“It’s the mine’s powder house,” said Sautee, wiping his wet forehead.
“Sure,” Rathburn rejoined, “that’s just what it is. I expect there’s enough powder in there to blow half this mountain off.”
He walked to the door and took out his gun as he examined the padlock.
“What are you going to do?” asked Sautee excitedly.
“I’m goin’ to blow the lock off,” said Rathburn coolly.
“Don’t do it!” cried Sautee. “There’s high-percentage dynamite in there and T N T caps that we use on road work––dozens of boxes of it. You might set it off!”
Rathburn looked at the quaking mine manager speculatively. “That’s right,” he said finally, turning aside to grin to himself. “I guess any little jar might start it workin’. It goes off easy, I’ve heard.”
“There are caps and detonators in there, too,” 156 said Sautee quickly. “You might shoot into them some way, you never can tell. Well, it would be as bad for you as for me.” He uttered the last sentence in a note of triumph.
Rathburn was looking at the far-flung view below. He turned a hard gaze on Sautee. “What difference do you suppose it would make to me if that stuff in there goes off?” he demanded in a harsh voice. “Look down there!”
Sautee looked and drew in his breath with a gasp.