CHAPTER VII.THE MYSTERIOUS BLUR ON THE HORIZON.
"I just thought it'd turn out to be a whopper of a yarn!" said Jimmy, frowning as if grievously disappointed all the same.
"What's that?" asked Frank.
"Why, all that tommyrot about the queer old fleet of boats that vanished right before your eyes, and then bobbed up somewhere else, like a flock of submarines, or a school of blooming porpoises," returned the disgusted one.
At that Jack laughed.
"Why, it sounds like Jimmy really believed the whole thing," he remarked; "and has been expecting the mysterious fleet at anchor the very minute he glimpsed Hudson Bay."
"But I did expect to hit on something different from this," said Jimmy. "Somebody, tell me, would you please, what's so remarkable about this thing? I've seen many a stretch of salt water that looked just like it, shore line and all."
"Why not?" observed Ned; "I never thought we'd find Hudson Bay country any different from other Northern lands. There are the same trees, moss-covered rocks, peculiar sedge grass, and the like. But don't be so quick to jump atconclusions, Jimmy. Give me half a chance to take a look through my field glasses here, and perhaps I can tell you something interesting."
With those words Ned unslung the glasses, and adjusted the same to his eyes. The others of the party, standing there knee-deep in the rank grass that grew along the border of the woods, watched him with renewed interest. They even forgot about the wild fowl that were sporting in flocks out where the waves broke upon a line of rocks, with a subdued roar.
Carefully did Ned train his powerful field-glasses on a certain part of the horizon. Looking in that quarter some of the others began to rub their eyes.
"Seems to me there is something there," remarked Frank, straining his eyes in the endeavor to make sure.
"It may be a low-lying cloud on the water-line of the horizon," Teddy added.
"Anyhow, it's too far away for us to tell with the naked eye," Jack announced; "and so we'll have to depend on Ned to give us the information."
Just then the leader lowered the glasses.
"Take a look for yourself, Jack," he said; and there was a slight smile on his face while speaking, that told of a discovery of some sort.
While Jack was fixing the glasses to suit his needs, for everybody's eyes are not just alike,Jimmy was trying to make use of his doubled-up hands in order to help his vision.
"'Tis meself that believes it's smoke!" he declared, with animation.
"How about it, Jack?" demanded Teddy.
The one indicated did not keep them in suspense needlessly.
"Yes, Jimmy hit the bull's-eye that time," he remarked.
"Then itissmoke?" queried Frank.
"Not only that, but I can make out what seem to be a number of small objects that must be vessels of some sort," Jack went on to say.
"The disappearing fleet!" gasped Jimmy.
"Well, they haven't skipped out of sight yet," continued Jack, chuckling as he handed the glasses over to Frank to have a try.
In turn all of them took a look, and no one found reason to differ from what Jack had ventured to declare in the beginning. They were, without question, looking then and there on the clump of boats about which there had been so much talk made. Of course, at that distance there was no way of finding out the character of the several boats, or more than guess at what they were doing, away out from the shore.
"Strikes me that it might be some queer sort of mirage, like that you sometimes see on the sandy desert." Teddy suggested, after he hadgazed intently at the picture for a full minute through the lenses of the field-glasses.
"Oh! they have the same sort of deception at sea," declared Jack; "only sailors call it thefata morgana. When you're on the desert, it generally takes the form of a lovely running stream of water, which you're crazy to reach and suck up. But the shipwrecked tar always sees a vessel coming to his relief, which keeps on rushing through the water, right up over reef and everything and disappears over the island leaving him broken-hearted at the deception caused by conditions in the atmosphere."
Jack knew considerable about these things, for he had been in strange lands, even before he took to roaming around with Ned, when the latter entered the employ of the Government Secret Service.
"All you say is true enough, Jack," the patrol leader told him, "but in this case it isn't a deception. All of us can see the smoke hanging low down, that tells of steam vessels of some type out there, possibly trawlers, fishing. But we didn't enlist in this business intending to solve any riddles connected with Hudson Bay. I've been told that there is no place in Northern latitudes where so many strange stories have originated, as this same big sheet of salt water. Four-fifths of it have never been fully explored, so that they do not yet know what may be here."
Jimmy had been silent while all this talk was going on. But it could be readily believed that his restless mind was not inactive. He proved this by suddenly nodding his head, and looking up at Ned in that shrewd way he had of doing, whenever a particularly brilliant idea appealed to him.
