It pleased Frank to set out in almost a direct line for the rocky ledges. He wanted to cover once more the ground which he and Will had passed over on their way to camp.
"In the first place," he explained to the others when they remarked on this fact, "there were several interesting sights that Will said he wanted to snap off; and his supply of film had run short the other day. Then we know this route, and can point out a lot of things. Besides, it's a short way to the place, which is a good excuse for taking it."
In due time they reached the rocks, and both Bluff and Jerry must creep under the friendly ledge, to see for themselves what sort of shelter their chums had found from the storm.
"Couldn't be beaten, and that's a fact, Frank!" was Jerry's final verdict, after he had remained under the rock for a time.
"And in such a terrible electric storm," addedBluff, sagely, "I don't know of a better place to take refuge than under a shelf of rock. There's no danger of being struck by the lightning, and only a slim chance of an avalanche tumbling down on top of you."
"All boys ought to make a note of a thing like that," urged Will, wisely nodding his head as might a school-master. "When a storm comes along in summer time, with thunder and lightning, they should never dream of taking shelter under a tree or in a barn. Frank, I'm right there, I reckon, am I not?"
"Every time!" responded the other vigorously. "It's better to drop flat down in the open and take a good ducking, rather than risk chances under a tree or in any sort of barn. Lightning picks out those objects for a blow. But I think myself a shelf of rock like this is about the finest shelter going."
"And I'll always be on the lookout for places like this," asserted Bluff, who could take a lesson to heart for all his bluffing ways.
"I can promise you I will," added Will, "because while I'm still sore from lying so many hours on that hard stone, I feel deep down in my heart that I ought never to look a gift horse in the mouth. That rock ledge was the best friend we had all through the terrible hurricane."
"Well, we're in no great hurry to get back home, are we, boys?" asked Jerry.
"We started out with the intention of making a day of it," Frank observed, "and there's no reason to change our minds. I'm going to take a turn in a new direction, though in the end we may strike the old trail that leads to the Point from Mr. Dennison's place."
Jerry looked at him eagerly.
"Now it so happens that everybody's gone and seen that place but poor me," he went on to state; "and Frank, if we just happened to be in that vicinity between now and sunset would you mind if I took a peep?"
Frank shook his head as though he did not wholly like the idea.
"The old gentleman seemed pretty huffy when we had our little heart-to-heart talk with him," Will remarked, noticing this disinclination on Frank's part; "and on the way down we made up our minds it was none of our business. Jerry, I can guess that it's the queer cry we heard that interests you more than wanting to see the house itself, for I've good pictures of that."
Jerry laughed.
"Oh! I own up you fellows have kind of excited me a little when telling about that thrilling sound you heard," he admitted candidly. "I'dlike first-rate to do some prowling around up there to satisfy myself that it wasn't a peacock that screamed, or even a tied-up dog that yelped."
"But I hope you'll give over that idea then, Jerry," said Frank soberly. "You must understand that Mr. Dennison is a gentleman, for all he looks so queer and acts so strangely. He's had something upset him in the past, and chooses to live away from everybody."
"Yes," added Will, "and he's got a right to do as he chooses with his own property, you'll allow, Jerry."
"Sure thing!" agreed the other, though with a shade of disappointment crossing his face, "and I guess I'll have to keep my hands off, since the sign is up 'no trespassing allowed here!' But anyway, I do hope we shall run across Old Aaron and his Rod somewhere in our jaunt to-day."
Frank had nothing more to say on the subject. He was determined not to yield to any temptation, and enter those forbidden grounds again after being so plainly warned off by the irascible owner.
Leaving the rocky section of country, they began to traverse a region quite different in its character. From time to time various interesting things cropped up to attract their attention.
Bluff and Jerry wanted the photographer to snap off all sorts of what they called "mighty absorbing subjects," but Will wisely used his fine discrimination.
"Why, look here," he finally told them, "if I took your advice right along I'd be out of stock in the film line before half the day was over. And I don't know of anything to make a fellow feel worse than to have used his last film and then run across a subject that he'd give heaps to get."
"Will is right, boys," remarked Frank; "leave it to him to decide things like that. I'd stake a lot on his judgment, you must know."
