DOWN THE OLD SHAFT
"He's gone!" cried Will, aghast.
"What sort of a trap has he dropped into?" exclaimed Frank.
He was a lad of action, and throwing himself down flat he crawled to the
very edge of the gaping hole.
"Hello, Jerry!" he shouted.
"I'm all right, fellows; only bruised a little, and my feelings
considerably hurt. I deserve something for forgetting this hole," came a
voice from out of the depths.
Frank looked down. His eyes being accustomed to the sunlight he could not
see anything but darkness there. But even as he was trying to pierce
this, a match flamed up, and he discovered his chum kneeling on a pile of
dirt, holding up his improvised torch as though curious to look around.
"What is this place, Jerry?" demanded the one above.
"Why, Will must remember if he once gets his mind off that miserable old
camera of his. It's the shaft of what was intended to be a mine," replied
Jerry, with disgust plainly marked in his tones.
"A mine--and here? I never heard of it!" echoed Frank.
"That's because you are a newcomer in Centerville. Years ago--oh! I
couldn't say how many--a crank lived in the little hut close by, now
occupied by the family of a lumberman. He believed there was gold in this
region. For nearly a year he dug down and made this shaft. Then he died
in his cabin, and no one else ever had faith enough in the thing to
continue the work," said Will, chiming in.
"What! do you mean to say this hole in the ground has gone all these
years as a trap, ready to swallow any pilgrim who walked along this
trail?" demanded Frank.
"Why, of course not. The boys from town often used to come up here. Will
has been down in this hole, and so have I before. It was covered with
heavy planks then. Somebody has removed those boards and laid a fine
trap. Just like we were over in Africa, among the wild-beast catchers.
And I fell in, worse luck," grumbled the boy at the bottom of the shaft.
"I see. And you think those fellows in the other camp had a hand in it?"
"Don't doubt it at all. You know yourself it would be just like that Pet
Peters. If I'd only thought of the blooming old thing in time, I might
have investigated. Talk to me about your Alpine climbers, I thought I was
going into the crevasse, all right."
"But how are you going to get out?" asked Frank, always practical.
"A fellow can't climb out. I know that, for we used to try it. Somebody
always had to put down the long pole that we made into a ladder,"
declared Will.
"Is it around here now?" continued Frank.
"Wait and I'll give a look."
Will very carefully placed his camera with its accompanying case of
films. He made sure that it was out of the way, so that no one might
incautiously step on the same, and ruin his heart's delight. Then he
passed into the bushes to scour the immediate neighborhood.
Meanwhile Frank bent over the edge again.
"I've examined this covering up here, Jerry, and there's not the least
doubt but that it was made with a distinct purpose," he declared.
"I reckon it was, and it got me, all right. It looked just like the rest
of the trail, and I never suspected a thing until I found myself going
down. Speak to me about that, will you? To think that I was caught by
such a shabby trick. If it had been you, now, it wouldn't seem so bad,
because you never saw this hole before."
"But what object could those rascals have had in constructing the trap?"
pursued Frank, seeking more light.
"That's hard to say. I imagine, though, they expected to just badger us
from time to time until finally we all set out in full chase of the
crowd. Then perhaps they meant to lead us along this old trail, avoiding
the pit themselves, and having us tumble in pell-mell. It was a clever
dodge, but a mean trick all the same."
"But if that had happened it might have been serious. One of us could
easily break a leg or an arm in such a tumble," expostulated Frank.
"Huh! little those fellows care about that They're a rough lot, you know.
That Pet Peters thinks everybody is made of iron, like himself. Say, I
hope Will finds that old ladder we used to play with. I'd hate to lie in
here waiting for you to go all the way to camp and get a rope," grumbled
the imprisoned one.
"I hear voices, and I reckon Will must have met some one. Yes, there
they come."
"With the ladder?" demanded Jerry, eagerly.
