CHAPTER XIV

LAYING THE TRAP

Steve Rush and his companion had held a long consultation over the events of the past few days. They had decided that it would be well to watch both Spooner and Marvin. Bob had overheard a conversation, or rather a few words, between the two men that warned him they were plotting mischief.

"What can they do?" asked Steve.

"If we knew, we should have no cause to worry," answered Bob.

"It is my opinion that they will put up some sort of job to waylay us outside one of these nights. Well, we shall be ready for them. Forewarned is forearmed, you know. If they try any such trick they'll find we are pretty well able to take care of ourselves, even if we are 'weak kids,'" said Rush, with a smile.

A number of weeks passed without incident. During that time Spooner and Marvin made good their stealings. They were then called to the office and both men were discharged. This occurred at the noon hour. They were told to go back to the mine, get their tools and clear out. When the men did return Steve and Bob Jarvis were eating their lunch up in the Spooner drift.

"There are the cubs now," whispered Marvin, pointing to the end of the drift. "It's our chance."

"Is it safe?"

"As safe as it ever will be. If you haven't got the nerve to do it, I'll do it myself."

"I've got the nerve, all right, but I don't propose to put my neck in a halter. I'd rather come back at some other time and carry the thing through."

"Getting cold feet already?" jeered Marvin.

"Don't you talk to me like that, or I'll pound you right here and now. Nobody ever accused Bob Spooner of having cold feet without getting hurt."

"You talk like it. But never mind; I'll do it. I owe him one and I owe the mine more than one. They'll have something to settle and it'll cost them a pretty penny, I reckon. It's now or never, for you and me. We'll never get a better opportunity. How do you suppose we are going to get in here after we leave to-day? Why, they wouldn't let us inside the cage after the orders the big boss will give them at the top of the shaft."

"Stop it! I'll do the trick. Where are the tools, though? I haven't a saw in my kit."

"I know where there is one. I sneaked it from the boss timber-man yesterday after we had our talk. I hid it behind the lagging about half way down the drift there. Come with me; I'll get it for you."

"Be careful," warned Spooner, peering around a bend in the drift at the two boys in the far end. From that distance he could see only their bobbing candles. "All clear. Hurry!"

Marvin reached to the top of the lagging at a certain point, and when his hand came away it held a saw.

"Here it is. Hurry, now!"

Spooner tucked the saw under his coat. This done, he moved along the drift away from the place where the boys were sitting, until he came to a slanting partition.

"There is a ladder inside. You know how to climb down it," whispered Marvin, as he cautiously opened a door in the partition. The interior was so dark that the men could see nothing. There was a sudden rush and some unseen object tore by them in the blackness. It was an ore skip, with its load of iron ore thundering to the surface. Its force was so great as to extinguish the candles of the two miners. Marvin quickly relighted them.

"Now get in and be lively. You will have to get away before the afternoon shift starts in, or you may get something down on your head."

"You go down and stay on guard. If there is any danger, if anything turns up, stamp three times on the floor when there is no skip going by. Otherwise I shall not hear it."

"I'm wise. Good luck! We can't lose this time and we'll be even with the whole bunch for all time."

Spooner stepped inside the dark chamber, pulling the door cautiously shut after him. His long service in iron mines had given him an excellent knowledge of every foot of the mine he was then working in, and though in deep darkness, he was not at all uncertain in his movements.

The contractor was now in the large shaft through which the ore skips ran with their cargoes to the top of the shaft, where they emptied the ore into waiting trams which ran out over a trestle and dumped it on the pile where Steve Rush had begun his work when he first came to the Cousin Jack Mine. It was a dangerous place for one who was not wholly sure of himself, but Spooner descended the ladder confidently, making his way to the bottom, then down a short ladder to a platform that was directly beneath that on which the tally-man and the dumper in level seventeen stood when at their work.

Reaching this platform, the contractor removed his candle from his hat, making a careful examination of his surroundings. His attention finally centred on a section of the flooring above. That particular part was held up by a post some three feet in length, the latter being supported by a two-inch plank laid across two other posts that protruded up through the floor of the lower platform.

"I wish those skips would get busy," muttered Spooner. "They'll hear the saw above there if I am not careful." Then it occurred to him that, it being the noon hour, the skips were not running regularly. With an exclamation of disappointment, the man stepped up to the main post and ran his hands over the plank that supported it.

