CHAPTER PAGE I. GOLD MINE TALK 1 II. THE END OF EVERYTHING 11 III. NODDY NIXON’S THREAT 22 IV. OVER THE CLIFF 31 V. VAIN REGRETS 38 VI. LAYING A PLOT 49 VII. IN THE BARN 56 VIII. A CRASH 65 IX. THE FAT MAN 74 X. THE SECOND SECTION 83 XI. ON THE TRAIL 92 XII. TINNY’S SHACK 99 XIII. ECHO CANYON 107 XIV. DOWN A HOLE 117 XV. YELLOW EYES 124 XVI. A STRANGE DISAPPEARANCE 133 XVII. SEARCHING 142 XVIII. STRANGE NOISES 149 XIX. THE PROFESSOR’S STORY 157 XX. THE POSSE 166 XXI. AN AVALANCHE 171 XXII. IN THE WILDERNESS 180 XXIII. AN ESCAPE 188 XXIV. THUNDER MOUNTAIN 197 XXV. THE STORM 206 XXVI. A BLUE ROCK SLIDE 213 XXVII. IN DIRE PERIL 220 XXVIII. A DISCOVERY 228 XXIX. TO THE RESCUE 234 XXX. PAY DIRT 241 THE MOTOR BOYS ON THUNDER MOUNTAIN CHAPTER I GOLD MINE TALK “What do you think of it, fellows?” asked Jerry Hopkins. The tall lad ruffled in his hand some sheets of paper covered with typewriting. He looked closely at his two chums. “You mean Tinny Mallison’s gold mine proposition?” inquired Ned Slade, flicking a bit of dust from the trousers of his new suit. “That’s what I mean,” replied Jerry. “He didn’t say anything else in his letter worth considering, did he?” and the tall lad again referred to the screed. “Except about chicken,” put in the third member of the trio, a stout, good-natured looking lad with a beaming face. “Chicken? What do you mean--chicken?” demanded Ned Slade, with just a slight note of impatience in his voice. Jerry, looking hastily through the letter, added: “Tinny didn’t say anything about going into the chicken business, did he? Not that I remember. Anyhow, he isn’t in a chicken-raising country. He’s out in the tall timber where the only things they raise are Rocky Mountain goats. Chickens! How do you get that way, Chunky?” The fat lad flushed, having drawn this much attention to himself, and, to justify his remark, he said: “I didn’t mean it that way. You know, as well as I do, he didn’t propose to us to go out there to raise _chickens_. We could do that here at home a lot better.” “Just what do you mean by harping on fowls?” asked Ned. “I mean Tinny said in his letter that he was in a restaurant where they served him roast chicken and mushrooms, and he got to thinking of us and----” “You mean he got to thinking of _you_!” and Ned exploded into a laugh, at which Bob Baker blushed a deeper pink.