"I have had my doubts, but how else could it have started?"
"I will answer that question by showing you that it could not have started from a wire spark. The fire started on the underside of the bag. Did you notice that?"
"No; it had spread over the bag when I caught sight of it. But I was reasonably certain there was more to it than we imagined when you asked Dominick if he met anyone in the level just before reaching the chutes."
Steve nodded reflectively.
"What do you infer from the fire starting on the under side of the dynamite bag?"
"That someone had either accidentally or by design shoved a candle under the bag while Dominick was carrying it. That is the only way I can see that the fire might have started."
"I think you are right about that. But it surely was an accident. No one would be willing to take such terrible chances. Why, it might have blown everyone up within a wide radius."
"Yes, it would have done so."
"And yet you were down on your knees, with your nose right over the stuff, as if it were so much clay. I have steady nerves myself, but I don't believe I should have had the pluck to do that. At least, I know I should have turned my head away."
Steve laughed.