»47j 



" No, 't'ain't no danger, if it don't get 

 ^ too hot and ain't jarred. You see, it 

 N won't go off if it's too cold, so we keep 

 |\ a little in here and kind o' watch it." 

 D The keg was within two feet of the 



p stove. Suppose that a dog or some- 

 % thing were to knock it over ! But 

 miners do not suppose. 



Just then a tremendous explosion in 

 the tunnel seemed to make the whole 

 earth vibrate. It was followed by a 

 rattling and crashing of rocks, which 

 told us that the last cap had gone off 

 and had done good work. 



Half an hour later, when it was 

 safe from dynamite fumes, I went back 

 to our hole in the ground. Nimrod had 

 left me, lured away by some fox tracks 

 trailing up the mountain. The weird 

 scene was too interesting for me to 

 leave until the arrival of the fat and 

 lean women (Mrs. Frisco had persuaded 



