"And we might have been on our way while they were devouring them!" wailed Thede.
The tree was now virtually a pillar of fire, and the boys moved out from under it. They found the Indian standing, stolid and indifferent, just out of the circle of light.
"Just think of all that funny thing happening and he never seeing any humor in it!" exclaimed Sandy.
The Indian lifted his hand for silence, and pointed off toward the hills. Then, motioning the boys to follow him, he led the way into a thicket and crouched down.
Directly the panting and puffing of a man exhausted from a long run, was heard, and the familiar figure of Antoine dashed into the circle of light! He glared about for a moment and then dropped down on the snow, evidently completely exhausted.
"That's a funny proposition, too!" whispered Sandy.
"That's the gink who tried to feed us poisoned tea," Thede whispered back. "I wonder what he's running for."
The Indian drew at the boys' sleeves to enforce silence, and all three sat perfectly still for some moments. Then Antoine lifted himself to his feet and looked cautiously about.
They saw him examine the bear tracks and heard him muttering to himself as he followed with trained eyes the trail leading into the thicket where the boys and the Indian were hiding.
He drew quite close to the bushes where the three lay; so close, indeed, that they could hear him muttering as he lost the trail because of the darkness. Presently, he turned back.
"I think I understand," he said hoarsely. "Two of the boys were treed by bears and Oje rescued them. I presume they are half way to the cabin before this."
He started along the trail by which the boys had reached the tree but presently turned back. He stood in the light of the fire for a moment and then set off in the direction of the hills.
"Safer there than here!" they heard him growl as he passed them by.
Oje waited until the sound of the fellow's footsteps were heard no more, and then arose to his feet, Without speaking a word, he, too, faced toward the hills, passing through the snow at a swinging gait.
"What's he going to do now?" queried Sandy.
"I wish I knew!" replied Thede. "Say, look here!" the boy continued, "hadn't we better make a break for the cabin? I don't see any sustenance in wandering around in the snow all night!"
"Oje has something on his mind!" Sandy declared. "And I think we'd better find out where he's going."
"All right!" answered Thede. "I'm game, only I'm wondering whatGeorge is thinking about all this time."
It was cold and dark in the forest, and the snow was deep, but the boys trudged bravely on in the direction of the hills. At least they supposed that they were going in the direction of the hills. They could scarcely see a yard in advance of their noses under the thick foliage and so trusted entirely to the Indian, who led them along at a pace which was exhausting to say the least.
There would be a moon shortly after eight, but soon after that time they hoped to be snugly tucked in their blankets in the cottage. For a time they could see the dry tree which they had fired blazing in the distance, but at length it dropped out of sight.
"How long do you think that blooming savage will keep this up?" asked Sandy of Thede, as the two boys struggled along through snow nearly up to their knees. "I'm about all in!"
"He's capable of keeping it up all night!" Thede answered in a dejected tone, "but I hope he'll stop when we come to the hills."
"He does seem to be heading for the hills," Sandy replied. "If he'll only stop when he gets there, I may be able to catch my breath again!"
"Cheer up!" laughed Thede. "The worst is yet to come!"
"Doesn't that look like the moon coming up?" asked Sandy an hour later as they came to a slope which gradually led up to the hills.
"That's the moon, all right!" replied Thede. "But it won't do much good if we keep on walking under the trees. We ought to be home now."
"Does the moon rise in the south?" asked Sandy,
"There's no knowing what will take place in this part of the country," answered Thede. "Me for little old Chicago right soon!"
"I think it's about time we headed for Chicago," Sandy agreed. "When a couple of Boy Scouts who are supposed to be in their right minds climb a tree to get away from bears who are so busy eating stolen fish that they don't know there is a boy within a hundred miles, I think it is about time they headed for civilization."
"What did you mean about the moon rising in the south?" asked Thede.
"Well," Sandy answered, "it looks to me as if there were two moons rising, one in the east and one in the south!"
