Los Angeles herald., 1907-05-26

Il
less. to discover some means of escape but
after the night came they were torce9 "
remain quiet in one place, TOR tne Van ~
ness was so profound that they mght na's
walked directly into the pool II tney h"u
moved.
With the first light of day the boys pegann n
to listen for some sound which mgnU s.ii
them that those from the camp were IN .ns s
vicinity, and every few minutes they "ouiI ~
all shout together and also discharge one Vi
their revolvers -,
In that manner the day passed until tne
shadows from the top of the basin telS dl-
recty across it, and hope began to die IN tne
hearts of the young gold-hunters.
Bart had done all he could to persuade
them that it was barely possible they might
not be rescued that day, and if they were
not, it was no reason why they should 9e-
spair; but they derived very little consoia-
tion from his words.
1t was Just when they were utterly dis
couraged, almost believing that their friends
would never succeed in finding them, that
the report of rifle was family heard In the
distance
"There they are! there they are!" exclaim-
ed Kirk. Fire all the revolvers at the same
time, SO they will be sure to hear us.
Kinks suggestion was quickly acted upon,
and then all hands shouted until they could
hear hail in reply.
1t was Jim's voice. and as he was approach
ing the basin from the side which was fuiiy
exposed, there was no chance that he would
overlook the place.
In few moments they had the intense
pleasure of seeing the miner on the brink OF
the precpice above them, and of hearing his
ehsS5y %ys cry; you've boxed yourselves in nicely,
"Yes; but we've struck water at last"
shouted Bart, his feelings of triumph return
ing at the first moment of safety. did you
bring the lariats with you?"
That's just what / did do. You see l
kind of thought you'd got into some such
pocket, so | came prepared" :,
AS he spoke, Jim held up"the long coils OF
rawhide ropes, and at once began making
preparations to release the party from their
imprisonment;
aSend up the lightest boy first, so that I'll
have some help in getting. the next one up;
for it's going to be ticklish job to pull you
it rubs much,b Jim said, as he flung one end
of the lariats, which had been securely knot
ted together, toward Bart:
As Dory weighed less than Kirk, he was
feet directly on the edge of the opening, where
the slightest incautious movement might pre-
cipitate him upon the rocks below.
Even Dory's weight was heavy strain
the rocks as he was; but he finally succeeded,
although he was obliged to rest a few min
utes before making an effort to release the
second prisoner
Having some one to help him now, it was
not such severe work to pull Kirk out, and
then the two boys. and Jim had quite as
much as they could do to draw Bart up.
The task was accomplished in safety how
ever, and then the unpleasant fact presented
itself to the minds of the boys that, although
they were free once more, they would be OBJ
lged to spend another night away from camp,
for it was SO dark that it would have been
dangerous in the extreme to have attempted
the descent.
this inconvenience, accustomed as he had be-
come to sleeping in the open air, had it not
been that he knew his father was suffering
the deepest anxiety regarding them; yet it
could not be avoided, and the cousins resigned
themselves to the inevitable with the best
grace they could
jim. who had fancied that the party had
met with such an accident as they really
had, brought with him a supply of provisions,
and after sgppeFf h had ias been satea S every one
that his slumbers would be both peaceful and
At daybreak they were on their way down
the mountain, and in less than two hours Mr.
Sheldon's fears had turned to joy, as he saw
his son and nephew before him.
'We have settled the question of water, "
said Bart, "and now we have only. to devise
some means of getting it here, after which
we can open up the Kirk Sheldon in good
Mr. Sheldon was inclined to think the task
greater one than did either Bart or Jim
and an earnest discussion was entered into as
to the best method of securing the gold
which was as inaccessible as it was near.
JJnaccustomed as he was to mining opera
tions. Mr. Sheldon thought it would be nee
esary to have an engineer survey that por
tion of the mountain lying between the camI
and the basin, in order to make regular pani