"Gold!" cried Frank.
"I'll bet a cooky we've found the hidden mine!" cried Jimmie.
"It is gold, all right," Harry Stevens said, "but there's no
knowing whether it is here in quantities sufficient to pay the
expense of mining and crushing the ore."
"Huh!" cried Jimmie, in a tone of reproach. "Don't you know that
rock that will produce a dollar a tone is worth working? Well,
then, look at this! There's ten dollars worth in the spot I cover
with my hand! We've found somethin', boys!"
"So it wasn't to escape their enemies that the old chaps sequestered
themselves here," said Fenton. "It was to dig out gold!"
"I never heard that there was gold in this part of Mexico," observed
Jack. "I reckon we'll wake up when we get out into the sunlight."
"If you'll read up," Fenton replied, "you'll find that the state of
Chihuahua abounds in niter and other salts, and is rich in mines of
gold and silver. Do you really think we have come upon the deserted
mine Jimmie talks about so much?" he added, turning to Nestor.
The latter took a folded paper from his pocket and examined it under
the light of the electric torch.
"It seems that we have," was the reply. "I was not thinking much
about the mine as I ascended the mountain, but now it strikes me
that I unconsciously followed the directions given in this paper."
"That big lobster of an Englishman was looking for the mine,"
Jimmie said, "and so it was natural that he should lead you to
it.
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