"You go down and stay on guard. If there is any danger, if anything turns up, stamp three times on the floor when there is no skip going by. Otherwise I shall not hear it." "I'm wise. Good luck! We can't lose this time and we'll be even with the whole bunch for all time." Spooner stepped inside the dark chamber, pulling the door cautiously shut after him. His long service in iron mines had given him an excellent knowledge of every foot of the mine he was then working in, and though in deep darkness, he was not at all uncertain in his movements. The contractor was now in the large shaft through which the ore skips ran with their cargoes to the top of the shaft, where they emptied the ore into waiting trams which ran out over a trestle and dumped it on the pile where Steve Rush had begun his work when he first came to the Cousin Jack Mine. It was a dangerous place for one who was not wholly sure of himself, but Spooner descended the ladder confidently, making his way to the bottom, then down a short ladder to a platform that was directly beneath that on which the tally-man and the dumper in level seventeen stood when at their work. Reaching this platform, the contractor removed his candle from his hat, making a careful examination of his surroundings. His attention finally centred on a section of the flooring above. That particular part was held up by a post some three feet in length, the latter being supported by a two-inch plank laid across two other posts that protruded up through the floor of the lower platform. "I wish those skips would get busy," muttered Spooner. "They'll hear the saw above there if I am not careful." Then it occurred to him that, it being the noon hour, the skips were not running regularly. With an exclamation of disappointment, the man stepped up to the main post and ran his hands over the plank that supported it. "I guess this will be about the right spot," he decided, placing his saw about midway on the right-hand side of the post. Spooner took off his blouse, throwing this over the saw to deaden the sound. Then, holding a corner of the coat up by one hand that he might see what he was doing, he began drawing the saw rapidly across the plank. The latter being hard wood, his efforts were not productive of immediate results. But the saw slowly ate its way into the tough timber until at last the man withdrew it, and, holding his candle low, examined the cut he had made. "I think that will be enough for this side. I'll open up the other side a little," he muttered. Spooner had just begun to saw when a sound somewhere above him caused the man quickly to extinguish his candle. He stood still and listened. "What's this door doing unlatched?" demanded a voice, which the fellow recognized as belonging to the mine captain. Spooner did not catch the reply. "Somebody will be tumbling into the shaft, first thing you know, and then we shall have damages to pay."