"Chances are they're a blooming bad lot, that's what," he went on to say, as if he meant every word of it. "I wouldn't be a bit surprised if they turned out to be bloody pirates after all."
"Oh! perhaps Captain Kidd and his men come back to life again, eh, Jimmy?" suggested Teddy, with a laugh.
Jimmy turned and gave the speaker a scornful look.
"Think you're smart to get that off on me, don't you, Teddy?" he remarked; "but how're you goin' to prove that it ain't even as bad as that? Don't they say this here fleet comes and goes like ghosts of the past? Mebbe they are the spirits of Kidd, Blackbeard, Morgan, Lafitte, and all that gay crowd of buccaneers that flourished in the early days of our country. Supposin' I said I believed that way, it'd be up to you to prove me wrong, wouldn't it? Let's see you do it. Call 'em up on the wireless limited or the telephone and interview the commodore. Bah! don't be so quick to poke fun at everybody that's got an idea you happen to think stretched. I'lleven say that I've got half a sneakin' notion that it might be old Kidd himself, come back to see how the pickings are these fine days."
When Jimmy showed this fighting disposition the others were generally careful not to knock the chip off his shoulder. He had acquired habits when living on the Bowery long ago as a bootblack that could not be easily shaken off; though any one formerly acquainted with Jimmy would never have recognized him nowadays.
"It would be worth coming all the way up here if we could run across something like that, wouldn't it now?" remarked Jack, trying to look sober. "Think of how we could take the breath away from the rest of the troop at home, when we told them of meeting up with a lot of those old huskies, we've all read about in history. Jimmy's been devouring one of Clark Russell's stories, 'The Frozen Pirate,' while on the train coming through Canada, and that's what makes him think of that crowd. But as we haven't any boats, and the smoke keeps on hanging miles away, likely enough we won't get any chance to know what kind of men are aboard those vessels out yonder."
"Besides," put in Ned, "we mustn't forget that we've got some serious business on hand of a different character from looking up pirates. Land sharks are enough for me to tackle just now. I'm wondering whether we'll be luckyenough to find where this mine is located near here. Once we get on the track of that and things are likely to warm up a bit."
"Then I reckon we'll just have to comb the whole country roundabout, so as to learn what's what," suggested Jack, always a hard one to give up anything on which he had set his mind.
"The sooner we begin that job the better," added Frank, anxious to be doing something that would count.
That was the way with these energetic fellows. Whenever they had a charge committed to their care, they were eager to get it moving. Ned often had to hold them in check, for fear lest they show too much ambition.
He looked around in the endeavor to decide which direction they had better choose, in order to seek traces of the working which was marked on the map so plainly. It was given such prominence that one might easily believe he would find all manner of shafts, sunk, with machinery throbbing busily, and scores of brawny miners hard at work, bringing out the rich deposit of copper ore.
Ned, however, did not deceive himself into such a belief. He had had some little experience with stories of this type, and knew the vast difference between the reality and the wonderful things prospective sellers were apt to mark upon the maps they had prepared. These usuallydescribed things as they might appear in case all went well, and the mine turned out a splendid success.
So far as indications went, Ned believed that they would have a better chance of success, if they turned abruptly to the left and made up the shore. At least, the character of the rocky country favored this idea. As far as he could see, it grew more and more inviting, looked at from the viewpoint of a miner, or a prospector for precious minerals.
The others were watching him closely. They guessed something of the nature of what must be passing through Ned's mind, for both Jack and Teddy followed his gaze up the uneven shore. Jimmy had the glasses again, and was busily engaged in scrutinizing the blur on the distant horizon, which all of them had agreed must be smoke hovering close to the water. Perhaps he half-believed the fanciful suggestion made by Teddy, with reference to Captain Kidd, and was wildly hoping to discover some positive sign that would stamp this fairy story with truth. All the previous adventures that had befallen himself and chums would sink into utter insignificance, could they go back home and show evidences of having made such a romantic discovery up there in the Hudson Bay country.
"See the feather they say he always wore in his hat, Jimmy?" asked Frank.
"Nothing doin'yetthat way," replied the other, without allowing even the ghost of a smile to appear on his freckled face; "so if you please, we'll let the matter drop for the time bein'. Who knows what may happen before we get back to New York? 'Tis a great old country, so they say, for all sorts of queer things to crop up. You needn't be surprised at anything here, they tell me. And I've made up me mind to take it as it comes, and not let anything faze me. Put that in your pipe and smoke it, Teddy."
