"I see no reason why this cave should collapse," he finally
announced. "The only danger is the movement of the whole valley of
ice, and that is too gradual to cause any immediate harm. Yes, I
think the airship could be housed in the ice cave."
"Then I'll run her in, and she'll be safer," decided Tom. "I guess
we three can do it, Ned, and leave Mr. Damon and Abe to keep on
digging for gold." The airship was so buoyant that it could easily
be moved about on the bicycle wheels on which it rested, and soon,
after the lower edge of the opening into the ice cave had been
smoothed down, the RED CLOUD was placed in the novel shelter.
"Now to continue the search for the yellow nuggets!" cried Ned, and
Tom went with him, even Mr. Parker condescending to take a pick,
now. Abe was the only one who dug steadily in one place. The others
tried spot after spot.
"You've got t' stick t' one lead until you find somethin', or until
it peters out," explained the miner. "You must git down to th' dirt
before you'll find any gold, though you may strike a few grains that
have worked up into th' ice."
After this advice they all kept to one hole until they had worked
down through the ice to the dirt surface below. But even then, Abe,
who was the first to achieve this, found no gold, and the old miner
went to another location.
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