There certainly was a light growing far up on the hills. In a moment the Indian came back to the boys and pointed out the strange illumination.
"Fire there!" he said.
"What do you think it means?" asked Thede.
"Heap campfire!" was the reply.
Oje held up three fingers to indicate that he saw three fires. His eyes were sharper than those of the boys, who at first saw only a blur of light. Before long, however, they caught sight of three points of flame lifting above the hills. As the boys looked the blazes seemed to die down, or to be obscured by additional material being thrown upon them. As the moon rose, sending a wintry light over the great slope, three gigantic columns of smoke stood where the flames had shown a minute before.
"What do you make of it?" asked Thede.
"Can you read the signal?" asked Sandy.
"Do you really think it is a signal?"
"Of course it's a signal!" cried Sandy. "That's the Boy Scout signal. Do you know what it says?"
"Three smoke columns mean 'Good News!' answered Thede.
"Do you suppose those crazy boys are still in the hills?" askedSandy. "If they are, George will think we've all deserted him."
"Of course they're still in the hills!" declared Thede. "No one but Boy Scouts would be sending up those signals!"
"Aw, what good news would they have to communicate?" asked Sandy.
"Perhaps they've found the Little Brass God!" suggested Thede.
"Found your Little Brass Uncle!" cried Sandy.
"Well, it's good news anyhow!" insisted Thede. "If it wasn't the boys wouldn't be taking the pains to build three big fires in order to tell us about it."
The Indian appeared to be suspicious of the campfires ahead until the boys explained to him, with much difficulty, that the fires had undoubtedly been built by their friends, and that they conveyed the information that agreeable developments awaited them.
The slope of the hills was now bathed in moonlight, and the Indian hesitated about advancing over the many clear places from which the timber fell away. Urged on by the boys, however, he finally proceeded cautiously in the direction of the fires, keeping out of the moonlight as far as possible.
"Oje's afraid we'll bunt into something," Thede said, as they clambered up the slope. "I wonder what he'd think if he should be called out of his bed by a blooming magician from the East Indies."
The signal coming from the hills was farther to the east than the boys had ventured before. The fires seemed to have been built high up on a shelf of rock facing the north.
When the boys came closer they saw two figures moving about in front of the flames. Directly they bad no difficulty whatever in recognizing Will and Tommy, as they heaped great piles of green boughs on the coals in order to create dense smoke.
"The kids are in the center of the stage all right!" laughed Sandy.
"I don't see how they dare build fires out in that exposed place,"Thede suggested. "There's no knowing who may be prowling around."
"Perhaps they know where the few enemies we have found in this section are keeping themselves!"
"Perhaps they've got 'em shut up in some of their own caverns!" Thede suggested. "Anyway," he went on, "there's something doing, or they wouldn't be talking Boy Scout to us at this time of night."
As the boys drew still closer they heard the labored breathing of some one running, apparently only a short distance away.
Oje darted away in the direction of the sounds, but soon returned to where the boys waited and headed once more for the Boy Scout signal.
"What did you see, Oje?" Thede asked.
The Indian turned and pointed back over the snowy trail they had followed from the burning tree.
"Man from there!" he said.
"Antoine?" asked Sandy.
The Indian nodded and continued up the slope as if the matter were unworthy of further attention.
"Now, what do you suppose Antoine came here for?" asked Thede.
"Attracted by the fire, probably,"
"I don't understand what he's roaming about so much for," Thede continued. "What was he doing out at the burning tree?"
"From the appearance of things," Sandy answered, "I should say that he hot-footed it out there in order to get away from some one who was chasing him, though I can't understand why anyone should be chasing him."
"Anyway, he seems to be back here now," Thede said. "It's dollars to buttons, though, that he doesn't go up to the fire where the boys are."
"Look here," Sandy said in a moment, '"I just believe that Antoine has the Little Brass God in his possession, and that the two men who came to the cabin that night are after it!"
"I hope they don't get it!"
