"Do you see any gold yet?" asked Jan of the two boys, when they had
dug down so that only the top parts of their bodies were out of the
big hole.
"No, not yet. But we'll come to it pretty soon," Hal said.
"Say, how're we going to get up when the hole gets too deep?" asked
Ted. "We ought to have a ladder or something."
"There's a ladder in camp," answered Jan. "Grandpa had it when he put
up our real rope swing. Don't you remember, Ted?"
"Yes, that's right. We'd better get it if we're going any deeper,
Hal," he added.
"Course we're going deeper. Gold mines are real deep. I guess the
ladder would be a good thing."
"Then we'll go for it. Jan, you can come and get us something to eat,
too. I'm awful hungry."
"So'm I," said Hal.
While Jan was in the tent-kitchen begging Nora for some cookies and
sandwiches, Ted and Hal carried the small ladder, which was not very
heavy, up to the big hole they had started. By putting one end of the
ladder down inside, allowing it to slant up to the top of the hole,
the children could easily get down in and climb up.
After they had eaten the things Jan got from Nora, they began digging
again. The hole was soon so deep that the dirt which was shoveled and
hoed away from the bottom and sides could no longer be tossed out by
Ted and Jan.
"We've got to get a pail and hoist up the dirt," decided Hal.
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