"He sneaked away when the others left. But he is of no use to us. He knows nothing about this affair, beyond what we all saw. We must look beyond him for the cause of the fire. Well, I'm off." The lads separated for the time being and went off about their duties. But the thought of the fired bag kept recurring to Steve Rush. He turned the matter over and over in his mind, yet without being able to reach any definite conclusion regarding it. "I wish I knew," he mused. "It is not my business, however, to inquire into the affair unless I have orders to do so." He was to receive his orders sooner than he imagined, and his investigations were eventually to develop some startling facts concerning conditions in the Cousin Jack Mine. CHAPTER XX INTO A BLACK GULF While the Iron Boys were trudging through the mine, completing their weary rounds of miles with their eyes fixed keenly on the tracks, a meeting had been called at the office of the superintendent. All of the gentlemen who comprised the party of visitors at the mine were at the meeting. Maps of the mines on the range were spread out on the table before them, and they were going over and discussing these maps in detail. Business was transacted with a speed that would have made most of the business men in that remote region dizzy headed. Having disposed of the matters before them, the conversation turned to their recent narrow escape in the Cousin Jack Mine. The visitors were fully convinced now that the fire had been caused by a spark from the trolley wire, and Superintendent Penton, if he thought otherwise, did not say so. He had made up his mind, however, to push his inquiry a little further. He wanted to make sure that the suggestion was the correct one. From the subject of the fired bag the men turned to a discussion of Steve Rush and Bob Jarvis. This ended in Mr. Cary's making a proposition. After a little discussion it was put in the form of a motion and passed with enthusiasm. Of all of this, of course, the lads tramping along the levels far underground knew nothing. It was destined to come as a great surprise to them when they learned of the action taken by the officials of the company in the interest of the two plucky boys. That night the officers boarded their private car and went on to visit other of the company's mines further up the range. Early on the following forenoon Superintendent Penton visited his own mine, and while there looked up Steve Rush. The superintendent asked Steve what he thought about the theory of a spark from the wire having fired the dynamite bag. "I don't take any stock in it," answered the boy promptly. "Do you, sir?" "I have had my doubts, but how else could it have started?" "I will answer that question by showing you that it could not have started from a wire spark. The fire started on the underside of the bag. Did you notice that?"