"Of course they won't get it," Sandy answered. "Didn't we come away up here into this desolate land to get it ourselves?"
When a few yards from the blazing fires, Sandy paused long enough to give the Beaver call and hear the answer given. Then the lads trooped up to the circle of light and warmth.
"What's the idea?" Sandy asked after greetings had been exchanged."Did you build these fires so we could cook supper?"
"You're not hungry, I hope!" grinned Tommy.
"Starved to death!" answered Sandy. "We've been treed by bears, and dumped down on the back of a great beast about nine feet long, and had our fish devoured, and there's been nothing doing in the eating line since noon!"
"Never you mind the hardships of life!" grinned Will. "We've got great news for you, so get ready to shout!"
"What's the great news?" demanded Sandy.
"We've got the Little Brass God penned up in the cavern just under this rock! We've got a cinch on him this time!"
"All quiet at the cabin?" asked Tommy.
"All quiet when we left," Sandy replied.
"What time did you leave?" demanded Tommy, suspiciously.
"Shortly after dinner."
"And you've gone and left George alone all this time!" exclaimedTommy indignantly. "You're a bright lot!"
"We thought you boys would be back to the cabin long before this!"Sandy declared. "But what is it about this Little Brass God?"
"When we reached the system of caverns which we visited not long ago, and in which we were held prisoners for a short time," Will said, "we found two men, well bundled up in furs, lying asleep, or apparently asleep, in one of the smaller rooms. They sprang up when they saw us and seemed about to engage in conversation with us when Antoine made his appearance. Antoine seemed to want to talk with us, too, but when he saw the two men who had been asleep in the cavern he hot-footed down the slope, with the two fellows after him. I never saw a man run so fast in my life."
"I bet they chased him clear to our tree!" Thede cut in.
"I guess he never stopped running until be got there anyway!" Sandy grinned. "But why should he come right back here after being chased away?"
"I don't think he did!" "Will replied.
"Oje saw him out here not long ago!" Sandy insisted.
"What was he doing?"
"I presume he was watching the fire."
"The two men who pursued him are back, too!" Will continued. "Tommy and I found them in a cute little nest in the rocks not more than an hour ago. Just before we built these fires, in fact."
"I suppose you built the fires to lure us from the cabin!" laughed Sandy. "Well, we wasn't at the cabin, but we saw the signals just the same!"
"We wanted you to come and help capture the men who have the LittleBrass God," Will answered.
"So you've got the Little Brass God penned up under the hill!" laughed Sandy. "You've got it, and yet you haven't got it!"
"I never said we had it!" Will replied. "I said we had it penned up under the hill. You didn't give me time to explain that there were two men penned up with it."
"All right!" Sandy said. "You've come to the right shop for fighting men. I can see those two fellows fading away at my approach!"
"Then you go in ahead," advised Tommy. "They seem to be well armed and may shoot, if you don't scare them into fits with one of your fierce glances! They're bold, bad men!"
"How do you know they haven't disappeared while you've been making signals?" asked Sandy. "They've had time enough to be five miles away!"
"We nailed 'em in with a couple of boulders!" grinned Tommy.
"You followed Pierre's example, did you?"
"Yes, we just blocked 'em in."
"Well, I think we'd better be getting them out, then!" Sandy urged. "And also be moving toward the cabin. George'll think we've got killed or something."
"Come on, then," Will exclaimed. "I'll show you where they are!"
The boy led the way down the slope for some distance and then paused at a boulder which blocked the entrance to what seemed to be a cavern of good size. They listened for a moment, but could hear no sounds coming from the interior.
"How're you going to get them out?" asked Thede.
"We ain't going to get 'em out!" replied Will. "What do you think we brought you boys here for? We know they can't get out, so we're just going to sit down here and wait for them to get good and hungry."
"All right!" Sandy answered. "Two can watch and two can go back to the cabin! George will be good and anxious by this time."
"I was thinking of asking Oje to watch a short time," Will said."It's a good thing the Indian came along with you."