"Well," commented Will, with a chuckle, "I'm a ninny when it comes to lots of things connected with outdoor life; but I do know something about taking pictures, if I say it myself."
At noon-time they stopped and rested for more than an hour, and ate the cold lunch that had been provided. It was warm, and consequently no one felt sorry for the chance to lie in the shade.
Frank afterwards swung around in a half circle. He kept his bearings all the time, and professed to know accurately just where they were, and in what quarter the camp lay.
"For what's the use of claiming to be a woodsman," he told Bluff when the other looked a little incredulous over something or other, "if you don't keep track of your direction? I feel sure that as the crow flies Cabin Point lies over there, right beyond that tree with the feathery crown."
About three in the afternoon all of them owned up to feeling a bit weary.
"But I reckon we must be getting within a mile or so of the lake," Jerry suggested. "I'm saying that partly because I've noticed how Frank has swung around, and is heading in the direction he pointed out when he told of our camp lying in that quarter."
"You hit the nail on the head when you say that, Jerry," commented Frank; "for we're going to strike the old trail before another ten minutes passes."
"Meaning the one that leads to the lake from Aaron's place, eh, Frank?" continued Jerry, with a sparkle of expectancy in his eyes.
"That's right, Jerry," he was told quietly.
"Then I hope—" began the other, stopping suddenly, with half-opened mouth, to listen, for just then there came to their ears a half-muffled sound that might be the scream of a red-headed woodpecker up on some rotten treetop, or anything else for that matter.
Will and Bluff uttered exclamations indicatingthat they recognized the cry. Even Frank looked serious, while Jerry was plainly excited.
"Frank!" he exclaimed, "was that the queer cry you fellows told me you heard those two times you were up here?"
"I think it was," replied the other; "but please don't go to getting excited over it, Jerry. You know we agreed it was none of our business whether a peacock on the lawn or a dog in his kennel let out that yawp. The only thing that interests me about it is the fact that we have proof that the high board fence around Mr. Dennison's place ought to loom up any minute now."
Hardly had Frank said this than Bluff broke in with his customary abruptness.
"Right now I can see a little patch of the same fence over yonder, Frank. Notice that big beech, and look under the slanting limbs. How about it, am I right?"
He was immediately assured that his eyes had not deceived him, for it was certainly a small section of the tall fence that he had discovered.
"I hope you will go close enough anyway," ventured Jerry, "so I can see that strand of cruel barbed wire you say runs along the top of the fence."
"Oh! there's no reason you should be cheated out of that little favor," he was told by theleader. "The fact is we have to pass close to the fence in order to strike that trail through the woods."
"The one he took when he struck my trap, and set my flashlight off, eh, Frank?" asked Will.
"Of course it was that trail and no other," said Frank; "you remember we followed it before, and came to the Point. We also agreed that it was used by the old gentleman once in a while when he took a notion to go down to the lake."
"Well, here's the fence, Jerry!" observed Bluff, as they came to a full stop.
Jerry surveyed it critically, even stepping back the better to see how the barbed wire entanglement ran along its apex.
"A rather tough job to get over that fence," he was heard to say, as though half to himself, "though I reckon I could manage it if pushed."
"But I hope you'll never try it," ventured Frank, severely.
"I was wondering," continued Jerry, paying no attention to the reproof, "whether that barbed wire was put there to prevent outsiders from getting in, or to keep some one who was in from breaking out!"
Frank started, and looked serious. He even exchanged glances with Will, as though theymight have a little secret between them; but at any rate he did not see fit to encourage Jerry to pursue the subject any further.
"Suppose we let the matter drop now," he said, in that way of his which all of them considered final.
They once more moved along, and, in following the plan Frank had of reaching the old trail that led through the woods and tangle to the lake, they kept close to the high fence.
Jerry looked around him from time to time, and whenever he chanced to discover a knot-hole in one of the boards he immediately glued his eye to the aperture as if in hopes of glimpsing the hermit's house, or something else equally interesting.
As they did not hear him utter any expression of satisfaction after several of these attempts, the others set his labor down as futile.
A short time later they neared the lower end of the fenced-in estate. Frank knew he would run upon the trail near this point, and accordingly he had his eyes fixed on the ground looking for the first signs.
