It was the scout danger-signal--a call for help. The boys stood motionless, listening intently for an answer. Presently it came, two short blasts, rather faint and far off, from over the top of the hill. "That's Mr. Reed, I guess," said Ranny. "I hope he'll bring that coil of rope along. But of course he will. He's not the kind to forget any--" The words died on his lips; his eyes widened in startled surprise. The others, following the direction of his bewildered gaze, gasped and stared. Bennie Rhead, returned from a fruitless trip to the old foundation, cried out sharply, an undercurrent of fright in his voice. Around the corner of the great rock Court Parker had stepped quietly into view. He was bareheaded and dirt-streaked, but his face nevertheless wore a broad grin, and after the first shock of surprise had passed, Bob Gibson started forward angrily. "By heck!" he exclaimed irately. "If you think this sort of thing is funny, Court Parker, it's about time somebody taught you--" "Shut up, Bob!" cut in Ranny, curtly. His quick eye had taken in the streak of blood on Parker's cheek and noted a slight twitching at the corners of the boy's smiling mouth. "You're not hurt, are you, Court?" he added quickly. Parker shook his head. "Not to speak of." He drew a long breath. "Well, we've found the mine," he went on in a voice which failed to be quite as matter of fact as he evidently tried to make it. In an instant he was surrounded by the excited boys and fairly bombarded with questions: "Did you fall down the hole?" "What's it like down there?" "How did you get out?" Court laughed a little shakily and sat down suddenly on a rock. "Give me a chance, can't you?" he begged. "I've only got one tongue, even though I can make that go pretty fast." "Cut it out and quit worrying him, fellows," ordered Ranny. "Take your time, Court, and start at the beginning. How did you get down the hole?" "Cinchiest thing you know!" grinned Parker. "I just stepped on the cover and went through. You see, when I went into that crack the hole didn't show at all; there were a lot of branches and stuff over it. One minute I was on solid ground, and the next I was flying through space." "Gee!" exclaimed Sanson. "How deep was it?" "Seemed about a mile; but I guess it wasn't more than twenty feet. Luckily there was a lot of leaves and stuff at the bottom, so I landed pretty soft. But when I tried to climb back I found it was too slippery. Then I lost my voice yelling, but nobody came, so I started to look around a bit. It's just one long tunnel, running both ways and braced up by rotten old timbers and things. I had my flash-light in my pocket, so I wasn't afraid of being lost. I took the right-hand turn and--I say, fellows, there's a bear down there!" "A bear?" chorused the astonished audience as one boy. [Illustration: In an instant he was surrounded by excited boys]