Oje was called down to the barricaded entrance and the situation briefly explained to him. The Indian stepped close to the boulder and listened for a long time for sounds from the inside.
Then he turned to, the boys and shook his head gravely.
"Don't you ever tell me they've gone and got away!" exclaimed Tommy. "Why, they couldn't get away unless they walked through forty feet of solid rock! And they couldn't do that!"
"I'm going to find out!" declared Will.
The lads pried the boulder away, blocking it so that it could not crash down the slope and so warn the men inside of the approach of the boys. Then Will crept cautiously into the dark passage.
The others were at his heels in a moment. On the previous visit of Will and Tommy, there had been the light of a torch in the cavern, but there was no illumination of any kind now.
"I guess they've gone, all right!" Tommy, whispered.
"Why didn't you get the Little Brass God while the getting was good?" demanded Sandy.
"The guns those fellows carried didn't look good to me!" was the reply.
"It's a mystery to me how they ever got out of this cavern," Will observed.
"Perhaps they are still here, waiting to get a shot at us!" suggested Thede. "This would be a bad place for an attack."
As the boys advanced they heard a whisper of voices farther in, and what seemed to be the rattle of footsteps over the uneven floor.
Then from some, apparently, distant comer of the cavern came a cry in an unknown tongue. The next instant the place was illuminated by two great torches of resinous wood.
They flamed high in the hands of the men who had been discovered in the cavern during the first visit.
"Look!" cried Will, pointing. "Look!"
The eyes of the boys followed the pointing finger dimly outlined in the light of the torches, and saw the Little Brass God swinging to and fro in an uplifted hand!
"There!" exclaimed Tommy. "I told you we'd got the Little BrassGod!"
"But you haven't got it yet!" taunted Sandy.
"We'll have it in a minute!" replied the boy confidently.
The ugly little image remained in sight for perhaps half a minute, and then the cavern became dark as pitch again.
The boys heard a quick rush of footsteps, apparently passing further into the cavern, and then all was silent.
"That isn't the man who had the Little Brass God the other time I saw it!" Thede declared. "I guess these fellows must have got it away from Antoine, or whoever it was who had it at that time."
"I wish we had a searchlight," suggested Sandy.
"I've got a little one for a cent," Tommy answered. "I never leave the camp without one. No knowing when one may be needed,"
"Strike a light then!" whispered Sandy.
"That would be a fine way to get a bullet into my coco!" Tommy whispered back. "I'll just wait a while and see what's doing."
There was nothing doing—nothing whatever! The boys, after waiting some ten minutes, advanced into the cavern which was now perfectly still.
Directly Tommy turned on his electric. The little flame revealed no presence there save that of the boys themselves. They searched every nook and corner of the place, believing it impossible that the two men could have escaped. At last, however, they were forced to the conclusion that once more they had lost track of the object of their search.
"But where did they go?" demanded Tommy.
"I guess that's what no fellow can find out," replied Will.
The boys continued their search in the hope of finding the passage by which the two men had escaped. At last they came to a small opening in the floor of the cavern which apparently led to a cavity farther down.
"They didn't wait for the elevator!" laughed Tommy. "Shall we go down after them?" asked Sandy.
"I think we'd better get back to the cabin." Will argued. "It must be after ten o'clock now, and George may be in trouble for all we know."
"Three times and out!" exclaimed Sandy. "The next time we catch sight of the Little Brass God, we'll sure get out fingers on it!"
"I'd be happy just now if I could get my fingers on something to eat!" Thede declared. "I'm about starved!"
"We've got a few sandwiches, if they'll do any good," suggestedWill.
"If they'll do any good!" repeated Sandy. "You bring 'em out here and we'll see whether they will or not."
"Thede ran to the door of the cavern and looked out, calling softly to the Indian as he did so. Oje was nowhere to be seen!
"I wonder where that Indian went?" the boy asked.
"He probably got busy after some one!" Will replied.
The boys devoured the sandwiches which remained from the supply provided by Will and then started back to the cabin.