"They seem to be carrying something between them. Why, I ought to know
that fellow. As sure as you live, it's Andy Lasher," declared Frank,
somewhat surprised.
"Then it's all right; I'm satisfied," said Jerry, resignedly.
The others came forward, and as Frank had said they bore between them a
long, slender tree upon which many slats had been nailed by the boys.
This formed a rude but effective ladder, upon which one might ascend
and descend when desirous of seeing what the interior of the abandoned
shaft was like.
"I came across Andy down the trail. Only for him I guess I'd never have
lit on the ladder, for they'd carried it some distance off, and hid it,"
cried Will.
Andy looked Frank straight in the face, and the latter explained:
"It's mighty funny, but you see I remembered about this here trap the
boys had set, hopin' some of your crowd would take a tumble. I told 'em I
wouldn't stand for it after what had happened; so a bunch o' us was on
the way out here to put back the planks, when we heard shouts, and
guessed somebody had fallen in. The rest dodged into the bushes, but I
commenced to run this way. Then I met Will, here."
"And we got the ladder. He was only too willing to help," went on Will,
plainly fully believing in the change of heart on the town bully's part.
"Say, that's all mighty interesting, but talk to me about it after you
get a fellow out of this black hole. I thought I felt a snake right then.
We used to kill 'em in here, too. Poke the ladder down, boys, please."
"That's a fact. As the drowning boy said: 'Save me first and scold me
afterward.' Let me give you a hand, boys," remarked Frank.
"Hey! be careful there about getting too close to the edge. The whole
bunch of you will be in on top of me if you don't look out. I had a crack
on the head from a rock right then. And be careful how you poke that
ladder down, or you may stick it through me like a lady's hatpin. Now
I've got hold of the end, lower away, all."
So under the directions of the boy who was in the hole, and in a position
to see how things lay, the single-pole ladder was placed in position.
"I'm coming up now, fellows; don't let the dirt crumble in on me,"
called Jerry.
"It does beat all how the adventures crowd you, old man. Here the rest of
us just go along in an average way, and nothing happens to anybody to
stir the blood. Hang it, I say it's hardly fair," remarked Frank, in
pretended chagrin.
Jerry began to appear in view, clinging to the ladder, for it was a
rather rickety affair, and threatening constantly to turn around, so that
he had to fasten both knees and hands to the pole as he mounted.
"Keep her straight, Andy; you understand how hard it is to hustle up this
old beam. I'm getting there all right, and don't you forget it," he kept
saying, with a broad grin on his happy-go-lucky face as it came into
plain view.
"Oh! Jerry, please hang there for just twenty seconds! You don't know
what a splendid picture you make. I'd give almost anything to snatch it
off. Oblige me like a good fellow, won't you, please?" shouted Will,
waving his hands entreatingly.
"Talk to me about nerve! You beat all creation. I'm holding on by the
skin of my teeth, and you want me to wait till you get your measly old
camera adjusted, and snap me off in this ignoble position. Well, I'm
waiting, but it's to get my second wind, and not to oblige a crank,"
gasped Jerry.
"Oh! thank you, Jerry, thank you. It will only take a few seconds, I'm
sure, and the result will be a constant source of delight to every
member of the club."
"Yes, I've no doubt they'll go into spasms of laughter every time they
look at the human ape hanging to his limb. Hurry up, plague take it; I'm
getting weary of posing to suit your convenience. Why don't he, come back
and finish? I declare if I can stand this any longer. I tell you I'm
coming up, Will--picture or no picture."
"Here he comes; just hang on a bit longer," said Frank, soothingly.
Will came dashing up, showing the most intense excitement. His eyes
fairly bulged from his head, and he was quivering all over.
"What ails you, man; are you sick?" demanded Frank, in real alarm.
"Sick? No, but I'm broken-hearted, that's what. It's gone!" shouted the
other, wringing his hands, "some wretch has stolen my camera, and films!"