As many as could get at the handle pulled with might and main, and soon the handle came up, and the sand with it, forming a round mound. Then from the middle of the mound came Bob, white, limp, and all but exhausted. "Bob, are you hurt?" asked Mark, anxiously, as he assisted his chum to firmer ground. "I--I don't know," was the answer, and then poor Bob sank in a heap, too weak to stand. They made him as comfortable as they could and presently he got back his breath and sat up. "I--I guess I am all right," he gasped. "But say, I don't want to be buried alive again!" "Shouldn't think you would want to," said Si. "I wouldn't want to have it happen to me for a million dollars!" "I thought I'd never be dug out." "We went to work as fast as we could." "I know it, and I am very thankful," said Bob, and thanked the miners from outside who had come to his aid. Then he limped to the tent, leaning on Si's arm, and Mark came limping behind the pair. "That is one of the perils of mining," said Maybe Dixon. "You ought never to go into a deep hole unless you have the sides properly shored up." "I'll remember that," said Bob. "And so will I," added Mark. Neither of the boys suffered much from the cave-in. But it taught them a valuable lesson, and they took care never to be caught again in that manner. CHAPTER XXV THE MAN FROM PHILADELPHIA Spring passed and soon came summer, with its heat and its flies, mosquitoes, ants, and other insects. But the boys and Maybe Dixon were doing well and paid small attention to the pests that came to bother them. They had moved from Three Cross Gulch to another spot fifty miles away called White Rock Gulch. Here they had located two claims, and both were panning out very well. At White Rock Gulch they did only surface mining, following up the gulch and its various tributaries for miles. They took out a good deal of coarse gold, and once Maybe Dixon got out a nugget worth at least a hundred and fifty dollars. All told, they calculated that they had about three thousand dollars' worth of gold on hand. They might have had several hundred dollars' worth more but living was very high, and they did not want to go without at least some good things, although Si, who was used to scant farm fare, sometimes shook his head when the others paid a dollar a pound for sugar, three dollars for coffee, and two dollars per pound for steak that was a long way from being porterhouse in quality. Fortunately, however, high prices did not last and by August they could get the articles mentioned for a third of the figures given. One day Mark took the mule and rode off to a fair-sized settlement known as Bender's because the chief storekeeper was Captain Samuel Bender. This place was twelve miles from where the camp of our friends was located, and it took the youth and the animal three hours to cover the distance over the uneven hilly trail.