The moon was now high up in the heavens, and the boys could trace foot tracks in the snow quite distinctly. For a time they saw the prints of Oje's moccasins. They seemed to be following another track which was obliterated by his passage.
"Perhaps he's chasing the two fellows who had the Little BrassGod!" suggested Sandy. "If he is, I hope he gets 'em."
After a time the tracks swung away to the left and the boys saw them no more. When they came in view of the cabin a bright light was reflected through the broken window pane, but there seemed to be no evidences of motion on the inside.
"I presume George has gone to sleep," Will said. "I should think he'd be tired of waiting. It must be somewhere about one o'clock!"
When the boys came up to the cottage they saw a figure detach itself from the shadows which lay against the west wall and dash precipitously into the thicket. Will hastened to throw the door open.
The boy started back in alarm, as he noted the condition of the interior. The bunks lay broken on the floor, and it was plain that the whole apartment had been most thoroughly pillaged.
As the boys stepped into the room George arose from a heap of blankets near a broken bunk and stood regarding them with a quizzical smile on his face. The boys at once clustered around him with dozens of questions on their lips.
"What's been doing here?" demanded Tommy.
"You missed the biggest sensation of the excursion!" exclaimedGeorge.
"Where are the fellows who busted up the furniture?" asked Sandy.
"You ought to know," replied George. "They ran out just before you entered. It's a wonder you didn't meet them."
"Who are they?" asked Will.
"You remember the two men who came to the window that night?" askedGeorge. "Well, these were the two men!"
"Did one of 'em have his head in a sling?" asked Tommy.
"Sure he did!" was the reply.
"Why don't you sit down and tell us all about it?" asked Sandy.
"That won't take long," replied George. "They came in here something like half an hour ago and began mixing up with the furniture. They searched everything in sight and out of sight, and were about to take up the floor, I reckon, when they heard you coming."
"Did they say what they were searching for?" asked Will.
"Not directly," was the reply, "but I know from expressions I heard that they were searching for the Little Brass God."
"The Little Brass God?" repeated Will. "Why, they've got it now!"
"You bet they have!" Tommy joined in.
"How do you know they have?"
"Because we saw them have it in the cavern!" answered Will. "They were in that cavern not more than five minutes before we left the hills. They must have hustled to beat us to the cabin and make a half hour's search before we arrived."
"I think we've all got a lot of guesses coming," Sandy observed.
"Yes, but what I can't get through my head is why those fellows should be searching through the cabin for the Little Brass God when they have it in their possession," Will said.
"You're sure they had it?" asked George.
"I saw them have it in the cavern earlier in the evening," was the reply. "When we went to try to make them give it up, they vanished as if they had gone up in the air!"
The boys began straightening things in the cabin, and Sandy busied himself in the corner where the provisions were stored.
"I'd like to know where that Indian went," Thede said, as he assisted Sandy in preparing some of the game which had been caught early the morning before. "He won't go far away, I'm thinking."
Before the words were off the boy's lips the door was pushed gently open and Oje looked in. He made a gesture asking for silence and went out again, softly closing the door behind him.
"That's a funny proposition!" whispered Tommy. "Why don't he come in and get some of the supper Sandy is getting ready?"
The door opened again, then, and Antoine staggered inside. His face was bloodless and his eyes seemed starting from their sockets. His clothing was slit in places as if he had been attacked with a knife, and he staggered about while searching for a chair.
Will sprang forward to the man's assistance, helped him to a chair, and poured a cup of strong coffee, which the roan drank greedily.
The man's eyes roved wildly about the room for a second then he turned anxiously to Will.
"Did they get it?" he asked.
"Did they get what?" asked the boy.
"What they came to search for."
Will turned inquiringly toward George.
"Did they find anything during their search?" he asked.
George shook his head.
"They hadn't concluded their search," he replied. "Then they failed to find the Br——"
There was a movement at the window followed by a rifle shot.