"And I'm wondering," mused the one particularly addressed, "what that ancient but bold explorer, Hendrick Hudson, said when he had sailed all the way around this great bay, and found that it was after all a land-locked arm of the sea. When he first entered it, history tells us he had great hopes that he had found what Columbus was searching for when he made his western voyage, a way of reaching the East Indies by a water route. It must have been a keen disappointment when Hendrick had to turn north, and then east again, always fended off by the land."
Ned had by now determined that they ought to turn to the left in continuing the forward movement. He next looked for some landmark, by means of which on their return that they might know just where they should plunge intothe woods, so as to follow their trail back to where the precious canoes were secreted.
As though he found nothing in the arrangement of the shore or the trees themselves to stamp it different from other places, Ned stooped down and placed several stones upon each other at the foot of a stunted oak.
That was an old trick among the scouts. Many such a stone cairn had they fashioned when playing some game of fox and geese, to serve as a sign to those who were following in their wake.
"We ought to see this, and remember that it tells us where we struck the beach," he explained to his chums, as he rose up again after completing his work.
Both guides had been watching what he did with more or less interest. Of course, they understood that the scouts had learned many of the ways practiced by woodsmen, for by now the real meaning of the khaki uniforms worn by the boys had been fully grasped by Francois and the Cree; though for a long time they had had hard work to understand why Ned and his chums were not to be looked upon as soldiers.
"Zere ees nozzing better zan a pile of stones to mark ze way," admitted the voyageur. "I haf myself used zat many times. But be sure zat you notice other things besides. It may be, an enemy he move ze stones some ozzer place,and if zat be so you all get twist up when you try to come back."
Ned nodded, as though he had already covered this ground.
"I had thought of that very same thing, Francois," he said, "and see, here is where I made a little gash in the trunk of the tree. I expected to look for that on the return trip. If I failed to find it I should understand there was something gone wrong."
"Zat ees well, sare; ze one who gets ze better of you must wake up early in ze morning, I am think!" he said softly, but in a way that told he meant every word.
"So say we all of us," added Jack.
"Ned generally looks out for snags!" Frank declared.
"We'd have met up with many a wreck only for his watchfulness," came from Teddy.
Jimmy did not like to be left out when there was any exchange of sentiments. He had a great admiration for the gifts of Ned Nestor, and wanted every one to understand what his sentiments were. So he started to open his mouth to say something, when Ned lifted a hand and gave a low sibilant hiss.
"'Sh! don't say anything more, but drop down in this grass and lie low; because I'm sure I heard voices right then, also a husky cigarette cough. Down it is, boys!"
He set them a good example by dropping flat and hugging the ground. They had at the time been standing more than knee deep in lush grass that grew beyond the woods, and where the salt water never reached, save in flying spray possibly. All that was necessary, therefore, in order to conceal themselves, was to fall on their knees and then straighten out at full length. Even the two guides did this same thing, for they must have caught the sound of approaching voices at about the same time Ned Nestor did.
CHAPTER VIII.TWO KINDS OF WOODCRAFT.
All of them lay there motionless. Long practice in this trick had made the boys almost perfect. What they had learned in play when in camp came into good service under other and more strenuous conditions, as is often the case. No boy can ever tell when the information he picks up day by day as a scout may prove a valuable asset, determining some knotty problem he faces.
As Ned had said, the sound of voices could be plainly heard now. It came in the shape of a murmur that differed from the noise of the fretting sea near by. And no doubt each scout made up his mind that it must be carried to their ears with the breeze, which, coming from almost behind them, would indicate that the unknown parties were advancing from that quarter.
Louder grew the sounds. Then there was a plain rustling of the undergrowth; and when Jack cautiously raised his head just a little, he was enabled to glimpse a trio of men standing there on the border of the wood, looking seaward.
Perhaps they, too, had seen the far-distant blur that marked the position of the mysteriousfleet, and were exchanging comments about it. None of the concealed boys could say as to this, because, while they could hear the murmur of their heavy voices, it was next to impossible to make out more than a word here and there.