"I guess this will be about the right spot," he decided, placing his saw about midway on the right-hand side of the post. Spooner took off his blouse, throwing this over the saw to deaden the sound. Then, holding a corner of the coat up by one hand that he might see what he was doing, he began drawing the saw rapidly across the plank. The latter being hard wood, his efforts were not productive of immediate results. But the saw slowly ate its way into the tough timber until at last the man withdrew it, and, holding his candle low, examined the cut he had made.

"I think that will be enough for this side. I'll open up the other side a little," he muttered.

Spooner had just begun to saw when a sound somewhere above him caused the man quickly to extinguish his candle. He stood still and listened.

"What's this door doing unlatched?" demanded a voice, which the fellow recognized as belonging to the mine captain.

Spooner did not catch the reply.

"Somebody will be tumbling into the shaft, first thing you know, and then we shall have damages to pay."

"I reckon you'll have some to pay as it is," muttered the man below. "I hope this costs you a million!"

The door through which Spooner had entered the shaft was closed with a bang and he heard no more of the voice above him.

"I've got to look sharp or I'll be caught. I haven't had a signal from Marvin yet, so everything must be clear above us."

Once more the steady rasp of the saw began on the other side of the post, and a few minutes later the contractor used his candle to examine his work.

"I guess that will do the business," he chuckled. "And now I must be getting out of here lively."

Instead of taking the saw with him, the fellow tossed it over to one side, then began climbing the ladder. Very soon he was at the door opening on to the sub-level where his contract had been located. Spooner opened it ever so little and listened. He could hear subdued voices. He opened the door a little wider, and, as he did so, Steve Rush and Bob Jarvis sauntered by.

"Keep your eyes open, old chap," was Bob's parting salutation.

"I will," answered Steve, starting down the ladder to his post.

Jarvis returned to the drift where he was working--Spooner's old place. This was the chance for the other man to get out of the shaft. He knew it was time for the afternoon shift to go to work, and just as he slid from the shaft and closed the door behind him the whistle blew the signal to resume operations. The contractor ran along the drift, gathering up his tools and starting down the same ladder that young Rush had taken.

Reaching the main level, the man took his time in going to the cage. At the bottom of the shaft he was joined by Marvin.

"Did you fix it?" whispered the latter.

"Sh-h-h!" warned Spooner.

The men ascended to the surface without exchanging further words. Once in the open, however, Marvin said in a low tone:

"Tell me about it."

"It's done; it's all fixed."

"You think it will work?"

"I am sure of it."

"Then somebody's stock will go down, and I don't know as I care a rap whose it is."

"I don't think we'll have to guess far to know whose it will be," answered Spooner, with a grin.

"What are you going to do?"

"I am going over to Tracy to get a job. We can both get work there, but they haven't lost us yet. No, sir; the Cousin Jack has not done with you and me, by a long shot. We've got a few tricks left up our sleeves that will open their eyes. But we have made a mighty good start; yes, sir, a mighty good start."

Chuckling at his own villainy, Spooner hurried along, the other man by his side.

Steve and Bob had returned to their work at once. The former was now filling the place of the man Marvin at the tally-board, and at the same time dumping the cars. The two jobs kept him continually moving, but this Steve, true to his name, thoroughly enjoyed. He liked to be driving ahead every minute of the day.

From the moment the whistle blew he was hard at work. He had no time to talk with the motor-man as he had before when dumping the cars, for he had to keep the number of cars and the drift or contractor in his mind while he was dumping them, and until he could jump back to the tally-board.

When night came Steve was ready to turn in. He confessed that he was tired. For one thing he felt no little relief, and that was that Spooner and Marvin were no longer in the employ of the company.

The next morning the boys went to work in high spirits. The shift had been at work something more than an hour, when the catch on one of the tram cars caught as Steve sought to release it, and resisted his efforts stubbornly.

"Smash it!" cried the motor-man. "I'm in a hurry."

"I'm going to," answered Steve.

Raising the iron bar above his head, he brought it down on the offending catch with all his strength. A crash followed and the ore shot down through the chute with the roaring sound of a cataract.

Instantly the second car was pushed over the chute.

"Get busy, there!" yelled the motor-man when he saw that no effort was being made to release the ore.

He shouted several times, but there was no response from Rush.

"Where's that lazy bones?" he demanded, hopping from his motor and running around the end of the train. "What, what---- Something's happened! Look!" shouted the motor-man, pointing to the platform.

Steve had disappeared. In the place where he had stood a moment before was a black hole about three feet square. Through this hole could be heard the thunder of the skips as they rushed back and forth at almost projectile speed.