Antoine sitting before the fire by George's side crumpled up and dropped to the floor, a stream of blood oozing from his temple.
Before the lads could quite comprehend what had taken place, a second shot came from outside. Then Oje's face appeared in the doorway again, beckoning to those inside.
Tommy and Sandy stepped into the open air and were directed around to the rear of the house.
There, face up in the moonlight, lay the man whom Will had described as an East Indian. The bandage was still around his head, but a new wound was bleeding now. His eyes were already fixed and glassy. The bullet had entered the center of the forehead.
"He shoot man inside!" the Indian grunted.
"And he killed him, too!" answered Tommy.
Entirely unconcerned, the Indian would have struck off into the forest, but the boys urged upon him the necessity of partaking of food. With a stoical exclamation of indifference, Oje finally followed them into the cabin and seated himself before the open fire.
Antoine was quite dead. The boys straightened his still figure upon the floor and placed by its side the body of the man who had been his murderer.
"We must give them decent burial in the morning," Will decided, "and in order to do so, we must keep them away from the wild animals of the wilderness tonight."
There was a hushed silence for a long time in the room. The boys involuntarily turned their eyes away from the two inanimate objects which had so recently possessed the power of speech and motion.
Presently Sandy saw something glistening at the breast of the dark man. Where his heavy coat of fur dropped back the boy thought he distinguished a gleam of gold. Thinking that it might possibly be some trinket calculated to reveal the identity of the man, Sandy advanced to the body and threw the coat open.
There was the Little Brass God!
"We didn't have to find it," Tommy said slowly after a short pause."The fellow brought it to us!"
Will took it into his hand and made a careful examination of it.
"Do you think this is the one we are after?" he asked.
"Holy Moses!" exclaimed Sandy. "You don't think there are twoLittle Brass Gods, do you? One seems to have kept us pretty busy!"
"I've heard of their traveling in pairs," Thede suggested.
"Is this the man who made the search of the house?" asked Will ofGeorge.
"That is one of them!" was the reply. "The other seemed to be a man in the employ of this man. He was dressed like a trapper and acted like one. They quarreled over some suggestion made by this man and the one whom I took to be a guide went away in a rage."
"You are sure he didn't find what he was looking for?"
"Dead sure!"
"Then there are two Little Brass Gods!" insisted Tommy.
"Yes, and I guess the one we want is the one we haven't got!" Will said.
"I don't see how this fellow could have the one containing the last will of Simon Tupper," Tommy argued. "Can you open the tummy of the Little Brass God, Will?" asked Sandy.
"Mr. Frederick Tupper showed me how to do the trick," Will answered.
"Then why don't you see whether this is the right one or not?" asked Sandy. "If you can open it, it's the one; if you can't, it isn't the one!"
"Wise little boy!" exclaimed Will taking the ugly image into his hands again.
He pressed here and there on the surface of the Little Brass God, touching now a shoulder, now a foot, now the top of the head, for all the world like one operating the combination of a safe.
"You see," he said, as he continued his strange employment, "the shell of the image is not very thick and when I press on certain parts, certain things take place on the inside."
He put his ear to the side of the image and listened intently.
"There!" he said. "You can hear a click like the dropping of a tumbler when I press here at the back."
"If the combination works, then," shouted Tommy, "it must be that we have the Little Brass God holding the will."
"It works all right enough," Will replied.
With the final pressure on an elbow Will turned a foot to the right and the Little Brass God opened exactly in the center.
But no will was found in the cavity. Instead a mass of diamonds, emeralds, pearls, rubies, amethysts glittered out upon the floor.
The boys stood looking at the shining mass with wide open eyes.
"There must be a million dollars there!" Tommy said almost in a whisper.
"I wasn't thinking of that!" Will said. "I was thinking that, after all our labor and pains, we have unearthed the wrong Brass God."
"But we've just got to find the right Brass God," Sandy insisted.
