Wayne Kendrick is suspicious. His best friend, Jim Carson, has suddenly disappeared, and Jim's claim has been taken over by The Blake Mining Company, which claims the land was abandoned. When Wayne meets with Jim's family, he finds the reason for his friend's sudden disappearance: he has been kidnapped! Reading a ransom note that Jim's family has discovered, Wayne promises he'll bring Jim home safely, aware even as he makes the oath that if his friend isn't dead already, he will be once the ransom has been paid. Wayne reasons that The Blake Mining Company has a part in Jim's disappearance and decides to spy on them. Disguising himself as a miner and buying space on Jim's land, he sets up his camp and begins his investigation. When Wayne befriends Davis, an abandoned African-American boy, he is led to a secret mine hidden within a mountain. Inside the mine, he is shocked to discover chained slaves forced to work the mine for their kidnappers.