“It means everything to you, but you have the wrong slant. Unless I’m mistaken, this mine would never pay well enough to interest a company. Old Stony gathered some rich ore, it’s true. He died without knowing that the vein wasn’t extensive.”
“You’re wasting your breath,” Walz retorted. “Talk till you’re blue in the face. It won’t move me. I have my samples of gold, and I’m hitting the trail!”
There was no answer. The two prisoners realized that he had carried out his threat and left. They were indeed trapped in the mine.
“Hap and Ken will start searching any minute now,” Jack said, trying to remain cheerful. “If they come this way, they may see that pile of rock.”
“And again they may not,” Warner grunted. “We may never be found until it’s too late. Walz is a blackguard, if I ever met one! Like as not, even after he’s filed his claim he won’t send anyone.”
“There’s always Joe Hansart. He’ll be coming back.”
“Yeah,” Warner agreed, “our best hope probably lies with him. But the old coot may stay away for days. Meanwhile, we can get pretty fed up in this hole.”
The two sat down, their backs to the rough wall. Jack’s clothing had only partially dried after his ducking in the lake, so he was damp and uncomfortable.
“We’ve got to get out of here,” Warner said determinedly. “You’ll get pneumonia, if we don’t.”
“The tunnel ended against a blank wall. I checked that.”
“If Walz could push that stone into place alone, the two of us ought to be able to shove it away.”
“We’re pushing against gravity, Jack. He rolled it down the incline. Besides, once he got it into place, he piled on other rocks and debris. We’re caught like two animals in a cage.”
Suddenly Jack straightened as a thought occurred to him.
“That dynamite!” he suggested. “Any chance we could blast our way out of here?”
“Maybe we could!” the rancher exclaimed. “It would be risky business, though. Old dynamite, especially, is dangerous to handle.”
“Sure,” Warner grinned, “providing we aren’t both blown to bits before we set it off. But I’m willing to try. Anything’s better than just waiting in this hole.”
The rancher would not allow Jack to go near the stored boxes. He insisted, “You go and take refuge in the far end of the tunnel.”