"I don't know. I merely asked."
"I am busy. I can't talk with you any more."
Joshua Burdoch, more puzzled than ever, walked slowly away. A hundred yards distant he met a man he knew, and asked if he had seen anything of Gerald.
"An hour or two ago I saw him with Mr. Hawk."
"Where were they?"
"Just going down into the mine."
"I'll warrant, there's some mischief here!" exclaimed Burdoch. "Hawk has been deceiving me."
"You didn't see the two come up again?"
"No; but I saw Hawk coming out of the mine alone."
This confirmed the suspicion of Burdoch, and he guessed the truth.