He looked at Tom.
"Go in? Of course I'll go in!" cried our hero, stepping forward. The
others followed. For some time they went on, and saw no traces of the
precious metal. Then Ned uttered a cry, as he saw some dull, grayish
particles imbedded in the earth walls of the shaft.
"Look!" he cried.
Tom was at his chum's side in a moment
"That's platinum!" cried the young inventor. "And of the very highest
grade! But the lumps are very small."
"There are larger ones beyond," said the younger Russian brother.
Forward they pressed, and a moment later coming around a turn in the
cavern where some earth had fallen away, evidently recently, Tom could
not repress a cry of joy. For there, in plain sight, were many large
lumps of the valuable metal, in as pure a state as it is ever found. For
it is always mixed with other metals or chemicals.
"Look at that!" cried Tom. "Look at that! Lumps as large as an egg!" and
he dug some out with a small pick he bad brought along, and stuffed them
into his pocket.
"Bless my check book!" cried Mr. Damon, "and that stuff is as valuable
as gold!"
"More so!" cried Tom enthusiastically.
"Oh, here's a whopping big one!" cried Ned. I'll bet it weighs ten
pounds."
"More than that!" cried Tom, as he ran over and began digging it out,
and they found later that it did.
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