ESCAPE
Jack’s first thought was that a rock slide had dammed up the mine
entrance. Sober reflection, however, told him that such was not the
case.
Obviously, someone had quietly shoved a great boulder across the narrow
opening.
“Joe Hansart!” he exclaimed. “He must have seen us come in here.”
“We’re trapped, all right,” Warner muttered.
He and Jack applied their shoulders and heaved with all their strength.
They could move the rock a trifle, but not enough to shift it from its
position.
“Other rocks have been piled on top,” Warner gasped.
Once more the pair worked and heaved in unison, but without the
slightest success.
Exhausted, they sank back against the rock wall to consider their
desperate plight. Soon they would be missed at the cabin. That was
certain. But it was doubtful Ken or Mr. Livingston would pick up their
trail to this remote ravine until many hours, perhaps days had passed.
Meanwhile, they were without food or water. And Joe Hansart might lie in
wait for any rescuers and attack them as he had attacked Jack.
“Crazy coot!” Warner exclaimed. “He’s outwitted us. We became so intent
on exploring the mine that we forgot everything else.”
“Listen!” Jack directed suddenly.
He was certain he had heard a scratching sound on the huge rock above
their heads.
“Maybe it’s Joe Hansart piling on more stones!” he muttered.
Together, the trapped pair shouted. At once the scraping sound ceased.
“Someone’s out there,” Warner decided. “It must be Joe. Maybe if we can
convince him we don’t want any of his gold, he’ll relent and let us
out.”
They shouted, but only their own voices echoed weirdly back in the pit.
Desperately, they shoved again at the rock barrier. This time they
succeeded in dislodging enough of the loose debris to permit a little
daylight to filter down.
As they nursed their bruised hands, they heard harsh laughter.
“Joe, listen to reason!” Warner bellowed at him. “We don’t want your
stupid gold.”
“No?” asked a mocking voice.
Warner and Jack stiffened.
“That’s Walz!” the latter identified him. “Not Hansart!”
For a fleeting instant, the two prisoners took heart. They thought they
would be able to reason with the motel owner.
“Listen!” Warner shouted to him. “There must have been a rock slide.
Help us get out of here!”
“And why should I do that?” the motel owner asked in the same mocking
tone. “You won’t make any trouble where you are now!”
“Have you lost your senses?” Warner stormed.
“Quite the contrary,” Walz rejoined, plainly enjoying his triumph.
“You’ve both been a pain in my neck ever since I set eyes on you. Now
you get what you deserve.”
“What’s the idea blocking the exit?” Warner demanded. “What’s your
game?”
“My game? Only a little device to gain time. It was your bad luck that
you stumbled onto the vein.”
“The vein—” Warner started to explode, then held his tongue.
“Oh, I saw you sneak into the mine after the old man went away,” Walz
rattled on.
“You’ve been down here yourself?”
“I have,” the motel owner admitted. His voice carried plainly to the
pair below, for he was close to the opening between the rocks. “I found
the gold ore, and I have samples now in my pack.”
“What are you aiming to do with ’em?”
“I’ll have them assayed. But first I’m staking out a claim to this
section of the valley.”
“Sure someone hasn’t beaten you to it?”
“This is unclaimed valley—the entire hollow. Ranier told me so. That
dirty, low-down scamp deserted me. I’ll get even with him when I get
back to Elks Creek.”
“Listen,” Warner said in exasperation, “you’ve had your little joke. Now
let us out of here. We can’t raise that rock from below, but you can
roll it aside.”
“Maybe I can, but I’m not going to do it,” Walz retorted coolly. “You
trailed me to Headless Hollow, but you’re not going to beat me filing a
claim.”
“Who wants to file one, you stupid ox?”
“You!” the motel owner accused. “I’ve risked everything to get this
gold. Nothing is going to stop me now. Nothing!”
“You’re welcome to the gold—whatever you can find,” Warner said wearily.
“Just let us out.”
“Never.”
At first, the trapped pair had not believed that the motel owner
seriously meant to keep them confined below, but his intention could no
longer be doubted.
“Walz, pay close attention,” Warner pleaded. “I came to this place
largely to see the grave of my father. The gold—if there was any—didn’t
mean too much to me.”
“That’s a lie!”
“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!”
“Walz—”
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.”
“No exit except this one?”
“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.”
“A tiny charge would turn the trick.”
“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.”
Using the utmost care, Warner placed the dynamite sticks without
accident. Breathing hard, he joined Jack after the fuse had been set.
For a full minute, they waited tensely. Nothing happened.
“The stuff is dead,” Jack declared.
“Maybe not,” Warner said. “It was a long fuse. Wait.”
They waited. Suddenly the tunnel was rocked by a terrific explosion. As
they hit the earth, covering their faces, small bits of rock showered
down. When the dust had cleared, they groped their way back to the
entrance. Climbing up through the debris, they saw daylight. Warner
squeezed out through the tumbled rocks, and reached down to help Jack.
“We’re free and still in one piece,” the rancher chuckled.
Setting out from the ravine, they started for the cabin. However, they
had covered less than a third of the distance when they saw Hap
Livingston and Ken coming toward them at a run.
“What happened?” Ken demanded, as he glimpsed the dirt-streaked faces
and disheveled clothing of the two. “We heard an explosion!”
Tersely, Jack and the rancher related their harrowing experience in the
mine.
“Now Walz is streaking for Elks Creek!” Warner ended the account. “He’s
on a fool’s chase, in my opinion. I could be wrong.”
“Shouldn’t we try to head him off?” Jack proposed eagerly. “He’s not had
too big a start.”
“It won’t take long to sling our equipment together,” Ken added. “Maybe
we can overtake him. We have a score to settle, regardless of the gold!”
“It may not be necessary,” Warner advised quietly.