"I don't think it's necessary, sir. My brother will be along this way soon. I was waiting for him to come when I was struck." "You were out rather late," remarked the officer of the law, suspiciously. "I was watching a rascal who tried to make trouble for me." "Then there must be more to this case than what you just told me." "There is." "In that case you had better go to police headquarters with me." "I am willing. But won't you wait until my brother gets here?" There was no need to wait, for at that moment Tom appeared on the scene, accompanied by Jack Wumble. They both stared at Dick in horror. "Oh, Dick, you are hurt?" cried Tom. "Not very much. Bradner hit me on the head. I am glad I am alive." "And where is the rascal now?" questioned the old miner. "Ran away." "And Dan Baxter?" queried Tom. "Gone, too, I suppose. They must have been together." And then Dick related what had occurred--so far as he knew--since Tom had left him. The officer of the law accompanied all three to the police station, and here the boys told their story, and a watch was set for Bradner and Dan Baxter. But nothing came of this, for the pair left Chicago early the next day. "We had better keep close together after this," said Jack Wumble, as he was seeing the boys back to their hotel. "I reckon you've got a mighty bad crowd to deal with." And he remained with them for the balance of the night. The express for Denver left at eleven o'clock in the morning, and all of the party of four were on hand to catch it. Soon they were whirling over the fields and through the forests toward the mighty Mississippi River. "Never been West afore-eh?" remarked Jack Wumble. "Well, you will see some grand sights, I can tell ye that." "No, we have never been West," answered Sam. "But we have been to Africa," he added proudly. "Gee shoo! is that so! Well, that's long traveling certainly. But I reckon I'd rather see my own country first." "We went to Africa for a purpose," said Tom, and told of the rescue of his father. The old miner listened with keen appreciation and at the conclusion clapped Tom on the back. "You're true blue, Tom!" he cried. "You and your brothers will pull through, I feel sure of it." And then he fell to telling about his own life, and how he had become acquainted with Anderson Rover and his partner Kennedy, and of the various bad things Arnold Baxter had done in those days. "This man seems to be a chip of the old block," he concluded. The trip to Denver was full of interest, and Dick was sorry he did not have a camera along, that he might take snapshots of the scenery. Yet he was impatient to get to his destination and stake out the missing Eclipse Mine before Arnold Baxter and his confederates should have the chance to do so.