One thing pleased Ned very much. When he first noted the direction from whence these three rough men had come, he feared lest they may have run upon the trail of his party and were following the same. He now knew that in so far as this was concerned his fears were without foundation, and that the strangers did not dream of others being in the near vicinity.
One seemed to be the boss of the lot. He was an unusually big man, with a way of striking his fist into the palm of his other hand that told of authority. His face was covered with a heavy black beard that gave him a sinister appearance. Indeed, as Jack admitted to himself, put this man in some of the queer garments of the old times, when Kidd flourished along the Atlantic seacoast, and he would make an ideal buccaneer. His face was cruel, his manner that of a tyrant, and besides he seemed to be carrying a whole arsenal of weapons around with him.
Jimmy lay there, with his neck stretched to a fearful extent, for he was bound to see whatever was going on around him. He was possibly sizing this giant up, and trying to decide in his own mind, whether the dead ever do come backto revisit the scenes of their long-past triumphs and struggles; and if so, could this man with the hair all over his face be the noted Blackbeard?
Just then Ned gave a low signal. It was only the chirp of a cricket, and might pass unnoticed by any one not in the secret; but Jack and the other three scouts understood what it meant.
Ned was warning them to be careful and duck their heads again, because he fancied the men were about to start their way.
Hardly had the boys flattened themselves out again, than they heard the crunch of passing footsteps. It was lucky that the three strangers chose to pass by on the beach, as the walking was better there than close to the trees. Because of this fact the presence of the concealed adventurers was not discovered; and to their satisfaction the party passed by.
Each scout had gripped his gun, as he shut his jaws hard together, under the belief that discovery was very close. Had it come they would be compelled to spring out and try to hold up the trio of desperate looking characters. Such men will, as a rule, manifest a disposition to fight "at the drop of the hat;" and Ned, therefore, was just as well satisfied to see their backs. They were not up there to do any fighting if it could possibly be avoided. The rules of the organization to which they belonged positively forbade their seeking trouble along such lines; thoughallowing scouts the privilege of defending themselves if attacked, and there seemed to be no honorable way of escaping without a fight.
"What's the next word, governor?" whispered Jimmy, his voice trembling with the nervous tension.
The men had by now gone far enough along the beach to prevent any chance of low conversation being overheard; though Ned kept on the alert all the while, lest by some mischance there might others come along, who would take them by surprise.
"We must follow them up," said Ned, without hesitation.
"Not out on the open beach, of course, when the woods are handy?" observed Jack.
"Move back into shelter, and we'll get busy," the leader told them.
Stooping so as to run less risk of being seen, in case one of the men happened to turn his head from any reason, the little party of seven hardy souls again entered among the trees.
They did not linger, because the men were making up the shore at a fair rate of speed, and they did not wish to lose track of them.
While no one had taken the trouble to ask Ned what his plan of campaign might be, they saw indications all around to give them a pretty good idea as to what he hoped to gain by thus following in the wake of the three strangers.
The men looked like hard cases, of that all the scouts were determined. One had the appearance of a miner; a second wore moccasins and was dressed after the manner of a woodsman, possibly a trapper, Indian trader, or something in the line of a hunter; while the big man struck Jack as a logger, or a timber cruiser, one of those spies who roam far and wide seeking new investments for some lumber company, or else a chance to steal valuable Government timber that is unwatched.
In talking matters over the comrades had made up their minds that these types represented the class of men they might expect to find gathered in this region, paid by the money of the mine syndicate, and ready to carry out the will of the swindlers, if such the operators proved to be.
As before, the guides led the way. Both men had taken a great fancy to Ned and his lively chums, and in case any trouble developed, as the result of their venture into this unknown country, Francois and Tamasjo might be counted on as ready and willing to back the boys up to the limit.
They pushed resolutely on, across fallen trees, through tangled thickets, and even climbing over rocks that lay in the way. The men ahead knew what they were about in choosing the beach to make their advance.
Often partly out of breath, with the effort to keep a certain distance behind those they were pursuing, the scouts pressed on. Jimmy seemed to have a harder time than any of the others, but then that was nearly always the way; for if there was any hole to flounder into, or thorny thicket to get stuck in, Jimmy could be depended on to do his share of the adventure. Not that he purposely chose to get mixed up in all these skirmishes with unpleasant things; but he was one of those unlucky chaps whose blundering feet so often led him into a peck of troubles.
