Jack Ranger's Western Trip Part 48

But, what astonished the boys more than the appearance of the stronghold, was the work at which the men were engaged. This seemed to be mining, but of a kind the boys had heard very little about, though it is more or less common in the west.

A man was directing a stream of water, from a big pipe against the side of a gravelly bank, and the dirt and fluid that washed down ran into a big sluiceway. This was formed of boards, there being a bottom and two sides. The top was open, but was braced with numerous cross pieces. The sluiceway was about four feet wide and three feet deep, and there was a great quant.i.ty of water flowing through it.

Part of the sluiceway was wider and more shallow, and this part had, nailed across the bottom, narrow strips of wood, in the shape of cleats. They were placed to catch the heavier dirt, containing the gold, as it flowed down in the water.

As the boys watched the stream was turned off, and men took from the cleats quant.i.ties of mingled muck and gravel, which they proceeded to "wash" to extract the gold.

The boys were so interested in this that they forgot the plight they were in, and, almost, their desire to escape. They looked at the miners with their pans, as the men swirled them around to cause the water and dirt to flow over the edge and the gold to remain.

"Is it goin' to pay?" Jack heard one miner ask of another of the gang.

"Don't look so," was the reply. "Yet they say there's a fortune locked up in that hill. An old hermit showed Sid the place, but it's been most a year since we repaired this old sluiceway which was here before we came and begun washing, and not more than enough to pay expenses have we had out of it. I'm gettin' tired."

"Maybe there's better luck ahead."

"How do you mean?"

"Why in the capture of these kids. Didn't you hear Sid tell? He expects to get a hold on a fellow named Tevis now and maybe some rich timber lands that he's been after for ten years or more. There's a fellow named Ranger or Roberts mixed up in it, but Sid has never been able to land him, though he tried hard enough. Some of the boys nearly got Roberts' partner here not long ago, but he got away, though he was shot. Then Sid and Nate got on the trail of the boys, and here--"

"Shut up!" exclaimed the other miner, as he noticed Jack and Nat taking in what his companion was saying. "They're too close now."

At that the miners went on with their "washing" operations, and the two boys, pondering over what they had heard, walked away.

"What do you think of that?" asked Nat, in a low voice.

"Just as I expected," Jack rejoined. "I hope John brings us help in time to warn Mr. Tevis and help rescue my father. Maybe we could have a whack at this gold mine then."

The boys were allowed to wander about the camp at will, but they noticed the men kept close watch over them. They were much interested in the sluiceway, and went to where they could see it stretching for a long distance down the mountain side.

"Quite a piece of work," observed one of the men, a short, stocky, rather jolly looking individual, who seemed out of place in a gang of ruffians. "It runs for five miles," he went on, "all the way down to a big gulch they say, though I've never been to the end of it. It was built a long while ago, but we changed it a bit, and only use the upper end. We get our water from a little lake on the top of the mountain, and only the overflow goes down the sluiceway. Still that's enough," and he looked at the solid stream, flowing swiftly but silently between the heavy planks.

"It would make a good shoot-the-chutes," observed Nat.

"Rather risky," observed the miner. "You couldn't stop until you got to the end of it and it's a long ride. Have to look out for the cross pieces, too."

A sudden light seemed to come into Jack's eyes as he turned away. He motioned to Nat to follow him, and, when they were out of earshot he whispered:

"That's how we can escape."

"How?" asked Nat in an excited whisper.

"Wait," answered Jack, "Here comes Sid."

"Haven't got away yet, eh?" the man asked with a sneer.

"Not yet," was all Jack answered.

That night, as he tossed restlessly on the pile of skins in the cave, Jack thought over a plan of getting away. It seemed practical enough, if he could only elude the vigilance of the men. But there was the hard part. He got up softly about midnight to see if he could sneak from the cave. No one was in sight. He called Nat and both crawled out into the open.

"Now we're free!" whispered Jack. "Come on, Nat."

"Where?"

"Down the sluiceway. I know where there are two big planks."

Leading the way, and keeping in the shadows as much as possible, Jack went to where two planks, each about seven feet long, lay near the boarded race.

"We'll float down the sluiceway to freedom!" he cried, as he placed the plank on the edge of the flume. Nat did likewise, and, when Jack climbed over into the big oblong box, his companion followed. They had entered the sluiceway at a place where there was scarcely any current. Then they moved forward, crouching to avoid the cross pieces.

"Here we go!" whispered Jack, throwing himself on the plank, an example which Nat followed. The next instant the two boys were being whirled down the sluiceway on top of the water at a swift pace. And, as they shot ahead they, heard a voice calling:

"The kids have got away!"

CHAPTER x.x.xIII

DOWN THE SLUICEWAY

Almost with the speed of an arrow from the bow the two boys flew forward on the swiftly-moving water in the sluiceway. The planks were submerged only a few inches, so great was the force of the current, and Jack and Nat, crouching on them as a boy goes sliding down hill on his sled, with his head between the points of the runners, felt themselves propelled forward with an irresistible power.

At first it was so dark in the big box they could see nothing. Then, as their eyes grew accustomed to the gloom, they could note the sides of the flume slipping past them. A glance over their heads showed them the stars, and there was a confused blurr of the many cross- pieces.

"Are you all right, Nat?" called Jack.

"Sure," was the reply. "Say, it took my breath away at first, but it's all right now. This is going some!"

Faster and faster the boys were whirled along. The water was beginning to chill them now, and they were wet through. Once or twice a sudden change in the direction of the sluiceway nearly brought them to grief, and on one occasion Nat slipped off his plank. It was floating away from him, but his cry warned Jack, who managed to stop it, while Nat struggled forward, stooping to avoid the braces, and secured it again.

This occurred in a comparatively level place, where the current, after a quick descent, was not so rapid, otherwise there might have been a different ending to this story. For a mile farther the two boys floated along at an easy pace.

"I guess we've left 'em behind," Nat observed. He was riding his plank alongside of Jack now, as the flume was broad enough to permit this.

"Yes, but they're not going to give up so easily," Jack rejoined.

"There's too much at stake. They'll chase us, but it's another thing to catch us. Hark! What's that?"

From down below in the moonlit valley, into which the flume dipped there came a roaring sound. It was like a mighty wind blowing, and, as the boys were carried on and on, it increased in intensity.

"Sounds like a waterfall," observed Nat.

"So it does. I hope this flume doesn't do any stunts like that. We'll be dashed to pieces."

"Maybe we'd better stop now, and get out," said Nat. "I wonder where we are?"

"Haven't the least idea. We must have come about three miles though.

Let's see if we can stop ourselves,"

Owing to the fact that the cross-pieces were above and close to their heads, the boys could not peer over the edge of the flume. The water filled it to within a foot and a half of the edge, and they had to keep their heads well down.