CHAPTER XX EXPLORING THE TUNNEL
Certain that Slugger Slade would lose no time in putting a safe distancebetween himself and the Coleson house, the boys turned their attentionto the opening in the foundation wall, noting with great interest theingenious way in which the heavy stone was made to turn on the iron pinsat top and bottom, and examining the simple spring-catch, which held theslab in place until released by a pressure on the white stone.
“I wish I had hung onto that flashlight,” said Ned Blake regretfully, ashe strove to pierce the inky blackness inside the wall. “We’ll have todepend on candles for our search, I guess. Wait a minute and I’ll bringsome.”
Ned was back in a moment, and lighting the tapers, he crept cautiouslythrough the opening followed by the rest of the boys. Within was theusual litter to be found in the cellar of an unfinished house. Brokentubs that had been used for the mixing of mortar; wrecked barrels andboxes of every description choked the space and made movement difficult.Just inside the wall the boys made their first discovery of interest. Ona nail driven into a joint of the masonry hung a wig and false beard ofcoarse white hair and close at hand stood a wooden pickax painted white.
“I guess this puts the lid on one more ghost story,” remarked Ned, asthe articles passed from hand to hand. “Somebody certainly went to a lotof trouble to work this ghost scare and we’ve yet to find the reason.There doesn’t seem to be anything of interest at this end of the cellar,but there’s an open way over to the left. Let’s follow it.”
The flickering light of the candles showed where rubbish had been thrownaside to provide a clear way, and following this, the boys at lengthcame upon an angle in the foundation where the new masonry joined whathad once been the wall of the old cellar. Turning this corner, theyfound themselves stopped by a low door of solid oak plank and evidentlyof recent construction. Taking a cautious step forward, Ned seized theiron handle, and bracing his foot against the wall, threw his weightbackward. The door yielded and swinging open on its heavy hingesrevealed a steep flight of steps extending downward into the darkness.
“By jiminy! It’s a way into the old mine!” muttered Dick Somers, as heshaded the candle and peered into the black pit.
“Who’s afraid!” growled Dave Wilbur, as the group hesitated on the brinkof the steep descent. “Go ahead, Ned! We’ll follow!”
Thus urged, Ned felt his way carefully down the slippery stairs followedclosely by the other four. They reached the bottom of the short flightwhen suddenly a scurrying sound filled the air. Vague shapes rushed uponthem. The candles were knocked from their hands, and as the lightsflickered out, a pitchy blackness covered them like a blanket.
“Quick! Up the stairs!” shouted Ned.
In this his companions needed no urging, and he followed at their heelsslamming the door behind him. Stumbling blindly against piles of rubbishin an effort to keep in the narrow lane, the boys reached the clearedarea just inside the opening through which the reflected light of themoon shone dimly. Crouching there in the faint light, the five stared ateach other for a moment, until Ned Blake broke into shamefaced laugh.
“We’re a brave bunch to be scared out of our wits by a few crazy bats!”he exclaimed.
“Bats!” echoed Dick Somers and Charlie Rogers together. “Well, can youbeat it!”
“All the same it was a darn scary place!” grumbled Tommy Beals, as hewiped the sweat and grime from his face. “I was pretty well keyed upwith all that I’d been through and then, when I got a wallop in the eyeand had my candle knocked out of my hand, I wasn’t so sure but whatColeson’s ghost was on the job after all!”
“It’s a sure bet that whoever has been using this place didn’t try tolight it with candles,” argued Ned. “There must be a lantern orsomething of the kind around here.”
Taking a piece of candle from his pocket, Ned lighted it, and after ashort search among the rubbish, discovered a small recess in the wallwhere lay a coil of rope, a roll of dirty canvas, and two lanterns.
“We’ll look this junk over later,” he remarked, “but first, let’s seewhat we can find down below.”
The lanterns were lighted and once more the boys descended the woodenstairs. The bats attacked again, but after battering uselessly againstthe lantern globes, they soon gave up the unequal contest. At the bottomof the stairway was a narrow tunnel sloping sharply downward. Along itscenter extended a pair of rusty iron rails on which stood a lightdump-car.
“This is what Coleson used to haul up the copper ore in from the lowerend of the mine,” remarked Ned as he squeezed past the car, which nearlyfilled the narrow space. “These rails run down to the lower end and thishand-winch was for hauling up the loaded car,” he continued, raising hislantern to examine a powerful-looking iron windlass bolted to heavyposts at the upper end of the tunnel.
“Here’s something funny!” cried Charlie Rogers, pointing to the wirecable which was wound upon the drum of the winch. “That wire rope looksto be brand new!”
“There’s no question of that,” declared Ned, after a close inspection,“and the gears of this winch are thick with fresh grease! This outfithas been used recently, or I miss _my_ guess!”
“What’s that _little_ windlass for?” asked Beals, pointing to a smalldevice fastened to the wall. “Look! There’s a wire rope extending downalong the roof of the tunnel!”
Dave Wilbur mounted upon the dump-car and reaching upward pulled hard onthe rope.
“Gee whiz! It’s as tight as a bow string!” he exclaimed. “I wonder whoor what is pulling on the other end!”
Picking up a stone, Ned knocked up the pawl which held the ratchet ofthe little winch. Instantly the drum began to revolve and the cablereeled off rapidly for perhaps a dozen yards when it came to a suddenstop. Seizing the crank handle, Ned attempted to reel it back but thepull upon it was too great, and only when Rogers and Beals had come tohis assistance, did he succeed in rewinding the cable to its formerposition.
“By jiminy! This beats me!” ejaculated Dick. “Let’s follow that ropedown and see who or what is pulling on it!”
“Not on your life!” chorused Beals and Rogers. “It’s too darned blackand spooky-looking down there!”
Dave Wilbur also appeared reluctant to penetrate further into the mine.
“All right, you fellows keep one of the lanterns, and Dick and I willtake the other and see what’s going on down below,” said Ned, “butinstead of walking down the track we’ll ride down on the car. You canhandle the winch and let us down slowly and be all ready to haul us upagain when we yell.”
“That’s what I call pretty soft!” grumbled Dave. “I wish I had enlistedwith Dick! All the hard work is going to be up at _this_ end!”
Ned and Dick climbed upon the car; Beals released the brake of the winchand the car started of its own weight.
“Keep your foot on the brake, Fatty,” warned Ned. “Don’t let her getgoing too fast or she’ll jump the track!”
And then as the snaky cable reeled steadily from the winch-drum, thedump-car, carrying the two lads, swayed and jolted downward into theblackness of the tunnel.
Copper Coleson's Ghost Page 21
