"We've a devil of a mess," he panted. "I don't know how many hurt, but some of 'em are broken all to pieces. Come right away and bring what bandages you have. O, it's a devil of a mess." Old Ben looked at the stranger bewilderedly. Tad jumped to his feet, alert in a second. "Devil of a mess where, man? What's wrong? Who's hurt?" The stranger's voice failed him, and all he could do was to point his finger in the direction of the canyon and make signs for them to hurry. Ben pushed him into a chair by the fire, and in a little while they had his story: The new tunnel on the old Iron Dyke had caved in without a moment's notice. There were seven men locked in by a wall of fallen rock. Whether they had been crushed or not was hard to tell. The stranger had not been in the tunnel at the time of the accident, but had gone to the stream for water. Upon returning, he discovered the cave-in. He had come at once for help, realizing that a single man would be useless at the mine. In a short time the three had the old horse packed and were on the trail. The snow was deep and progress slow. As they walked up the trail the stranger described the appearance of the fallen rock as best he could. He told them that they had been working the tunnel as fast as possible and that they had not been as careful as they should have been about propping the ceiling. He said they had struck considerable water, and that the black rock seemed to have been previously loosened by some great force, for it was cracked in every direction. They had been spending the day putting in temporary props, and the boss had been there superintending the job. He had been urging the men on harder every day, as he seemed so anxious to get the tunnel in to a certain point with the least possible delay. The boss had in mind something very definite, however, for he often referred to a certain sketch which he always carried in his pocket book. The miner declared he had seen the boss make calculations many times, after he had measured the depth of the tunnel. "Yes, the boss was in the mine, too--had been there all day. It might be that he is dead this moment, for all I know," said the stranger. From his description of the boss, Tad guessed that it was no other than Mr. Williams himself.