CHAPTER XXX.

A PERILOUS SITUATION.

Oliver Bright was never so taken aback as when he found himself and Gus Gregory in a deep pit in the Aurora mine, and in Colonel Mendix’s power.

The turn of affairs was so unexpected that for a moment he could not utter a word. The villainous colonel had found him out, and what the result would be no one could conjecture.

“American boys are not always so smart as they think themselves,” continued the Spaniard, as he seated himself upon the ledge above and looked down upon the two.

“What do you intend to do?” asked Oliver.

“That is my business,” was the cold answer. “First, however, I want to ask you a few questions.”

“Maybe we won’t answer them,” returned Gus sharply. He ached all over from the tumble he had had.

“You had better,” was the pointed reply. “Both of you are completely in my power; I hold your very lives in my hands.”

Oliver could not help but shudder. As for Gus, he gave a half-suppressed groan.

“First, I want to know who sent you out here?” went on Colonel Mendix. “Was it Arthur Bright?”

Oliver was silent.

“Did you hear my question?”

“I did.”

“And why didn’t you answer?”

“I shall say nothing until you help us out of this pit and conduct us back to your office,” was the boy’s determined reply.

“What! do you defy me?”

“I do. You have no right to treat us in this fashion.”

“Ha, ha! right! Might is right out here. You must answer my question.”

“And I refuse to do so.”

“Think well. I am not a man to be trifled with.”

“I don’t need to think it over. I shall not answer a single question till we are back in your office.”

“Then you will tell me everything?”

“Perhaps I will.”

“I would not trust you. I think I had better leave you here.”

“Leave us here!” cried Gus in terror.

“Exactly. Leave you here to the darkness and the rats.” Colonel Mendix gave a cold laugh. “Oh, I can tell you the rats are nice companions, especially when they crawl all over you and nip you in the legs.”

Gus gave a shiver. The idea of a rat attacking him!

“Perhaps _you_ would like to tell something,” went on the colonel.

“Don’t you do it,” put in Oliver.

“Not much,” replied Gus. “If you don’t say anything, you can depend upon it neither will I.”

“Come, what do you say?” went on the Spaniard impatiently.

“I refer you to my friend,” said Gus. “He is the only one to do the talking for this crowd. Your threats don’t frighten me for a cent,” he added boastfully, more to keep up his courage than aught else.

“And you would rather be left here to starve to death?”

Neither of the boys replied.

“Very well then,” said the colonel, rising; “I will leave you to yourselves for the night. Perhaps in the morning you will have a different story to tell.”

“You are going to leave us here?” asked Oliver.

“Yes; unless you tell all I want to know.”

“I will tell nothing.”

“Then good-night to you. There is no use trying to escape. Even if you manage to get up here again, I shall take pains to close the passage in such a way that you cannot get out.” And, with another loud laugh, Colonel Mendix took up his lantern and disappeared, leaving the two boys in total darkness.

“Crickety, but we are in a pretty mess and no mistake!” said Gus, as the last ray of light left them.

“You are right; but don’t let us despair,” returned Oliver. “I think I did what was right; but it is rough on you.”

“Don’t mind me,” said Gus. “I owe you a good deal. The question is, what is best to be done?”

“Listen!”

They did so. Far in the distance they could hear the echo of Colonel Mendix’s footsteps, and the moving of several stones, and then all became silent.

“Do you think he spoke the truth about the rats?” asked Gus with a shudder.

“I don’t know, Gus; there may be rats here. But he evidently wanted to frighten us all he could.”

“Ugh! it makes me shiver to think of them. I wish we had a light.”

“I have some matches. I will strike one and see what kind of a place this is.”

“Hold on till I tear some pages out of my note-book and make lighters out of them. We want to save our matches.”

“That’s so.”

Gus soon had the lighters made. Then Oliver struck a match, and they gazed about them.

The place into which the Spaniard had led them was a veritable pit, some thirty or forty feet in diameter. On all sides the walls rose to the height of twenty feet or more――steep walls, which caused Oliver to shake his head sadly as he gazed at them.

“Pretty tough job to climb them,” he said; “but perhaps it can be done.”

“It will _have_ to be done. You do not intend to stay down in this confounded hole?”

“Not a minute longer than I have to. Remember, Mr. Whyland will grow anxious if we do not return in a reasonable time.”

“Colonel Mendix puts me in mind of a snake. His eyes are so cold and calculating they make me shiver every time I look at them.”

“Now if we only had a lamp,” said Oliver.

“But we haven’t.”

“I wonder if we could get this piece of wood to burn,” went on the other, holding a stick he had picked up.

“You might, if you split up the end. Here, let me do it with my knife.”

As Gus spoke Oliver felt in his pocket for his knife.

“My knife is gone!” he exclaimed. “I left it in the colonel’s office when I fixed the sole of my boot.”

“Didn’t it have your name on?”

“Why, of course! I see it all now! Colonel Mendix had an easy job finding out who I was! What a fool I was to leave the knife lying there!”

“Never mind; it can’t be helped now, Olly, so let us make the best of it. Here, I have the stick ready.”

Gus handed back the stick. Oliver lit another match and applied it to the split end. It was rather damp, but at last caught fire.

“There! that is better than nothing!” declared the stout youth. “It is bad enough to be down here, without being in the dark. Now let us look around and see what the chances for escape are.”

Oliver did not reply. He was looking at a name that was cut on the stick. The name was JAMES BARR.