The Iron Boys in the Mines; or, Starting at the Bottom of the Shaft

by Frank V. Webster

  CHAPTER XIV

  LAYING THE TRAP

  Steve Rush and his companion had held a long consultation over theevents of the past few days. They had decided that it would be well towatch both Spooner and Marvin. Bob had overheard a conversation, orrather a few words, between the two men that warned him they wereplotting 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 usoutside one of these nights. Well, we shall be ready for them.Forewarned is forearmed, you know. If they try any such trick they'llfind 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 andMarvin made good their stealings. They were then called to the officeand both men were discharged. This occurred at the noon hour. They weretold to go back to the mine, get their tools and clear out. When the mendid return Steve and Bob Jarvis were eating their lunch up in theSpooner drift.

  "There are the cubs now," whispered Marvin, pointing to the end of thedrift. "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'lldo it myself."

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

  "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 gettinghurt."

  "You talk like it. But never mind; I'll do it. I owe him one and I owethe mine more than one. They'll have something to settle and it'll costthem a pretty penny, I reckon. It's now or never, for you and me. We'llnever get a better opportunity. How do you suppose we are going to getin here after we leave to-day? Why, they wouldn't let us inside the cageafter 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 asaw in my kit."

  "I know where there is one. I sneaked it from the boss timber-manyesterday after we had our talk. I hid it behind the lagging about halfway 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 thetwo boys in the far end. From that distance he could see only theirbobbing candles. "All clear. Hurry!"

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

  "Here it is. Hurry, now!"

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

  "There is a ladder inside. You know how to climb down it," whisperedMarvin, as he cautiously opened a door in the partition. The interiorwas so dark that the men could see nothing. There was a sudden rush andsome 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 sogreat as to extinguish the candles of the two miners. Marvin quicklyrelighted them.

  "Now get in and be lively. You will have to get away before theafternoon 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 anythingturns 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 thewhole bunch for all time."

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

  The contractor was now in the large shaft through which the ore skipsran with their cargoes to the top of the shaft, where they emptied theore into waiting trams which ran out over a trestle and dumped it on thepile where Steve Rush had begun his work when he first came to theCousin Jack Mine. It was a dangerous place for one who was not whollysure of himself, but Spooner descended the ladder confidently, makinghis way to the bottom, then down a short ladder to a platform that wasdirectly beneath that on which the tally-man and the dumper in levelseventeen 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 finallycentred on a section of the flooring above. That particular part washeld up by a post some three feet in length, the latter being supportedby a two-inch plank laid across two other posts that protruded upthrough the floor of the lower platform.

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

  "I guess this will be about the right spot," he decided, placing his sawabout midway on the right-hand side of the post. Spooner took off hisblouse, throwing this over the saw to deaden the sound. Then, holding acorner 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 hardwood, his efforts were not productive of immediate results. But the sawslowly ate its way into the tough timber until at last the man withdrewit, 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 sidea little," he muttered.

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

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

  Spooner did not catch the reply.

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

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

  The door through which Spooner had entered the shaft was closed with abang 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 fromMarvin yet, so everything must be clear above us."

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

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

  Instead of taking the saw with him, the fellow tossed it over to oneside, then began climbing the ladder. Very soon he was at the dooropening on to the sub-level where his contract had been located. Spooneropened it ever so little and listened. He could hear subdued voices. Heopened the door a little wider, and, as he did so, Steve Rush and BobJarvis 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 knewit was time for the afternoon shift to go to work, and just as he slidfrom the shaft and closed the door behind him the whistle blew thesignal to resume operations. The contractor ran along the drift,gathering up his tools and starting down the same ladder that young Rushhad taken.

  Reaching the main level, the man took his time in going to the cage. Atthe 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. Oncein 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 rapwhose 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, butthey haven't lost us yet. No, sir; the Cousin Jack has not done with youand me, by a long shot. We've got a few tricks left up our sleeves thatwill open their eyes. But we have made a mighty good start; yes, sir, amighty good start."

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

  Steve and Bob had returned to their work at once. The former was nowfilling the place of the man Marvin at the tally-board, and at the sametime dumping the cars. The two jobs kept him continually moving, butthis Steve, true to his name, thoroughly enjoyed. He liked to bedriving ahead every minute of the day.

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

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

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

  "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 offendingcatch with all his strength. A crash followed and the ore shot downthrough 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 wasbeing 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 andrunning around the end of the train. "What, what---- Something'shappened! Look!" shouted the motor-man, pointing to the platform.

  Steve had disappeared. In the place where he had stood a moment beforewas a black hole about three feet square. Through this hole could beheard the thunder of the skips as they rushed back and forth at almostprojectile speed.