"Oh, we'll be on the job," declared Tom heartily. "With that gold so near to hand it'll be all we can do to keep from dreaming about it all night."
"Well, you did a hard day's work to-day," observed Ingalls; "if you keep that up we'll have no cause for complaint."
The boys noticed that the sleeping place assigned to them was in the rear of the cavern. The significance of this did not escape them. The men were seemingly no longer suspicious of them, but they were taking no chances. Before they retired, Stapleton and Ingalls took a survey from the door of the cave with their spyglass. While they were doing this, Rufus passed swiftly by the boys and dropped a whispered message.
"Yo' mus' try it to-night when I am in de watch. Ah'll be lookin' for yo'."
As he spoke the two men came back into the cavern and began to dispose their sleeping things. While Stapleton took his place on watch, Ingalls and Rufus laid down and were soon off into slumberland. Strange to say the boys, too, slept although their feelings were wrought up almost to the snapping point. They did not wake till they heard Ingalls arousing Rufus with a kick.
"Get up you lazy, black roustabout. It's time to go on watch."
"Wha's de mattah?" yawned out Rufus sleepily.
"Hush! Don't make so much noise. You'll wake the boys."
"Sho'! who cares fo' dem? Why don' dey go watch same as de res' ob us? Wha fo' dey lowed ter sleep sixty-leben weeks while we alls don' git no sleep at all?"