"Not especially," said Houston, "I have paid no attention to it, as it was not one in which our company was interested, nor one of which I was in charge. Since the recent change, I have visited the mine once with Mr. Blaisdell, but we only went in a short distance, and he informed me there was but little work done there, and but few men employed." "Yes," replied Jack, with peculiar emphasis, "but that 'little work' as he terms it yields the company a larger percentage than any other single mine which they own." Houston's face expressed considerable astonishment. "You surprise me," he exclaimed, "because I thought I knew their best paying properties, and I never would have supposed that was one of them, either from my own observation, or from anything I have heard of it." "It would not be for the interests of the company to have much said regarding the mine, or to have the workings investigated very closely. You are probably aware that the claim adjoins the Yankee Boy?" "Certainly," answered Houston, "I am aware of that fact." "Very well," replied Jack, rising and going to the table. "I have prepared some diagrams here which I would like you and Mr. Van Dorn to examine. Here you will see," he continued, as they drew their chairs near the table," the boundaries and underground workings of the Lucky Chance mine, with their approximate measurements. Please look them over and see if you detect any irregularities." Both Houston and Van Dorn studied the diagram carefully for a moment, when the latter exclaimed: "Why, the main tunnel extends more than a hundred feet beyond the boundary line." "Now allow me to substitute this diagram," said Jack, spreading a larger tracing before them. "This is the same as the other with the addition of a portion of the boundary lines and underground workings of the adjoining claim, the Yankee Boy." "Ah, I see," said Houston, "the tunnel from the Lucky Chance has been carried beyond the boundary line in such a direction as to strike the vein of the adjoining claim." "That is it exactly," said Van Dorn, "no wonder the mine pays well!" "As I stated before," continued Jack, "these measurements, and, to a certain extent, the course of the tunnel, are given approximately, as I had no means of ascertaining the exact data, but I know they are essentially correct. It only remains for you, gentlemen, to verify this, by making an examination of the tunnel and taking the courses and measurements exactly, and also by comparing the ore now taken out with that originally found in the mine, and with the ore of the Yankee Boy, and you will then have evidence of the greatest fraud which has been perpetrated upon the rightful owners of the Yankee Boy, and which has been carried on for the last four or five years." "But how did you discover this?" asked Houston.