And now Frank saw the mouth of a deep mining shaft before him.
Its ragged sides and the decayed beams showed that it had long been disused.
A chill of horror came over the young inventor.
“My God!” he reflected, “they mean to throw me down there.”
It seemed at that moment as if he was doomed to an awful death.
But the leader of the greasers, who seemed to read his mind, said:
“Fear not, senor. We shall not relieve you of life in so summary a manner.”
A rope was quickly wound about Frank’s waist and then about Barney.
Both men were led to the mouth of the shaft and then the other end of the rope thrown over the windlass.
Several men operated the windlass, and Frank and Barney were swung into space over the mouth of the shaft.