“He’s gone in,” said Bachelor Billy, examining the foot-prints, “he’s gone in toward the face.  I ken the place richt well, it’s mony’s the time I ha’ travelled it.”

They hurried in along the heading, not stopping to look for other tracks, but expecting to find the boy’s body ahead of them at every step they took.

When they reached the face, they turned and looked at each other in surprise.

“He’s no’ here,” said Billy.

“It’s strange, too,” replied Conway.  “He couldn’t ‘a’ got off o’ the headin’!”

He stooped and examined the floor of the passage carefully, holding his lamp very low.

“Billy,” he said, “I believe he’s come in an’ gone out again.  Here’s tracks a-pointin’ the other way.”

“So he has, Mike, so he has; the puir lad!”

Bachelor Billy was thinking of the disappointment Ralph must have felt when he saw the face of the heading before him, and knew that his journey in had been in vain.

Already the two men had turned and were walking back.

At the point where they had entered the heading they found foot-prints leading out toward the slope.  They had not noticed them at first.

They followed them hastily, and came, as Ralph had come, to the fall.

“He’s no’ climbit it,” said Billy.  “He’s gone up an’ around it.  The lad knew eneuch aboot the mines for that.”

They passed up into the chambers, but the floor was too dry to take the impress of footsteps, and they found no trace of the boy.

When they reached the upper limit of the fall, Billy said:—­

“We mus’ turn sharp to the left here, or we’ll no’ get back.  It’s a tarrible windin’ headin’.”

But Conway had discovered tracks, faintly discernible, leading across into a passage used by men and mules to shorten the distance to the inner workings.

“He’s a-goin’ stret back,” said Billy, sorrowfully, as they slowly followed these traces, “he’s a-goin’ stret back to whaur he cam’ through.”

Surely enough the prints of the child’s feet soon led the tired searchers back to the opening from Conway’s chamber.

They looked at each other in silent disappointment, and sat down for a few moments to rest and to try to think.

Bachelor Billy was the first to rise to his feet.

“Mike,” he said, “the lad’s i’ this auld mine.  Be it soon or late I s’all find ’im.  I s’all search the place fra slope to headin’-face.  I s’all no’ gae oot till I gae wi’ the boy or wi’ ’is body; what say ye? wull ye help?”

Conway grasped the man’s hand with a pressure that meant more than words, and they started immediately to follow their last track back.  They passed up and down all the chambers in the tier till they reached the point, at the upper limit of the fall, where Ralph had turned into the foot-way.  Their search had been a long and tiresome one and had yielded to them no results.