He struck one against the under side of his coat-sleeve, which was comparatively dry. It flared unsteadily, and then burned clearly. For a moment, Nolan was blinded by the flame; then he stared about him, scarcely able to believe his eyes. For on every side the black walls shut him in. He was at the bottom of a pit, not more than thirty feet in diameter, and he had been walking round and round it, too agitated and stupefied by fear to notice that he was travelling in a circle. The match sputtered and went out, and Nolan sat for a long time with the stump of it in his fingers. He was evidently at the bottom of a shaft sunk in search of another vein, or, perhaps, of a natural cavity in the rock. Of the height of the walls he could form no estimate, but they were so smooth and straight that ten feet were as impossible to him as a hundred. Decidedly there was no chance of escape unless his captors chose to assist him. As he sat there musing, a light fell into the pit, and he looked up to see one of his captors gazing down at him by the light of a torch which he held above his head. "I just came to say good-bye," he called down. "Good-bye?" echoed Nolan, hoarsely. "Yes,--it will soon be dark, and we're going to pull out for the west. Ohio's too hot for us just now." "And--and you're goin' t' leave me here?" cried Nolan. "We certainly are. How do you like it?" "But that'll be murder!" Nolan protested. "You might swing fer it!" "Oh, no, we mightn't. You'll never be found. You're done with this world, Daniel. Fix your thoughts upon the next." Nolan uttered a hollow moan. Then a sudden inspiration brought him to his feet. "See here," he said, "let me out o' here an' I'll put y' on to somethin' good." His captor laughed mockingly. "I'm afraid it's not good enough, Daniel-in-the-lion's-den," he said. "You're asking too big a price." "It's sixty thousand dollars," said Dan, still more eagerly. "You kin git it day arter t'-morrer, as easy as fallin' off a log." The smile on the other's face vanished and he stood for a moment looking thoughtfully down into the pit. "Is there anything in this, or is it just moonshine?" he asked, at last. "It's straight!" Nolan protested. "It's dead straight! Pull me out o' here an' I'll tell you." "Wait a minute," said the other, and disappeared. Nolan waited with an anxiety that deepened with every passing second; but at last the light appeared again at the edge of the pit, and this time four faces looked down at him instead of one. The rope was lowered, he slipped it under his arms, and three minutes later stood again facing his captors. [Illustration: "'IT B'LONGS T' TH' MINE COMPANY,' SAID NOLAN."] Without speaking, they led him back to the place where their fire was still burning and motioned him to sit down. "Now," said one of them, "let's have the story." "And if it's straight, you'll let me go?"