It would have taken much more than this to have discouraged Jimmy, however. He was made of stubborn material. Difficulties played fast and loose with him, but they never daunted the boy, who would only close those firm jaws of his more tightly than ever, and say that "after fifty-nine comes sixty," and if he had to go to twice that number he'd get there in the end.
One good thing about all this hustle, was the fact that, as Jimmy found himself, for the most part in the rear, he could not make any excuse to start in talking, because he did not dare call out, after what Ned had said.
They could hear him muttering savagely to himself every time a root tripped him up, or he found a swinging vine trying to lift him off his feet by means of his neck. That was a small matter, because, of course, Jimmy had to havesome way of letting off superfluous steam, and it really did no harm.
Ned looked around quite frequently. He did not wish Jimmy to get into any serious trouble, because, in spite of his weakness for blundering, the McGraw boy was a faithful companion, who could always be depended on to stick to his friends, no matter what threatened. And he and Ned had seen some pretty lively times all told, in times gone by. This association in peril does more to cement the bonds of real friendship than anything else known. And that was why Ned wanted Jimmy along on this trip, also why he kept a wary eye out after the safety of the other.
Now and then Francois would step aside. On these occasions they knew he was making sure that the two men were still going on ahead, and had not either halted or turned aside into the rocky shore recesses.
They had kept up this sort of thing for nearly half an hour, and some of the boys were secretly telling themselves they had about reached the limit of their endurance, when Francois made motions with his hands to tell them that some sort of change had occurred since last he took an observation.
"Say, they're gone!" muttered Jimmy, coming up just then; and from the mystified look on his face, one would half believe he thought the men had taken wings and flown away, or else theground had opened up and swallowed them; for a fellow who could put the least shred of faith in the reincarnation of Captain Kidd, dead for several centuries, would believe anything, Teddy privately told himself.
"Did they turn aside and enter the woods, Francois?" questioned Ned, at the same time holding up a warning finger toward Jimmy, by this means seeking to remind him they were in no position to enter into any discussion.
"Zat iss what zey haf do," replied the French Canadian voyageur, promptly.
"You don't think they're lying low to wait for us—that it is a trap?" continued the patrol leader.
"Zere iss no reason to zink so," answered Francois. "I do not belief zey haf see us; and if not, zen why lay trap? But it iss always better to be sure zat ze road it be clear; so let ze chief heem go on and find trail."
It was a good suggestion. None could do that duty quite so well as the red brother, even though those boys had learned many bright things in connection with woodcraft, since joining the ranks of the scouts. They hardly felt like being able to enter into competition with a son of the forest, who from infancy had been taught in the wide fields of actual experience what they had of late been learning, partly from crude theory.
"Go on ahead, Tamasjo, and find the trail," said Ned to the waiting Cree.
"Find same, give blue-jay cry," Tamasjo told them; and it was so rarely he ever spoke at all, that the other scouts had to smile and nod to each other; for Jimmy had on one occasion even gone so far as to declare his belief that the Indian must be a genuine "dummy" and unable to articulate at all, which, of course, was not true.
They waited for him there, being in no particular hurry. If the trail of the three men could be picked up that was all they wanted. They could hardly have ventured to keep on the heels of those men through the woods, where sounds might be carried to their ears that would put them on the alert, and bring about a sudden climax, perhaps a battle royal.
The Cree vanished from their sight. So silently did he go that afterwards the scouts exchanged views concerning the way in which he had done it; nor could they fully understand how he could move deftly along, without making the least sound.
But Tamasjo had been born and bred in the woods, and did not have to overcome the barriers that civilization hampers its votaries with. He had learned all he knew from watching the creeping wildcat leap upon its prey; or else observing how the hungry wolf followed the wounded deer over hill and through valley.
He had not been gone more than five minutes, when they plainly heard the angry discordant note of the blue-jay.
"That means everything is lovely, and the goose hangs high," muttered Jimmy, not daring to speak much above a whisper, while he saw Ned keeping a wary eye in his direction.
The leader at once gave the signal for an immediate advance, and the entire party started off. Even then, Ned and Francois, possibly Jack also, turned from side to side, determined that they should not be taken by surprise through any shrewd trick played by the men they had been tracking.
Upon coming up with the dusky son of the Northern forests, they were assured by him in a breath that all was well, and that the strangers had swung directly into the woods, following what seemed to be a well-beaten trail. This told the story, and went far to convince Ned that they had nothing to fear just then through discovery by these parties.
