by reaching Joe again?"
"Taken him through the old drift to the shaft. But let's work our way over this pile, an' then start back before our oil gives out."
Ten minutes of sharp labor and the boys were in the chamber where Brace had been left to die, Sam throwing himself on the hard floor, as he said: