Shirley agreed with Kit, who knew Kie Wicks better than the others.
Tommy was watching the two men, his nerves keyed up and every sense alert to the slightest movement of the men. He had noted the quick look between Kie and the Mexican and felt sure that it was a danger signal. It conveyed a message. Not for a second did the boy doubt that Kie and Ramon knew where the professor was.
The boy was angry clean through, but he held his temper under control. Only in that way could he keep in touch with these rascals and watch them. Sometime he would catch them off their guard.
Ramon joined this group of searchers and made some suggestions as to possible places to look.
"What we ought to do is to round up them fellows at the tunnel and make 'em talk. They probably killed the old man and threw his body over a cliff." It was Ramon who spoke.
Kie Wicks looked startled. He had not told Ramon that the men at the claim were being paid by him. He frowned toward the Mexican, then his face relaxed suddenly. "Now that's an idea, too," he said. "Only I should think it might be just as well to leave them in possession until we find the professor. Someone has to stay there and we need all the men we have to hunt for the old man."
"I think you're right, Mr. Wicks," agreed Bet.
Kit looked her disgust. To herself she was thinking, "I never would have believed that Bet could be such a tenderfoot. To let Kie Wicks pull the wool over her eyes like that! She certainly is an easy mark!"
But Bet was not such an easy mark as Kit imagined. She had figured it out that it would take days for the men to dig their way to the treasure and by that time they could find their old friend and then form a party to drive the ruffians away from the tunnel.
An hour later, when they were returning to camp, Kit pointed up over one of the small mountains. "Bet, I'll take a short cut with you. The trail over that hill leads into Lost Canyon. Let's go and beat them home. Who's coming?"
"I am!" exclaimed Bet turning her horse's head toward the up grade.
"I'll stay with Dad," called Enid.
"And so will I!" Shirley held her horse toward the canyon trail.
"Wise girls!" smiled the Judge. "You know good company when you have it."
Kit waved her sombrero as they reached the summit and disappeared over the ridge. But once on the other side, Kit was not so sure that she knew the way. "This doesn't look like the trail that leads into Lost Canyon, after all, Bet. Do you think we'd better go back?"
"I should say not. I'd love to get lost in the hills with you, Kit."
"Oh, we're all right, only I'm not sure that we will save any time.They'll probably get home first, if we go this way," returned Kit."I'm not lost, I've been here before, but I just got mixed up. LostCanyon is over the next ridge."
"It's all right with me, let's keep on."
The girls rode for an hour, and still Kit declared that they had not reached Lost Canyon.
"Are you afraid, Kit?" asked Bet, as she looked at her friend's frowning face.
"No, of course not, only I'm disgusted that I made such a mistake. Let's climb to the ridge there and look around, then I'll know in a minute where I am."
The girls urged their horses up the steep trail. Kit was ahead and as she reached the summit she signalled Bet frantically to stop. Sliding from her saddle she ran back.
"We're coming out right by the tunnel, I see the two ruffians."
The girls crept along, keeping out of sight of the camp.
But suddenly Bet grabbed Kit by the arm. The men were descending the trail to the creek, leaving the tunnel unguarded.
The girls did not wait to think whether they were wise or not. They ran forward. Two shotguns lay on the ground. The men had taken off their belts. They were in the canyon unarmed.
Bet choked with delight. "Here's where we get the drop on them," she laughed. "I'll be a regular wild westerner."
"Don't do anything rash, Bet," advised Kit anxiously as she watched her friend's flushed face.
"Trust me!" Bet picked up a weapon and held it awkwardly in her hand. It was the first time she had handled a loaded gun and it gave her a thrill.
"Can you shoot, Bet?" asked Kit. "Do you know enough to pull the trigger?"
"No, I don't know a thing about it, I'll have to put up a bluff!"
When they heard a step on the trail. Bet aimed her gun.
"Hands up!" ordered Bet and there was no sign of fear in her voice.
The ruffians raised their hands high in the air, but the foremost one smiled.
Bet's anger rose. "Don't come a step nearer! And don't fool yourself!We know how to shoot—and shoot to kill!"
Kit wanted to laugh, for Bet was repeating word for word what she had read only a few days before in a western story.
But Bet's next question was her own. "How much is Kie Wicks paying you for this job?" she asked.
One man started to take a step forward, but Bet's gun menaced him.
"Stand right where you are! Not a step nearer! Answer my question!"
"Five dollars apiece!" growled the second man. "'T ain't enough!"
"Of course it isn't. He short-changed you. The job is worth twice as much," said Bet indignantly.
The men looked pleased.
"We got a five spot between us for catching the old man and tying him up. And we are to get five each for this."
"Your master isn't very generous. Do you often work for Kie Wicks?" asked Bet.
"No, we never saw him before. We were just passing through the country. We went broke and he offered us this job."
"Where are you going from here?" demanded the girl.
"El Paso is home, and we want to work our way toward there," answered the man who had done all the talking.
"Suppose I was to offer you ten apiece, would you get away from here and not come back? In fact it wouldn't be good for you to come back where Kie Wicks could take a shot at you."
"We'd not stick around, honest we wouldn't. By night we'd be at the nearest railroad station." Both men made a motion to come toward the girls but were stopped by Bet's menacing weapon.
"All right, go to the edge of the cliff there, and stand with your backs to us. If you dare to turn around, you'll be dead men."
The ruffians backed away for a few feet, then turned and walked to the cliff.
"Halt!" shouted Bet, and the men stood still.
"Now Kit, you hold the gun on them and I'll get the money. That's one thing Dad has always insisted on that I keep a little money fastened to me, when I'm away from home." She fumbled in her dress and brought forth a small roll of bills.
With Kit protecting her, Bet walked toward the cliff, and when she got to within ten feet from the men she put the money on the ground, and made a second trip, hauling their packs to the same spot.
When her gun was once more levelled at the ruffians, she ordered: "Turn around!"
The men wasted no time in obeying. They turned.
"Now walk slowly and get your money and belongings. If you run, you drop!"
The men grabbed their money and hastened back to their position on the cliff, as if they were anxious to put distance between themselves and the shotguns.
"Now go, and go quickly! Kie Wicks is due over this way in half an hour and if he finds you gone and us in charge, he's going to send a posse after you!"
The men hastened down the trail. They saddled and mounted their horses, with the shotguns pointed in their direction.
From the opposite end of the canyon two riders were coming nearer, and the ruffians galloped their horses to get out of the way.
Kit and Bet recognized Seedy Saunders and Billy Patten, who had gone out by themselves to search for the professor.
They answered Kit's hail and raced their horses up the grade.
By the time they reached the summit, Bet and Kit were almost hysterical from laughing. Bet put the gun down gingerly. "I wonder what I would have done, if they had called my bluff!" she exclaimed.
"Oh, boys, if you could only have heard her," shrieked Kit, at last getting her breath. "You'd have thought she had just stepped out of a western two-gun story, the way she threatened those men, it's a wonder they didn't see through her. And she hardly knows how to hold the gun. It was a scream!"
"I don't believe I'd enjoy that sort of thing for regular work," laughed Bet. "I guess I don't like to give orders that much."
But the two ruffians, hastening toward the railroad station thirty miles away, never dreamed that the girl who menaced them so daringly, had never pulled a trigger.
"We're lucky to be out of it," they agreed. "Girls have a way of always making trouble and getting their own way!"
Much to the disgust of Tommy Sharpe, Kie Wicks was a guest at the Judge's table that day. Kie was beaming with self-satisfaction. He felt that he had put over a good deal and could afford to be genial.
Kie's plan was to let the ruffians hold the claim until he could make arrangements to put men to work and dig out the treasure in the tunnel. Kie did not doubt for a moment that the treasure was there. And tonight he intended to investigate and see how much needed to be done. If he could handle it alone, so much the better.
Kit and Bet arrived when the meal was half finished and pretended to be hurt at the teasing that they encountered. They decided to wait until the family was alone before saying anything about the capture of the tunnel. Kie might get ugly and actually harm the old man.
"Saw your playmate, Young Mary, coming up the canyon today," said Kie, glad of some new excitement for the girls, to take their minds off the professor for a while.
"Oh, is Mary home?" cried Kit happily. "I do want to see her!"
"Yes, Young Mary is here with a dozen other Indians of all sizes and shapes," grinned Kie. "They sure are a funny looking crowd."
Kit herself might have made the same remark, but coming from Kie, she resented it.
"Where are they?" exclaimed Bet. "I'll pay them a visit. Do you think they will make some baskets for me?"
"You can never tell a thing about them. If they need money, they will, but like as not they'll refuse. This is their vacation, they come up every year to pick mesquite beans and piñon nuts," Kit informed them.
"Let's go down right after lunch and see them," proposed the girls, butKit hesitated.
"We might frighten them away if we are too anxious," she said."Indians are very shy."
"I'll say they are," smiled Tommy. "And about as friendly as a block of ice."
"Why Tommy Sharpe, how can you say such a thing? There's Old Mary and Indian Joe, they are the most friendly people in the world. There isn't anything they wouldn't do for Mum and Dad and me. And they think you're a great man!" Kit defended them.
"Old Mary and Joe are altogether different. Indian Joe is just like a white man!" answered Tommy.
"And good as gold!" emphasized Kit.
"The only good Indian is a dead Indian," Kie Wicks exclaimed dramatically.
Kit flared up, but Bet soothed her.
"Remember we are already even with Kie Wicks," she whispered.
Kit nodded her head. "Just the same I don't like to hear Indians talked about like that. It always makes me angry."
After lunch, much to the joy of Kie Wicks, the girls decided to walk down into the canyon and see the Indians.
Kit ran home first, for she was sure that she would find Young Mary there, and she wanted to see the girl alone. With the other girls she might be shy.
So it was Bet who called the Judge aside, to a safe distance, from KieWicks' eager ears, and told him of the capture of the tunnel.
"And those fellows said that Kie put them up to it and that it is Kie who took the old man. He's safe, they said, but I'm not so sure about that."
"I wouldn't worry about him. Kie Wicks has no reason to harm the professor," declared Judge Breckenridge. "Now I'll tell you what we'd better do. You and the girls go along down the trail and visit the Indian camp. That is evidently what Kie wants you to do. I'll send Tommy over to the tunnel with two men to start the excavation work and maybe by the time we get the professor back, we'll have something to show him. Who knows, Bet? Sometimes I'm half hopeful, although my common sense tells me there isn't anything there."
"Don't use so much common sense, Judge. It's lots of fun to dream. I wish Dad were here, he'd love this. He'd have the whole thing worked out, he'd be able to see the Spaniards who buried the treasure and all the rest of it. Dad's wonderful!"
"He is, Bet. I agree with you, and I wish that he would make us a visit, he half promised, you know."
"Yes, but in his last letter he said he'd not be able to come," Bet added with a sigh, for the separation from her father was a trial to the motherless girl.
"All right, now you run along and don't say anything to the girls—not yet. Make a lot of fuss about going to see the Indians and pretend you're crazy about them."
"I don't have topretendthat, I am crazy to see them. Oh, I do hope they will like me and want to be friends."
The Judge laughed at the girl's enthusiasm.
"They will, Bet, they can't help themselves, if they are human at all."
Bet turned away without noticing the delicate compliment that the Judge had paid her. In her heart she was really concerned for fear she might not be able to get on friendly terms with the Indians.
Judge Breckenridge joined Kie Wicks and his party, after giving instructions to Tommy Sharpe, and he followed Kie on what he knew to be a "wild goose chase." Kie flattered himself that he was being very clever in keeping the searchers away from the old man.
The girls waited impatiently for Kit. "I do wish she would hurry," fussed Bet. "What's keeping her?"
"Maybe she found Young Mary there, as she hoped, and as it's been such a long time since they've seen each other, they'll need to do a lot of talking to make up for lost time."
But Kit's meeting with her Indian friend was very different from what the girls pictured.
Even Kit was surprised and a little hurt at the lack of interest in her childhood friend.
The Indian girl was already dressed in the bright silk gown that Kit had brought her. Kit caught the girl in her arms and squeezed her tight. But Young Mary was as rigid as a post. Not by word or sign did she betray the fact that she was glad to see Kit.
But Kit understood. She saw a bright light in Mary's eyes and was satisfied.
"Why Mary, you're a beauty in that dress. I want you to come over and meet my friends."
Mary shook her head. She was already gliding away toward the canyon where the Indians were camped by the stream. They had chosen the same spot that the professor had used for a camping site.
And when Kit joined the group of Indians by the side of the creek she realized that Mary was now a grown-up Indian woman. She did not run or dance about any more, but seated herself with the squaws and seemed happy.
Mary had returned to her people. There was no doubt about it. She would never again be the chum of the white girl. There were times when Kit felt angry; it seemed like a reflection on herself, on her loyalty.
The girls watched with amusement Young Mary's pride in her new dress. There was a buzz of unintelligible comments from the squaws as they pressed about the girl, fingering the material and patting the silk.
Kit learned before long why Mary was so preoccupied with herself. She was in love. In love with a man of her own race.
Old Mary shrugged her shoulders and grunted her disapproval.
But in spite of her shrugs, the older woman was proud. Young Mary was making a good choice. Andreas was a fine young Indian. He had a farm of his own on the San Pablo. They were both young and could work and would have many children to bless them.
As Kit had prophesied, the Indian women were not interested in basket weaving. They shook their heads vehemently. Then at Bet's proposal that they sell her some that were already made, the ones they carried along, their heads shook more than ever and their grunts and frowns were decisive. Kit translated it to the girls as a flat refusal. Flat refusals always spurred Bet on to further efforts.
"I'll get those baskets yet," she declared. "I want them. What's moreI've got an idea."
"Go ahead Bet and dream your little dream. You never dealt with an 'injun' before. Now you've met your Waterloo." Kit laughed. At heart she was rather pleased to see Bet go up against a losing proposition for once.
Bet tossed her head impudently at her friend but made no answer. The determination in her glance proved that she had not given up the struggle.
And late in the afternoon when the girls again walked down the canyon, Bet was decked out in such brightly colored beads that she might have been mistaken for an Indian girl herself. Strings of red, blue, amber, green and orange encircled her neck.
"What are you trying to do, Bet?" exclaimed Shirley with a laugh. "Are you trying to show off in front of the squaws to make them jealous?"
Enid laughingly began to count the strings.
"Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like this," Kit interrupted.
"Oh, keep quiet, all of you! I can wear as many strings of beads as I want to. It's the latest style," she retorted with a grimace. "I have an object in wearing them."
"It's a bribe to get those baskets!" cried Kit delightedly. "And maybe you will, at that. Your methods are sound and business-like. I thought you'd met your match, but now I'm inclined to think they have."
They were nearing the Indian camp and Bet noticed with pleasure the surprised glances of the squaws. They did not look at the other girls. Bet was the center of attraction.
Finally one Indian woman drew near and put out a brown finger to touch the bright objects. Bet smiled and waited. "You like beads?" she asked.
The squaw nodded and was joined by another one. Soon Bet was surrounded. "You want them?" There were as many grunts of acceptance as there were women there.
"You sell me some baskets?" asked Bet. "Then you can have the beads."
The squaws looked at each other then back at the bright beads. They sidled away, without a word.
Bet's heart stood still. She had lost! Kit's eyes were shining with triumph.
But only for a moment. The Indian women were busily at work emptying the contents of their baskets into blankets. They were evidently preparing to give her the best they had. Bet got several small jar-like baskets besides two large ones that were used to carry things on their saddles.
They looked on in surprise when Bet paid them a good price for their baskets and passed over the strings of beads as well.
There was a chorus of grunts and Kit again translated. The squaws were congratulating themselves on their bargain. They were more than satisfied. "I've known Indians all my life," Kit whispered to the girls, "but I've never before seen them so pleased about anything! You win, Bet!"
"I certainly do, Kit Patten. Come on, girls, lend a hand and let's get these baskets home before they change their minds."
As they were going up the trail toward the ranch, Young Mary suddenly appeared from a thicket of Palo Verde.
"Kit," she said softly.
Kit turned as if she had been shot. "Mary," she answered uneasily."What's the matter?"
Kit ran to the girl who now hesitated as if she were addressing a stranger. Then suddenly, with what appeared to be an effort, she whispered: "Your old man! He's in the hut over in Rattlesnake Creek, and he's being guarded by some bad Indians from down the valley. Be careful!"
And before Kit could stop her to ask any more questions, the Indian girl glided away as softly as she had come.
"If the professor is really hidden in that hut, perhaps we can get him tonight," exclaimed Bet Baxter, as she swung up the trail carrying her Indian baskets.
"I wish we could find him before tomorrow afternoon when the boys come," said Enid. "It would be nice to give the boys our full attention."
"You'll spoil them if you do," Shirley responded.
Bet was quiet the rest of the way home. Thoughts of the professor kept crowding into her mind, schemes for his release; these things demanded her attention. Kit spoke to her three times without getting an answer, then with a smile turned to her chums.
"Bet is trying to solve a problem. She is never this way unless she is making plans of some sort."
By the time they reached the ranch house, Bet's eyes were glowing in an absent-minded way and she passed Ma Patten in the patio without speaking.
She was so intent on the problem that was bothering her that she stood staring at her father a long time before she recognized him, then with a cry she threw herself into his arms.
"Oh Daddy! I've been so lonesome for you! How did you get here and when did you come?"
"Easy, girl, or you'll choke on all those questions," laughed ColonelBaxter. "I just arrived an hour ago, and I would have let you know ifI'd been sure that I could come. And then at the end, I decided tosurprise you. Are you glad?"
Bet laughed happily, her blue eyes glowing now with a very different light. There was snap and joy in them as she held tightly to her father's hand.
In her joy at seeing her father she had not paid any attention to what the other girls were doing. Now as she heard the sound of happy voices she turned and saw the boys, Phil and Bob and Paul.
"Oh, you boys! Why we didn't expect you until tomorrow afternoon," she said, extending her hand to Phil Gordon.
"If you don't want to see us tonight, perhaps we could go back and sit in the station at Benito."
"Don't be silly, Bob Evans. You're just the same as ever." Bet laughed as she always did at Bob.
"What did you expect me to do in three weeks time? Get grey headed and grow a beard?"
Bob had helped Joy to her feet when they heard the girls arriving and he now stood supporting his sister while he laughed and teased.
"Isn't it good to see them?" cried Joy.
"Does that include me, too?" inquired Colonel Baxter.
"Of course it does! You don't know how often we've talked about you and wished you were here," answered Enid, before Joy could reply.
There was a real change in Paul Breckenridge since the girls had seen him the previous winter. The old brooding, shy look was gone, and now he entered into the pleasures around him as the other boys did. One could see that he liked to be near Enid, teasing her constantly as if he had to make up for those years of separation.
Judge Breckenridge smiled around at his happy family, well pleased with everything.
"The one thing that would make it perfect would be to have the old professor here," he said. "But we'll find him before long."
Kit gave a little cry. "How terrible of me to have forgotten to tell you, Judge! We know where the professor is."
"Where?" asked the Judge eagerly.
"Young Mary says that he is in the shack in Rattlesnake Creek."
"But Kie Wicks took us through that hut this afternoon," replied theJudge. "He isn't there!"
The girls showed their disappointment.
"Maybe they just moved the old man out for an hour until you finished your search," said Bet. "I wouldn't put that past Kie Wicks. Nothing is too bad for him to do."
"We hunted inside and outside of that hut," insisted the Judge. "If he had been there, surely there would have been some sign."
"I have an idea!" cried Bet, jumping to her feet. "I believe he's in that hut, they put him back after you'd been there. I'm going to find him tonight."
"You'll do no such thing, Bet. Chasing around among a lot of bad men is no place for a girl," began her father, but Bet interrupted:
"Just wait until I have worked out my plan and you'll see I'll be as safe as if I were at home. You can come with me, Dad. Will you help me, Judge? I'll need several men."
"Let us in on this," exclaimed Phil and Bob in the same breath. "We'd like to have a hand in solving your latest mystery."
Bet flew to her room and returned in a few minutes in a strange costume, a long dress of buckskin. Dark braids fell over her shoulders and feathers rose from her hair. She had no resemblance to the boyish girl they knew.
The Colonel looked puzzled but Judge Breckenridge caught the idea. "You're a wonder, Bet! And I do believe you are right. You'll be as safe as if you were in your own bed."
An hour later, the watchers by the hut rubbed their eyes and stared about them. A wild, weird cry rang through the canyon, and in the moonlight Kie Wicks and his bad men saw, far above them on the cliff, the figure of an Indian girl.
"She wasn't walking, she was just floating in the air, it seemed, and as she moved, she moaned and shrieked. It was terrible! There was no doubt about it. It was the ghost," Kie Wicks told his wife when he was safely at home.
"What happened?" Maude urged him to continue the story.
"You should have seen those Indians go! 'The Old Chief's daughter walks! It's the ghost girl!' they cried hoarsely. And that's the last I saw of them."
"And what did you do?" Maude pressed him further.
"I—well, I ran, too. I got out of there in record time, let me tell you. I don't mind shooting it out with a human being, but I don't take no chances with a ghost. I vamoosed."
"And the old man?" she inquired.
"He's there yet. One thing certain, I'll never go into that canyon late at night again."
Bet's ruse had worked better than she had hoped. In less than two minutes after she stepped out on the cliff, the place was deserted, the hut left unguarded and Judge Breckenridge and his men rushed in, broke open the door and found the old man asleep on a sack of straw.
The Judge touched him and the professor tried to shake him off.
"What are you going to do with me now?" he asked peevishly, "I want to go to sleep. Can't you let me be?"
"Ssh! Don't talk! We've come to take you home. This is JudgeBreckenridge."
The professor recognized his voice and breathed a sigh of relief. He rose unsteadily and did not speak again until they were a long way up the trail.
Then he suddenly got weak and felt as if he were going to faint.
"Don't worry, I get this way sometimes. I have some medicine over at the tent."
As it was only a short distance to the claim, the Judge decided to get him there as quickly as possible.
The professor was like a child in his eagerness to stay at the camp, and finally toward morning the Judge left him there in charge of the boys and Seedy Saunders.
And when Kie Wicks, deciding that he would have a look at the tunnel which he had left in charge of the two ruffians, climbed the trail to the summit the next morning about dawn, the first person he saw was the old professor, smoking his pipe and gazing far off over the hills with a smile of happiness on his face.
Kie wheeled his horse as if he had been shot at and raced madly away.He was muttering excitedly:
"The mountains are bewitched! That ghost has spirited the old man out of the hut and back to the tunnel."
When his horse finally stopped before the store in Saugus, he was covered with foam and the man who bestrode him was trembling in every limb.
Yet he said nothing to Maude. What was the use? She would only worry and fret, and besides he had always made light of ghosts and said he didn't believe in them.
"But seein' is believin'," he said to himself as he dismounted. "I'm outdone by a ghost."
And Bet, as she put away the Indian costume the next morning, hugged it to her as if it had been responsible for the whole affair. "Whatever made you think of it, Bet?" asked Enid.
"Thoughts like that just come to her. It's what you might call inspiration, or intuition," laughed Shirley.
"Why give it such a big name," returned Bet. "I simply had a hunch, and it worked out."
"Just like that!" exclaimed Joy, as she tried to dance on the lame foot, snapping her fingers in time to the step.
"What's the next thing on the program, Bet?" asked Bob Evans. "Have you a bulletin board with the adventures scheduled?"
"I wish you'd stop teasing me. It isn't my fault if I'm always getting into the middle of a problem."
"Whose is it, Bet?" laughed her father.
"Yours, I think, Dad. You brought me up." She slid an arm around her father's neck. "And are you very much disappointed in me?"
"Fishing for compliments?" Colonel Baxter pinched her rosy cheek.
"No, I only want a little appreciation," she replied.
At that moment Billy Patten poked his head into the corridor.
"The old man at the tunnel. He says for the girls to come quick."
"Something important has happened!" insisted Kit. "Hurry up, let's go!"
Colonel Baxter hurried to his horse and followed after the girls. His mind was not, for the moment, on possible treasure, he was overwhelmed by the magnitude of the hills, their rugged outlines and the blazing sun that beat down upon them.
When they reached the summit, the girls spurred their horses across the flat.
What they saw was an excited little old man, waving his arms and dancing about a huge box.
As the girls approached, he cried.
"Come quickly. It's a brass-bound chest. It's the treasure!"
Tommy Sharpe pried the rusty lock, and as the cover was swung back, the girls gave a gasp of astonishment and dismay.
The chest was empty!
At the sight of the empty chest, Professor Gillette opened his mouth to speak, but no words came. His face was white and drawn. And the girls were no less moved than he. All their hopes had been dashed to the ground.
Tears came to Bet's eyes. Angry tears! Why was it that they always had so many disappointments? Why couldn't the treasure have reposed in that chest ready for them? Why couldn't things have gone smoothly just for once?
"What a silly thing to do! To bury an empty chest!" Bet said in a protesting voice.
"But that's the trouble. Maybe it wasn't always empty. Maybe it was once full of gold and jewels," sighed the professor wearily. He had planned on this treasure more than he realized at first. He thought of Alicia, his patient daughter, whose hope of recovery depended on his summer's work.
"Then what happened to it?" demanded Bet.
"Someone has been ahead of us, that's all. There must have been treasure in that chest," repeated the old man.
"I think you are right," interrupted Colonel Baxter. "But don't be discouraged! Unless I'm very badly mistaken, that chest will be worth a small fortune in itself. Look at those brass straps across the corners. The carving is unusual and beautiful."
"I don't see anything beautiful about it, at all," snapped Bet. "If it had been filled with treasure, then I could admire it."
Colonel Baxter laughed. But the girls at that moment could see nothing to be happy about. Their faces were serious and troubled. It was not alone for themselves that they had wanted the treasure. They had planned on being able to help the professor, to make it possible for Alicia to go to the famous specialist and be cured.
"Guard the chest well," continued Colonel Baxter. "It's valuable!"
"But there is no bullion or jewels!" Enid expressed her disappointment with a frown.
"And no doubloons or louis d'or!" said Kit. "And I did want to see one."
But Shirley laughed. "Come on, girls, what's the use of fretting over a treasure that didn't exist. Let's be satisfied with the old chest and call it a summer. For the rest of the time we'll complete our study of rope throwing and bronco busting."
"Yes, we can do that—but where's the romance?" sighed Bet. "The treasure had all the romance of the old days in the west. I did want it to come true."
"Why, Bet Baxter!" exclaimed Kit Patten. "You say you've had no romance! What do you call it when you stand off a couple of western bad men, and recapture the tunnel all by yourself?"
"Did you do that, Bet?" asked her father, turning on his daughter with a frown.
"Please don't think I intended to keep it from you, Dad. I was waiting until we went back to Lynnwood," Bet answered penitently.
Her father laughed. "Oh, Bet, girl, when will you learn to be cautious? And when are you going to grow up and be ladylike?"
"Not yet, Dad. There will be time enough to grow up when I get to be thirty. Until then, I want to be just a girl and have lots of fun and adventure."
"You seem to be getting your wish, as you always do," Enid said as she tried to pat Bet's tousled locks into place.
"I didn't get my wish this time. Far from it. I wished for heaps of treasure, and I get nothing but a brass-bound chest."
Tommy Sharpe was gazing at the mud-crusted box with interest and suddenly burst out; "Say, Judge, if Kie Wicks gets an idea that the chest is worth more than a dollar and a half, he'll try to take it away from the girls. Don't you think we'd better take it back to the ranch?"
"You're right, Tommy. It may not be what we planned for, but just the same, the professor and the girls put up a fight for it and it belongs to them."
"And I love it, Dad!" exclaimed Enid, examining the carving on the box.
"Well, what are we going to do now?" asked the business-like Shirley."Will we abandon the tunnel and claims and let Kie Wicks have them?"
"No!" cried Bet decidedly. "I won't let him have anything! Not even the worthless old tunnel."
"That's the way I feel about it," said the professor. "Kie didn't treat me fairly and I don't wish him to be near my camp. On the other hand, we shouldn't be a burden to Judge Breckenridge, who has supplied men to guard the tunnel and help do the digging."
Bob interrupted with a shout. "Let us live here and guard the tunnel part of the time. What about it, Paul, can you think of any more interesting way to spend a vacation? To cook and live out like this?"
"I'm with you, Bob, if Dad says it's O. K." answered Paul Breckenridge.
"It's all right if you want to," agreed the Judge. "You could change your camp down to the creek-bed if you wish."
"I'd rather stay on top of the mountain," answered Phil. "This just suits me."
So it was agreed that the boys would camp with the professor and keepKie Wicks at a safe distance.
But Kie had had enough. Word leaked out that they had not found any treasure. Kie did not want the claims. He was not a mining man by temperament and hated the toil and privation that went into the working of claims in the hills.
Day after day now Professor Gillette went in search of the Indian ruins, hoping to find something that would give him credit in his college. A few bits of broken pottery, some arrowheads and a foot of crumbling wall were not the things that would bring him fame as an explorer.
The vacation was almost over.
Only once did the girls get the old man away from his search. Before returning home they wanted to visit the summer range where the large herd of cattle grazed, that belonged to Judge Breckenridge. It was five miles over the Cayuga Range.
It was Joy's first outing after her accident and she mounted the broad back of Dolly with the same fear that she always felt with a horse.
"I'll never get used to it," she sighed, as the other girls leaped gaily into their saddles.
But Paul Breckenridge was at her side encouraging her. Joy's sweet helplessness appealed to the boy. The other girls often annoyed him by their self confidence and efficiency. The gay but child-like Joy amused and pleased him.
He liked the way Joy looked to him for protection when they rode out on the broad flat where the cattle were grazing. There were hundreds of cattle on that range. Joy shivered. There was no pretense in her terror. She did not like cattle.
"Oh, look at Tommy Sharpe. He'll be killed," she cried.
"He's all right, Joy. He understands the game. Just watch and you'll see what he is going to do," returned Paul.
Tommy had spurred his horse forward and was now riding straight toward the herd. It seemed to the girls that he was right in the midst of that stamping, struggling mass.
The boy was after a certain cow with her calf and as he kept his eye on the animal he wanted, he untied the rope fastened about the saddle horn, and held the other end ready to throw when he had a chance.
The girls watched proudly as the boy rode confidently into the herd, divided it and then singling out the animal he was after, threw the loop.
No sooner did the loop twirl through the air than the trained cowpony braced itself backward. There was a swirl of dust in the air. The herd raced madly across the flat to the safety of the canyon beyond and the girls saw that Tommy had succeeded. A cow was scrambling to her feet, bellowing with rage.
Twice the animal was thrown down before she gave up the struggle, and the reason for that was the appearance of a calf that answered her hoarse call.
Tommy led the animal toward the trail and the calf followed. Tommy had won.
"Do you like being a cowboy, Tommy?" asked Enid as she spurred her horse to have a word with the boy.
"It's the best sport in the world, Enid. I wouldn't ask for nothing better."
Whether it was the long ride over the mountain, or something that the professor had eaten; that night he was a sick man.
"Go for Mrs. Patten," he gasped. "She knows what to do."
And the girls, hearing about it from Kit, soon followed her to the camp. They found the professor tossing uneasily on his cot, holding his head to try and stop the pain. Even after Ma Patten's treatment it was an hour before he quieted down.
The girls had been wandering about the camp and Bet suddenly exclaimed, "Come on girls, let's be sports and visit the site of our fondest hopes, and of our bitter disappointment."
"Aw, why rub it in?" said Kit with a shrug, as she followed Bet into the tunnel.
"I never even looked to see where that old chest came from, and I want to see," Bet let herself down into the hole. "I can't believe that anyone found the treasure, stole it, then sealed the tunnel up again. That doesn't spell sense, at all."
"I think those old Spaniards showed very little sense anyway," remarkedKit. "Why didn't they hide their treasure in some easier place?"
Bet laughed. But at that moment her foot scraped against something hard. There was a metallic ring. Stooping she dug away the dirt and crumbled rock with her hands.
"Kit!" she gasped. "It's the treasure! Call the professor! Hurry!"Bet's voice rang out.
There was no need to call the professor. Forgetting his weariness and headache, he leaped from the cot at Bet's cry, and ran to the tunnel.
Bet appeared, carrying a small metal box, held tightly in her arms.
"Call the girls!" she said, and disappeared into the shelter of the professor's tent.
When the box was pried open, the girls had all the thrill they had ever planned. Old coins, nuggets and jewels were scrambled together in the casket. Enid's fingers closed about a long gold chain, tarnished and stained with the years.
"That's what I've dreamed about!" she said with a gasp. "Isn't it wonderful!"
A loud "Hullo" came to them from the hill above. Bet shut the box with a snap and placing it on the cot, sat down upon it.
"Anyone who gets this box, has to take me along!" she said in a tense voice. "No one shall have it! No one!"
A moment later there was a scramble from the trail and Bob, Phil and Paul rushed into the tent. They started back as they saw the frightened faces of the girls.
Then Bet laughed.
"We thought it was robbers! After the treasure!" she exclaimed, jumping to her feet and displaying the precious box.
"Three cheers for The Merriweather Girls!" shouted Bob.
The professor was delighted. He had forgotten his sickness. "It shows how one should keep at a thing long after it seems useless," he told the girls. "Why, I may even find my Indian village, yet."
"Of course you will. This is just the beginning of our good luck!" cried Bet excitedly.
"And we'll all help you hunt for your village," promised Phil Gordon."That will be the next adventure!"
"What about your claims?" asked Tommy. "Aren't you going to work them?" He cast a longing look over the flat-topped summit.
"Dad says we'd be foolish to go on with them!" replied Enid. "If we were going to be out here to look after the work it would be different."
"Will you sell them?" Tommy's eager face expressed more than the simple question. Tommy wanted those claims.
"You can have them, Tommy!" began Enid.
Bet burst out with a decided "No!" and the girls looked at the impulsive, generous girl in surprise. They had never known Bet to act like this.
"We'll sell Tommy the claims," she said in her decided way. "We'll sell Tommy the claims—for that treasure map!"
The boy looked relieved. "It's a bargain!" he laughed.
"Nothing for nothing!" smiled Joy contemptuously.
"No such thing!" protested Bet. "That map was worth a lot to us. If we hadn't seen it on Tommy's wall, I'd never have thought of those carvings on the rock meaninganything."
"And who knows? Maybe there'll be a big mine on this mountain some day!" Tommy looked around with the pride of possession. "I'm going to get the assessment work done on my claims right away," he added.
Kit came close to him. "Look here, Tommy Sharpe. You keep your eyes open after we go, and if Kie Wicks doesn't do his assessment work, jump his claims. They belong to us, anyway, and they're included in the sale."
Bet carried the treasure to the ranch. The others acted as escort for the safe transfer of the box.
"All gone crazy!" said Tang to his boys, as the young people rushed in and all began to talk at once to the Judge and Colonel Baxter.
There was excitement and happiness on the ranch. Everybody had been interested in the adventure. But it was only the favored ones who ever saw the treasure. Bet gladly gave it to Judge Breckenridge for safe keeping.
"Now the tunnel doesn't have to be guarded any more," exclaimed Bob. And even the professor agreed that it would be better to stay at the ranch. Kie Wicks might try to get back at them, if he found out about the treasure.
So the camp on the summit was broken up. As the professor urged the burro through the canyon, loaded down with his tent and supplies, the contrary animal made a rush toward the flat where the Indians were camped, and nothing could turn him from his purpose.
The professor had a sudden inspiration. He signalled Mapia who was sitting by the stream, smoking his pipe as usual. Unstrapping the tent, the old man presented it to the Indian. And while Mapia's face did not change expression, somehow the professor knew that he was pleased.
As he turned to go, the Indian rose and followed. "Wait! I show you! Come!" he said, and mounting his bony horse, he headed it up Lost Canyon. It was slow travelling, the burro had to be brought back to the trail many times with prods from a heavy stick that the Indian had given the old man.
After a mile they left the creek and followed a smaller stream that had no visible trail. They clambered over slippery rocks for another mile and still another and then the Indian brought him out to a broad shelf of rock. And there hidden by the hills, was the extensive ruins of the ancient town.
"The village!" said Mapia with a sweep of his hand.
The professor could only stare. He had no words to express his joy. Wall after wall of adobe ruins had withstood the weather in this sheltered spot. And from these walls he could picture the village as it had once been.
Mapia interrupted his thoughts. "Be careful! The Old Chief's daughter walks!"
"Are you afraid of the ghost, Mapia?" the professor asked him, looking steadily into his eyes.
"No, I don't believe! But bad men believe and that is good."
The professor laughed. Years seemed to have dropped from him. He felt like a boy.
Mapia was talking. "The Old Chief, he's buried there—or maybe over there. Who knows? It is not good to disturb the bones of the dead!" he added in a warning voice.
The last week in the hills was a busy one for The Merriweather Girls and their friends.
Professor Gillette worked from early morning until late at night. The few excavations he made proved beyond doubt that he had found the ancient village that so many men had tried to locate.
His job was secure. And with his share of the treasure he would be able to realize his hopes in regard to the invalid daughter. There was no happier man in the world these days than the old professor.
His time was spent in making a careful map of the village. The ruins were photographed from every angle by Shirley Williams. Everyone had a hand in helping their old friend in the realization of his undertaking.
Bet was quiet. Something seemed to be troubling here these days.
"What is it, Bet?" asked Colonel Baxter one morning after his daughter had been following him around for an hour, with a question in her eyes.
"There is just one thing I want to do more than I anything else in all the world," she answered.
"Speak, child!" smiled the Colonel indulgently. "What is it that your heart desires?" he added playfully.
"Let me fly back with you to New York! I've never been up in an airplane."
"I'm sorry, Bet. I can't do it this time. Not yet," he answered.
Bet looked disappointed. "Oh it's all right, Dad, I won't whimper.I've had a wonderful time this summer."
"And what's more, you will have your chance this year."
"Oh, what do you mean, Dad?"
"Up at Rockhill School, where you are going this winter, they have a class in aviation for the girls," said her father.
"Do you mean it? Is it really true? Will you let me learn to fly?"
"Yes daughter, I want you to. I believe in modern sports for young people. It's a great game and the earlier you get into it, the more chance you have of becoming an expert."
"Dad, you're wonderful!" exclaimed Bet.
With this promise Bet was satisfied and not unhappy when her father and the boys left the next day for Benito, where the airplane was guarded in a barn.
In fact Bet was too busy during the next few days to be unhappy. The girls were sorting over all the collections they had made in the hills. It would have needed a special train if Bet had taken all the things she had brought to the ranch so it was necessary for her to go over the lot and take only the treasures that she could not give up.
"You'd better get an old trunk that's out in the garage and fill it up.Then we can send it by express," suggested Judge Breckenridge.
But Bet objected. "Some of my things are too precious to put in that trunk," she said.
"For instance, what?" asked Kit.
"My arrowheads and my turquoise specimens. I'll carry them in my small suitcase. The ore samples, from those copper claims are heavy. They can go in the trunk. And what say we put our hiking and riding shoes in that."
"Sure, that's an idea! All the heavy things that we don't care for can go into the old trunk."
Judge Breckenridge took the small casket of treasure in his car. He started out a full hour before the others, as he still felt the necessity of driving slowly with his invalid wife. The genial little professor entertained her on the way with details of his village.
Bet sighed as the last good-bye was said and she settled down in the car.
"We've had a marvelous time! We never dreamed we'd have such an adventure."
"Maybe it's just as well we couldn't forsee the struggle with Kie Wicks over that treasure," Shirley said with a happy smile. "Isn't it good to win out, no matter what you are doing?"
"Yes, we have the treasure and had the fun of the contest, but what didKie Wicks get out of it?" demanded Bet.
"Nothing at all!" chirruped Joy. "He's just out of luck. And he deserves it for kidnapping our professor."
"Atta boy, Joy! Dad says to be generous to your enemies, but I'm afraid I haven't one little generous thought for Kie Wicks. Isn't it good that he didn't hear about us finding the treasure? He knows about the chest but not a word about the other."
But Kie Wicks knew more than the girls realized. He had heard more and seen more than they had any idea of. He suspected that treasure had been found and at that moment he was giving instructions to his hired men.
He had formed a gang of ruffians from the hills and they were collected now in a ravine through which the automobiles must pass. Without any suspicion that the treasure was safely stowed away in a car that had passed fully half an hour before, the storekeeper huddled his men behind the rock and waited.
As the car driven by Matt Larkin came out on the main road, Kie ordered his men and his voice was hard:
"There's the chest of treasure. Go get it! Don't fail!"
A shot rang out! Matt Larkin tried to put on speed and get away from the small car that had suddenly sprung into the road, and having a higher-powered engine he succeeded for a while. But the pursuing machine had only two men in it and the five girls and their luggage was a drag on the big car.
Joy became hysterical with fright. She crouched low in the car, but Bet was excited. Her head bobbed up every minute to see what was taking place.
Matt caught her as she peered through the back window and spoke angrily. "Get down there! Are you crazy? You'll be shot if you don't look out."
Bet sighed as she obeyed. "Just my luck! To miss all the fun! Now if I were a boy…." The sentence was jerked out as Matt Larkin took a bump without easing it.
"Ouch!" screamed Joy. "My head!"
"Keep quiet, Joy Evans! It serves you right for being such a cry-baby," snapped Bet.
But Shirley comforted her. Joy was trembling as her friend clasped her in her arms.
"I wish the boys were here," sobbed Joy.
"Well, I don't!" said Kit. "They'd think it was their duty to put up a fight, and it doesn't pay."
Another shot!
Another burst of speed that shook the car.
Then Matt slowed down. There was nothing else to do. The men were gaining and it was foolish to try to out-speed them.
Matt turned. "Keep perfectly quiet," said the man. "They won't hurt you. They're only after the treasure."
"But that's in the car ahead," protested Bet.
"You'd better yell it loud enough for them to hear," suggested Enid from the depths of the tonneau.
Matt once more warned them to be quiet. "Put up your hands if they tell you to. Don't take any chances. Don't speak unless they ask you a question. I'll do the talking."
With a gun pointed in their direction, they lost no time in putting up their hands. Bet hesitated, her defiant nature rebelled at the idea of such surrender. But a second command from Matt, brought the girl's hands toward her head.
"The chest! Off with it!" commanded Ramon Salazar to the man by his side. "And here, Jake, you hold the gun on them!"
"Not that chest, Ramon," cried Bet. "You can't have that chest!"
"What's to stop us," sneered the Mexican with an ugly scowl.
"My ore samples! My birds' nests. They're in that chest."
"Ha, ha, that's a good joke. Birds' nests!"
"Keep quiet, Bet, not another word!" Matt Larkin spoke with decision. And Bet slumped down in the seat, her arms still extended above her head.
Ramon did not wait to untie the rope that held the huge trunk. He slashed the strings with his knife. Then bringing his gun once more toward the car, he ordered:
"Now get along out of here as fast as you can. You are covered until you are out of sight." As Matt started his car the Mexican called. "Kie Wicks sends his compliments!"
As the car got under way, Bet suddenly began to scream. It was something between a laugh and a cry. The girls looked at her in astonishment. Bet hysterical! They could hardly believe it.
When a safe distance was reached Bet tried to speak. "That old trunk!They think it's the treasure chest! And they've stolen my riding shoesand my birds nests and some copper ore. Oh, girls, isn't it funny?"And Bet was once more convulsed with laughter.
"To think of Bet getting hysterical!" exclaimed Enid.
"I wasn't hysterical. I just had to laugh, and I thought they'd catch on so I screamed."
"That explains everything, Bet," came Joy's voice from the floor of the car. "I'll remember that excuse myself and use it sometime."
Bet glared but said nothing. Then she started to laugh once more:
"What wouldn't I give to see Kie Wicks' face when he opens that chest?"
Back in the ravine, the men had carried the trunk to a cave and Kie grabbed it.
"Fine!" he said. "Those folks will learn who's boss here."
"You're clever, Kie. You let those greenies do the hard work while you watched and then you grab the treasure. I call that smart!"
Kie beamed with satisfaction.
"Here, lend a hand, Ramon, and help me pry open this chest. I know a man who says he'll give me a fancy price for this treasure. This is my lucky day."
The cover of the trunk was thrown back and the men stared down into the greatest array of old clothes and camping equipment they had ever seen.
"Ain't this wonderful!" said Ramon picking up a huge chunk of copper ore. "That's a valuable specimen. It will bring a fancy price."
Kie Wicks tried to speak, but a choking sound came in his throat.
The rough men beside him knew that for once they had Kie Wicks at their mercy. They roared with laughter.
"Compliments of Kie Wicks!" shouted Ramon.
Kie made as if to draw his gun, but instead he turned to his horse, mounted it and rode away.
"They've out-smarted me this time!" he muttered. "But they'd better watch out!"
As Kie Wicks spurred his horse along the canyon road, he knew that his days at Saugus were over. He had gone too far. The sheriff would never stand for a hold-up. Prison threatened him. What was more he would be the laughing stock of the whole country. Kie Wicks, the man who had boasted of his cleverness had been outdone by a bunch of girls.
"This place ain't healthy for me, no more," muttered the man. "Me and Maude will get away, to-night. We'll never stop till we get clear out of the state. Then we'll be safe."
And on Judge Breckenridge's private train that was taking The Merriweather Girls and their friend toward their home, Bet would burst into a peal of laughter from time to time.
"What now, Bet?" asked Enid.
"Oh, I'm thinking of all the fun we've had—and I'm wondering if KieWicks will keep my birds' nests and start a collection," she giggled.
Even the old professor, who had been invited to join the party, had to chuckle at the thought.
Shirley Williams was gazing from the car window. "Look at that sunset, girls. Did you ever see anything so beautiful?"
"I'd love to paint it," enthused Bet.
"Then why don't you?" Shirley reproached her. "You brought your color box and some canvases with you to Arizona and you haven't made a single picture. I'm ashamed of you!"
"Oh, I'll make up for it this winter at Rockhill School. I'll work hard. See if I don't."
"No, you won't, Bet Baxter. You get so interested in the sports, the motoring, the flying and all that outdoor science course, that you'll never take a brush in your hand. And you won't study either!" declared Joy.
"I'll have to," protested Bet. "Dad wouldn't like it if I failed to come up to the high standard of the school. Dr. Dale's idea is that modern sports develop the brain and make us wide awake and keen."
"Sounds fishy to me," returned Joy slangily. "I may be wrong but I have my doubt that it works. If I had to go up in an airplane I'd be so frightened I couldn't think straight for a year at least."
Suddenly Joy sprang up, her face white. "Say, Bet, does everyone atRockhillhaveto fly?"
"Of course not, Joy. There probably won't be more than six in the whole school who will go in for aviation."
"Thank goodness! I wish The Merriweather Girls wouldn't go in for flying."
"Why, Joy Evans, I've already signed up for the aviation course. I wouldn't miss it for worlds."
"Personally, I'd be content to stay on the ground," spoke Shirley.
No one else spoke. Joy was staring at Kit.
Then Bet turned to Kit and the western girl replied to her unspoken question: Kit's bright eyes and daring smile told that she was game to ride anything that could run or fly. "I'm with you, Bet," she said heartily.
"We're all with you, Bet. We'll not be left behind. If you girls are going to fly, we will, too," Enid drew Shirley toward the two girls.
"I was just thinking," exclaimed Shirley Williams, "that I can make some wonderful photographs from the air."
"Well, since you're all going in for aviation, I suppose that includes me. But I'll not do a thing unless I can wear one of those lovely white leather costumes. I'm sure I'd look well in one!" This from Joy, the butterfly girl.
"Then The Merriweather Girls stand together!" laughed Enid Breckenridge.
"Of course, 'One for all and all for one!'" said Bet, with a happy smile on her face.