So the Indian, backed by the other guide, was put on the trail. The boys could have followed this with utmost ease, and even Jimmy would have found little real trouble in keeping to that broad track.
Every once in so often, Tamasjo would stop, to get down close to the ground. His actions excited the deepest curiosity of Jimmy, who,pulling Ned's head close down to his own lips, asked softly:
"Now, what in the mischief is the feller doin' when he stoops low like that? If you asked me, I'd say he was smellin' of the tracks of the three men; but since when was a heathen Injun given a scent like a hound, tell me, Ned."
"If you watch closer, Jimmy," replied the other scout, "you'll see that each time he bends down he is watching some blade of grass spring back to place; or else a small root that has been pressed down under the foot of that giant righting itself again. He can read those signs like a book. They tell him accurately just how long ago the foot pressed that root or blade of grass down. And so he knows what time has elapsed since the enemy passed along here."
"Gee! it would take me a week to learn that sort of readin' signs," Jimmy confessed; and Teddy, who was close enough to catch all that passed, snickered as he muttered, as though talking to himself:
"A week? Just one little stretch of seven days? Huh! you mean a year, rather."
Winding in and out in this way, the party bore deeper into the woods. The trail led among the rocks that were now piled up on every hand. Ned, on hastily examining some of these he passed, was forced to admit that at least they bore all the "ear-marks" of containing copper.If the syndicate had engineered a big swindle, at least, they must be given credit for picking out a likely site for a mine.
But there was Tamasjo pointing ahead, and giving his young employer to understand that they had arrived at the end of the broad trail leading from the shore of Hudson Bay into this wild stretch of rocky territory.
CHAPTER IX."SALTING" THE MINE.
The Cree Indian showed by his manner that there was need of great care in advancing any further. When the boys came creeping up to where he crouched, they understood the meaning of his gestures of warning.
Smoke was rising, and they could see a number of dingy tents grouped in a depression among the rocks. Evidently it was a camp of some sort, though just then besides the three men they had tracked there hardly seemed to be anybody around.
It was plain enough to Ned why this should be so, for he remembered about the dozen men who had spent the preceding night at the river camp, waiting for the coming of the canoes with the explorers. Those parties undoubtedly belonged here, and were even now in hiding further down the river, intending to play some prearranged scheme, with the idea of either frightening the scouts off, or else hoodwinking the investigators in some fashion.
"Ginger! but that was a good move of yours, Ned, to think of quitting the boats and coming across lots to find the old mine," said Frank, ina voice that could not be heard ten feet away.
The miners' camp was located on a brawling stream that came noisily down the rough face of the rocks. This created more or less racket, so that there was small danger of any hostile ears discovering the intruders through any sound they were likely to make.
"I second the motion," added Jack. "Think how neat we left the crowd in the lurch, and now we've found where the opening of this wonderful mine is, we can take a look in, while the bunch is waiting for us to drop down the river."
"That's what I meant to do when I started on this flank movement," Ned assured them. "And I only hope we'll be able to learn all we want, before the main lot make a change of base. It wouldn't be nice to have them come tumbling in on us while we were inside the workings—if thereisany hole in the ground at all."
"I reckon we'll find there is, all right," said Jack, confidently.
"Why d'ye say that, Jack?" asked Jimmy, who never allowed an opportunity to quiz his chums pass by unimproved.
"Because I can see where a heap of rock has been dumped down a slide, so chances are they've been doing some little work up here, enough to make a showing, in case a party is sent up to investigate before buying shares," was what Jack explained.
"You're right there," admitted Teddy, as he took another look toward the side of the rocky hill close to the tent colony; "and after they'd opened up the mine, it wouldn't be a hard job to shoot it, I should think."
"What's that, shoot the mine, do you say?" asked Jimmy.
"Oh! that's only a term they use in mining countries when dishonest men want to salt a mine, so as to deceive a prospective customer. Some say they shoot gold or copper ore into crevices, where it will be taken out later and shown."
At this point Ned gave them to understand that it was no time to enter into any discussion concerning the methods of conducting frauds in mining. They had work before them, and had better be about it without any more delay, since there could be no telling at what time the absent men might show up. Once they returned to the camp, of course, the chances of the scouts accomplishing much began to dwindle enormously.
From where they lay, screened by some thin brush, the scouts were able to observe the ground, and Ned could form his plan of campaign. He never wasted much time when his hand had been placed to the plow. Following the line of loose rock that had undoubtedly been carried out of some working in the hillside, hebelieved he could settle on the exact position of the opening.
They would have to make a detour and approach from above. Here it was to be hoped they would find enough cover to enable them to make what Jimmy called a "grand sneak" into the mouth of the mine.
In as few words as possible Ned explained this to the others, as they clustered around him, hanging upon his every word. Jimmy could hardly be restrained from hurrying off at once, so anxious did he seem to get started. But when Ned took hold of his assistant's arm, and gave him one of those looks which Jimmy knew so well, the little fellow subsided immediately.
"Oh! I'm on to the curves, all right, Ned, sure I am," he hastened to mutter. "I want to scratch gravel as soon as anybody else, but I'm not going to get off my base while the other feller's got the ball, not much. My place is to follow whereveryoulead; and I understand my business too, believe me."
They crawled back some little distance, until there seemed to be a good chance to climb the hillside without being discovered. Now and then the Indian, who led the column again, would pause to take his bearings, and cast a quick, apprehensive look all around him. Plainly, Tamasjo did not mean to forfeit the confidencewhich he knew the young white commander placed in his ability as a cautious guide.
When they had gone far enough along the side of the rough hill, made up for the most part of rocks that the Cree led them around as a rule, rather than to attempt to scale them at the risk of being seen, they once more changed their course, and headed to strike the place where all that loose stone had come from.
A signal from Ned caused the other four scouts to take particular notice of what they were coming to. It was certainly a black opening among the rocks, with all the signs of a mine before it, even to some discarded picks and shovels lying in confusion close by.
They could just see the tent colony below. Some of the boys were anxious to get inside that opening, so as to find out what its secret might be; Ned, however, did not wholly like the looks of things.
"I wish I knew where those three men had gone," he muttered so that Jack heard, and looked at him inquiringly.
"Why, what's gone wrong now?" he inquired.
"Those men we tracked here have disappeared since we started to pass around the camp," said the other. "I've been looking to get a glimpse of them, and so far without any success."
"H'm! so much the better," whispered Jimmy, who was, of course, hovering near, anxious toknow everything that was going on. "I must say I didn't like their looks, and particularly old Blackbeard. He had an iron jaw and a scowl that would send a cold chill to your heart. Oh! if they've gone away, let's laugh in our sleeves. I'd call it a good riddance of very bad rubbish."
"And so far as I'm concerned," added Frank, "I wouldn't drop a single tear if the whole shooting match of rascals dropped into Hudson Bay, and couldn't swim a stroke."
"What's to pay, Ned?" persisted Jack, who knew that the other would not feel the way he did without some good cause.
"It's only this," continued the leader of the explorers, "we're bound to enter the mine, now that we've come so many hundred miles, just to find out the truth. Well, if those men are in there working, we stand a chance of running across the lot, and that would spell trouble, you know."
"For them, yes," remarked Jimmy, as he fondled the repeating rifle he was carrying so proudly.
"Well," admitted Jack, "seems to me that we'll have to take the chances. We certainly don't mean to throw up the sponge, when we're so near the end of the race."
"I should say not!" breathed Teddy, who had considerable pugnacity in his makeup, althoughnot really what you would call a fighter, like Jimmy.
"What's the use hanging around here, when that black opening invites us to come on in?" Jimmy wanted to know.
"We'd better carry out our scheme, and trust to luck to see us through," Frank gave as his opinion.
Ned saw that all of his chums were apparently of one mind. Really, he himself had not the least idea of backing down; his only thought had been to consider what they were likely to run across, so as to be prepared, like true scouts.
"You are all right," he observed, "and while we don't want to run up against any new trouble, we mustn't let that stand in our way. Francois, you and the chief lead off. And remember, everybody, to get down low enough, so that you can't see a single tent. That's the only way to make sure that some one in their camp won't see us."
Jimmy nodded his head, as if pleased that they did not mean to back down; though he should have known Ned better than to suspect the other of timidity.
The two guides started for the opening, with the rest trailing after them, so that the column looked very much like a long snake in motion.
Of course, every fellow felt his nerves on edge with apprehension. It was impossible to foretellwhat might happen. For all they knew, the three men may have suspected that they had been followed, and were now laying a clever trap, in order to take the explorers off their guard.
As they drew closer to the yawning mouth of the mine among the rocks, Jimmy fancied that he saw a slight movement there. He could not make sure, nor did he find it possible to prove his suspicion, and on this account dared not try to attract the attention of Ned.
Perhaps, after all it was only some loose stone falling, or a small animal brushing past, that had caught his eye. While Jimmy thus reassured his rapidly beating heart, and gripped his gun with feverish zeal; at the same time, he breathed a sigh of relief after they had really gained the shelter of the grim opening, and there was no wild crash of guns, or hoarse demand for their surrender, with threats of terrible consequences in case of refusal.
And now they were sheltered by the mouth of the mine, so that they felt more confident of being able to take care of themselves, in case anything violent came to pass.
Ned, always on the alert to notice things, saw at once that the opening was partly natural. It looked as though the men who claimed to have made this wonderful discovery of rich copper-bearing quartz had also found a fissure in the rocks splendidly fitted for their purposes, sinceit allowed them to pass far into the side of the hill before they were compelled to blast and hew passages.
So much for a starter, Ned thought. He was taking note of all such things, thinking to incorporate them in his report. Although they might seem trifling in a way, he realized that they would have considerable bearing in settling the matter with Mr. Bosworth, and those associated with him in the big company that proposed to purchase a controlling interest in these new mines, should the report seem favorable.
The next thing was to pass into the mine.
Ned had come well prepared for this venture. Just as he and his chums carried guns with which to defend themselves in case of an attack—just as he had produced field-glasses when they were sorely needed—in the same way the scouts now had a clever means at hand for lighting their road, once they left the sunlight behind them.
Not only Ned, but every one of the five, produced a splendid little pocket searchlight. Extra batteries were also carried, so that they need not worry over the possibility of the power giving out at a critical moment.
The two guides were evidently well pleased when they saw this display of illumination; though they must have known something about it before then. Ned concluded that there was really no need of so much light, which wouldonly add to the danger of discovery. One light, or two at most, would give them ample means for seeing the way, and avoiding any pitfalls.
Accordingly he asked the others to shut off their batteries and follow him. Now that the guides had done their part in bringing the party into the mine, Ned meant to resume his natural place in the van, as the leader of the expedition.
As they moved along it was seen that very little labor had been required thus far to make an opening quite large enough for all practical purposes. The mass of rock that lay in the dump outside was probably ore that showed signs of being valuable. It was intended to impress any one with an exalted idea of the fabulous richness of the discovery, and had doubtless been well planted for that purpose.
Ned stopped every little while to examine the walls close by. He was looking for signs of unusual wealth, because the company owning the mine had declared in no uncertain way that even the sides of the passages were rich, beyond all conception, in copper.
His examinations thus far did not justify such extravagant terms of description. There were to be sure signs of the mineral in the rock, and possibly in quantities that might have paid for mining under ordinary conditions; but when the vast distance from civilization was taken into consideration, there would be nothing inthe business, unless ore at least three times more sustaining were shown.
More and more was Ned coming to the conclusion that the affair was a gigantic swindle, and that the company which Mr. Bosworth headed was in for a grand plucking, unless warned in time. These men were playing for high stakes, and squandering lots of money, fully expecting to recoup themselves a dozen times.
The boys had been moving along in this leisurely fashion for possibly five minutes, and so far nothing had occurred to break the monotony. Ned had even begun to fancy that the inspection of the wonderful copper lode was going to be an easy matter when, as they started to turn a bend in the passage, he made a discovery that caused him to instantly press the button of his hand electric light, causing darkness to instantly surround them.
This gave them an opportunity for observing the movements of several men who by the light of lanterns seemed to be busily working a short distance ahead.
Even though the illumination did not seem very good, all of the scouts could see that these were the trio of miners whom they had tracked from the shore of the bay.
"Whatever are they doing, Ned?" whispered the irrepressible Jimmy, apparently greatly perplexed by the strange actions of the men who,unconscious of the fact that they were being watched, continued their labors.
"They are hurrying to do just what I said they might," Ned replied, also in the lowest of tones. "Perhaps the order has gone out to get things ready for us, in case we managed to slip by the river guard and arrived here unexpectedly. In other words, Jimmy, they are salting the mine with rich copper ore!"