When they reached the starting-point and separated, Ranny and his bunch lost no time in heading for the old foundation. A little digging opened up what seemed to have been the main entrance to the building, but, search as they might, they failed to find anything that in the least resembled a road or path or tramway leading to the mine entrance. Evidently the means by which ore was formerly brought to the smelter had been obliterated by the passing years, and it looked as if they would have to proceed from this point more or less at random.
“It can’t be so very far off,” said Ranny, as they lined up before him. “We’d better take the hillside first, and remember to look over every foot of ground. The entrance may have been covered by a fall of rock, so we can’t count on finding it open. Keep about the same distance apart as you were the other day, and whistle if you strike anything promising.”
They set off promptly, Dale Tompkins as before being about the middle of the line, with Court Parker on his right. The thick undergrowth and the rocks piled up in confusion made progress necessarily slow and prevented him from seeing very far in any direction. But every now and then the rustling of bushes or the cracking of dead twigs under foot on either side told Dale that he was keeping on the right course.
For over an hour he searched systematically, zigzagging back and forth along his beat and examining the ground carefully. The slope grew steeper, and at length he paused to wipe the perspiration from his forehead. The sound of foot-falls on his right was plainly audible, and through the undergrowth he glimpsed a khaki-clad figure.
“Say, Court,” he called, raising his voice slightly, “found anything yet?”
“It’s not Court,” came back in Frank Sanson’s familiar tones. “What the dickens are you doing so far over, Tommy? Did you change places?”
“Why, no!” Dale’s voice was puzzled; instinctively he moved toward the other boy. “I’ve been keeping right along the way I started,” he went on, as they came face to face. “Court was on this side then.”
“Sure! He was on my left. I haven’t seen him for half an hour or more, but I kept hearing him every now and then. You don’t suppose he could have strayed over behind you and to the other side?”
“I don’t see how. I’d have heard him, wouldn’t I?”
For a moment or so the two boys stood looking at one another in a puzzled fashion. “It’s funny,” Sanson said at length. “He wouldn’t have gone back, either. If he found something, he’d have whistled. Let’s call and see if he’s over the other way.”