"Wait till we get it before you start hollering," said Masterson gruffly.
"What time will we start over?" asked Sam.
"About midnight. It will be plenty of time."
"But how are we going to locate it?" objected Eph.
"We can see where they've been digging, can't we?" said Bill Masterson, "or if they haven't started yet, we can hang around and watch till they do."
The three worthies sat under a rock not far from where the boys were and talked. It appeared that Bill Masterson had read up on mining and claim law and knew that the boys could not order them off the island. They had a right to take all of the mineral-bearing earth that they could.
Suddenly, however, their talk stopped.
"What are you doing, Eph?" demanded Sam indignantly.
"Nothing. What do you mean?" asked Eph in an astonished voice.
"You threw a rock at me."