"Yes, and we'll have a sweet old time doing it!" exclaimed George. "The poor fellow who lies dead there searched every bit of space inside the cabin, yet he didn't find it!"
"But it may not be anywhere near the cabin!" exclaimed "Will.
"If we knew whether Antoine ever had it in his possession," Tommy said, "we'd know better where to look."
"Of course he had it in his possession!" said Sandy. "I'm sure he's the man who took it from the pawnbroker's shop on State street. Now let's see," the boy went on, "what were the last words he spoke?"
"He started in to say Brass!" replied Will.
"Then you see, don't you, that that proves that he knew all about it?"
"Yes, and he asked if they found what they were looking for," Tommy contributed, "and that shows that the Little Brass God he brought from Chicago is some where about this palatial abode."
Oje, who had been sitting by the fire, waiting for his supper, long delayed by the rush of events, now arose and took the Little Brass God into his dusky hands.
"Have you ever seen one like that before?" asked Will.
The Indian shrugged his shoulders and pointed to the body ofAntoine.
"Dead man have one!" he said.
"Like this?" asked Will.
The Indian grunted an assent.
"Then I'll tell you what took place, boys," Will said. "When Antoine shot Pierre, he came here and took possession of the cabin and provisioned it, He had had the Little Brass God in the cavern where George and Thede saw it, and he thought a safer place for it would be the cabin."
"So he moved in here and hid it!" Tommy went on. "And we boys chased along and drove him out into the wide, wide world. Now the question is whether he took the Little Brass God back to the cavern or whether he left it hidden about the cabin."
"It's a hundred to one shot," Sandy observed, "that this dead East Indian knew that the image he sought was in or about this cabin. The first night we came here he prowled about looking for it and tried to get one of us boys into a hypnotic trance. We don't know how many times he has been back here since that night."
"But who sent the fellow up here after the Little Brass God, anyway?" asked George. "How did he come to get on the track of the ugly little devil."
"I guess that's something we'll have to find out in Chicago," replied Will. "All we know is that Antoine was scared to death of him, as shown by his sudden flight from the cavern when he looked in and saw the East Indian and his guide standing looking out at him."
"And they chased him clear up to our burning tree!" Thede cut in.
"That's a fact," Sandy replied. "That dusky faced chap certainly had Antoine buffaloed!"
"Well," Will went on, "the East Indian kept returning to the cabin and Antoine kept returning to the cabin, so it's a pretty safe bet that the Little Brass God we seek is here. Besides, the fact that Antoine asked if the East Indian found anything proves that it is in or about the cabin."
"Well, we're going to find it if we tear the cabin to pieces,"Tommy said. '"As Will says, it is a sure thing it is not far away."
There was not much sleep in the cabin that night, and it was a dreary supper the boys ate. Before daylight the Indian lay down upon the floor in a blanket, but the other boys remained awake until morning.
Then they began the search for the Little Brass God. They were satisfied now that Pierre had never had possession of it, that he had been despatched as one familiar with the woods and the ways of Antoine, in the Sigsbee interests to secure it from the man who had purchased it at the pawn shop. Everything pointed, as has been stated, to Antoine's being the man who had taken it out of Chicago.
The boys searched the cabin for two days until not a sliver of the inside remained uninvestigated. Then, after putting up their tents, they began taking the structure down, log by log.
On the third day they found what they sought in the heart of a rotten log. Antoine had hidden it in a secure place. Will had no difficulty in opening the belly of the little image, and there he found the last will of Simon Tupper, bequeathing his entire property to Frederick Tupper.
"That settles the case, boys, so far as we are concerned," Will said, "and I think we'd better be getting back to Chicago in order to straighten things out."
"You talk about getting back to Chicago like we could take the elevated and get there in an hour!" laughed Sandy. "I guess that you forget that we've got three hundred miles of wilderness to travel before we reach the railroad station!"
"Well, we've got our canoes, haven't we?" asked Tommy.
"Yes," Will answered, "and if we want to use the canoes, we'll have to wait until the river opens in the spring. We can get out on the ice all right, I guess."
