The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1884-01-09

mine beyond tnaJ point nad caved In.
Where was Jim2
Johnny uttered a piercing cry" Jim
Jim p'-that the echoes brought back to
him, but nobody answered.
After minute or two, growing little
calmer, he examined the wall of earth
carefully, and saw that at the top in one
corner there was q large chink. He
climbed up carefully and peeped through.
There was an open space on the other
side, and the chink was large enough for
him to crawl through. For the first time
Johnny was thankful that he was little
fellow. Jim might be suffering, dying,
on the other side, and because he was
small he could get to him.
The chink was a very close fit. It al
most squeezed the breath out of Johnny's
body. And in spite of all his care, when
he did get through, he fell head-foremost
into pool of water on the other side.
In utter darkness-for the water had ex-
tinguished his lsmp--he picked himself
up, and felt in his pocket for the matches
which his mother had put there. He had
a terrible fear that he might find them
soaked with water; but no, they were
happily safe and dry, and in moment
the cheerful little flame of his lamp lighted
up the darkness.
The tunnel was all open beyond him.
Nothing seemed to have fallen except in
this place where the earth formed parti-
ton. 1t was so straight and even on this
side that it looked as if it must have been
made with hands.
1t struck Johnny as being somewhat
singular. But as he looked closely at the
beams, he saw that they were old and de-
caying; they looked as if they might give
way at any minute.
He must have wandered into one of the
old mines perhaps the very one in which
his father had been killed, thought John
ny, with a thrill of fear.
But that could not be, because there
we're tracks all about; there were great
many in the mud near the wall. As
Johnny looked about him in wonder, try
ing to find some explanation of the mys.
terry, he suddenly caught sight of some
thing which looked out of place in mine.
1t was seal-skin coat, and it seemed to
be thrown over a heap of something on
dry ground near the wall. Johnny lifted
it, and discovered heap of tools, small
and large. Very queer looking tools they
were, and If it had not been for ring of
skeleton keys among them, Johnny might
not have guessed at once, as he did, that
they were burglars tools. There was
tin box, too, which he tried to open, but
found it securely locked. He remembered
that when the burglars stole the money
and valuable papers from the iron COM
pany's office they had also stolen seal
skin coat belonging to Mr.. Bingham, the
superintendent.
He had stumbled upon the hiding place
OF the burglars stolen treasures 1t was
one of the old mines, probably the Con-
oshawen, the most dangerous, where they
thought nobody would dare to come. All
the stolen money might be in that tin box.
The blood went dancing through John
ny's veins, and his heart beat as loud that
he could almost hear it.
Keen detectives had been for a long
time in pursuit of those burglars and the
stolen property, and had not found clue.
1t had been left for him, little nine-years.
old Johnny Pringle, whom nobody thought
good for much of anything, and whom
the doctor called Hop-o-my.thumb. And
the reward offered was thousand dollars
Johnny scrambled back through the
chink faster than he had come. He
wanted to take that tin box with him,
but 1t was too large. 1t is doubtful
whether boy ever ran faster since the
world began than Johnny ran out of that
mine. He couldn't spend time to walk
on the rails now; he went splashing
through the mud and water, falling now
and then, and picking himself up without
stopping to think whether he was hurt
or not.
But at last he found himself in the open
air, all safe and sound. The pail with
Jlms dinner in it was still hanging on
his arm, but he couldn't stop to attend to
that.
He ran down Humpback Hill, across
three fields where the snow-drifts reached
to his waist, then down the railroad track
to the village, and burst into the iron
company's Office with only enough breath
left to gasp OUT
Burglars tools !-seal.skin coat tin
box odd mine !" But you may be sure
it did not take the gentlemen in the Office
long to put those detached remarks to.
gether, and an expedition was instantly
formed, with Johnny as guide, to the
old mine.
In the tin box they found intact all the
money and papers that had been stolen
from the iron company. And watch
was set, and the very next night the
burglars were found in the mine.
Johnny was the hero of the hour, and
what was OF much more account, he re.
ceived the thousand dollars reward.
Jim said it was the first time he ever
knew it to be lucky for fellow not to
get his dinner.
But in spite of the thousand dollars
which, indeed, she wasn't quite able to
believe in all at once--Johnny's mother
couldn't quite get over being nervous be-
cause Johnny had been in that dreadful
old Conoshawen mine, where everybody
said The least jar was likely to bring dis
aster. She Rugged and kissed him, and
cried over him, and felt of his limbs to
be sure they we're sound, and even in the
night she kept going into his room to be
sure that he was safe under the bed
clothes.
Jim doesn't work in the mines now
they bought little farm with the thou.