At the end of two weeks the boys found themselves at a way station on the Canadian Pacific road. After that it did not take them long to reach Chicago. During the trip down they had rather enjoyed the hunting and fishing. Once or twice they had caught sight of a man whom they believed to be the guide the East Indian had secured, but after a time the man disappeared entirely and was seen no more. Oje accompanied them part of the way and then much to their regret, turned back.
The finding of the will, of course, settled the Tupper estate for good and all, and the boys were well rewarded for what they had done.
"There's one thing I'd like to know," Will said, as they sat in Mr. Horton's office after all the adventures of the trip had been related, "and that is where this second Little Brass God came from, and how this East Indian got into the Hudson Bay country in quest of the other Brass God about as quick as we did."
"That has all been explained," the attorney replied. "From your description, Antoine is undoubtedly the man who took the Little Brass God in which we were interested from the pawn shop. The evening papers of that day described the burglary of the Tupper home and referred particularly to the taking of the Little Brass God from the mantle in the library.
"The newspapers said at that time that the taking of the image would doubtless result in the discovery of the burglar. In this, the newspapers were wrong. The burglar has never been brought to punishment.
"On the other hand, however, the taking of the Brass God led to the recovery of two sacred ornaments belonging in a Hindu temple in India. It seems that two prominent Hindus read the article concerning the Little Brass God and made inquiries at police headquarters and at all the pawn shops in the city concerning it. The idols had been stolen years before and these men considered it their duty to restore them to the temple if in their power to do so.
"They found one of the Little Brass Gods without difficulty, it having been purchased a few months ago by a dealer in antiques. They might have known of the wealth contained in the belly of the idol, but it is certain that the dealer in antiques never did. Of course the East Indians learned all that any one knew concerning the destination of the image taken from the pawnshop, and so one of them, the man who was killed, went north in quest of it.
"So far as Pierre is concerned, it is probable that he was picked up here in Chicago and sent north by Sigsbee. Of course we shall never know the truth of that matter, but it is plain that he is not the man who took the idol from the pawnbrokers' shop.
"Well, that ends the case so far as we're concerned," Georgereplied, "and if you've got any more Boy Scout excursions in view,Mr. Horton, I wish you'd suggest a hot climate for the next one.It seems to me like I never would get warm again!"
"What do you think of the people who live up in the Hudson Bay country all the year round?" asked Mr. Horton. "How would you like to wander around there year after year, as Oje does?"
"Say that Oje's a good Indian!" Tommy exclaimed. "I tried to get him to come on down to Chicago with me, but he said he wouldn't live here on a bet."
"What are you going to do with the two Little Brass Gods and all the precious stones?" asked Sandy.
"I would suggest," Mr. Horton replied, "that the two idols be returned to the Hindu still remaining in the city, the companion of the one who was killed, and that the jewels be returned with them."
"That's a lot of money to give away," Sandy suggested.
"There's nothing compulsory about it!" laughed Mr. Horton. "If you boys want to run the risk of being chased up by those Hindus until they finally get their hands on the idols, you may do so."
"Not for mine!" exclaimed Thede. "I don't want any dusky EastIndians chasing me up!"
It was finally decided to restore the two little Brass Gods with the jewels to the Hindu. Later the body of the East Indian was taken from its grave near James Bay and transferred to his own country.
"There's one little commission I'd like to have you boys undertake," Mr. Horton said, after all the details of the Tupper case had been settled. "There's quite a bunch of trouble down here in a coal mine that I'd like to have you boys look into."
"Is it good and warm down there?" asked George.
"Suppose you walk down a few thousand feet under ground, some day, and make a note of the temperature!" laughed Tommy.
"Of course we want to go!" replied Will.
After a few days in Chicago, the Boy Scouts were off on their travels again. The story of their adventures will be found in the next volume of this series entitled.
"Boy Scouts in the Coal Caverns; or, The Light in Tunnel Six."