On this account he was not the first to discover something that came to pass. It was when he heard an exclamation from Jerry that Frank looked hastily up, and saw to his dismay that theywere once more face to face with the same old gentleman whom he and Will had encountered.
Aaron Dennison had evidently stepped through a narrow gateway, for the opening appeared just behind him. He must have been quite as astonished as the boys at the unexpected meeting. Frank could see that he was very angry, for his face turned red, his eyes gleamed, and the muscles of his cheeks worked under the strain.
Knowing the impetuous nature of one or more of his chums, Frank hurriedly blocked the path so that none of them might pass by. Then, trying to control his own feelings, he faced the scowling owner of the mysterious retreat in the wilderness.
"So this is the way you keep your word, is it, boy?" demanded Mr. Dennison, as he glared at Frank, who, however, managed to keep cool and collected, because he could easily understand how the old gentleman might deem their presence there very suspicious.
"But what I promised you, sir," said Frank, "was that we would not trespass on your enclosed property again, and we have done nothing of the sort, sir."
"Then why do I find you here, alongside this fence that was constructed to keep such curious people as you from intruding on my privacy? I believe even now it was your intention to enter again by that loose board, which, however, I had nailed fast in order to keep lawless prowlers out."
"You wrong us, Mr. Dennison," declared Frank; while Bluff could be heard muttering his indignation. "Just how we happen to be here is easily explained."
"Of course. And you expect me to believe any kind of silly story you may make up, I suppose?" snarled the angry owner of the property.
"After we left you the other day, sir, my chum and I walked many miles into the woods, to see the country, and find some views, for you remember he is a photographer. We were caught unawares by that storm, and had to spend the night under a rocky shelf. Our comrades were naturally curious to see the queer place that had been of such great use to us, and so to-day we took a trip up there."
"Here is a picture of the rock ledge, Mr. Dennison, so you can see we are telling you the truth," and Will eagerly held up one of his proofs as he spoke, which he had hastily taken from his pocket in order to convince the obstinate old gentleman.
"But that does not explain your presence here," objected the other, though he had deigned to glance at the really excellent sun print, for Will of course had remembered hearing him say that he, too, took a great interest in photography.
"Having set our faces toward home," explained Frank, "it was only natural, sir, that we should make for a trail we had been over before. That brought us out close to your place, and we are at this very minute making for the cornerbelow, where I remember we can find what we are looking for, the trail to Cabin Point."
Mr. Dennison looked doubtfully at Frank. Few people could resist believing anything the boy said, for his manner was convincing; but apparently there was some unknown reason for Mr. Dennison's being unusually suspicious.
He shut his teeth hard together as though repressing some sign of weakening.
"Whether you are telling the truth or not, boy," he said sternly, "I want you to understand once for all that you must not come up here again. I shall instruct my men to keep a constant watch for trespassers, and deal severely with them. This place is posted, and any one who dares to enter does so at his own risk. I hope you understand that, for I should not like to have anything unpleasant happen to boys."
"Yes, sir, we understand what you say," replied Frank, "and I give you my word of honor again that none of us will trespass on your grounds. If ever we enter there again it will have to be on invitation from the owner. I can safely speak for my chums as well as myself."
This last was really meant for impulsive Jerry, just to notify him that under no conditions must he dream of making Frank's promise void.
"Then see to it that you keep away from here,"said Mr. Dennison, as unyielding as ever. "Even now you are camping on my property, and I could order you away if I chose to be harsh. But I have not forgotten that I too was once a boy. You can stay at Cabin Point unmolested by my men, but only on condition that you avoid this region up here."
With that he stepped suddenly back and closed the gap in the board fence by pulling the door shut after him. The boys walked on, Jerry looking disappointed.
"Course I'm glad to say I've actually seen the queer old hermit," he remarked, "but even there I'm away behind the rest, for all of you have been inside the dead line, and glimpsed his odd house. Oh, well, don't look at me that way, Frank; you know mighty well I don't mean to make you out a liar by sneaking up here and poking my nose into his private business."
"Huh!" grunted Bluff presently, as though he had been thinking deeply over the whole matter, "what's he got in there, anyway, he's so afraid that people should see, I'd like to know! It's all mighty mysterious, take my word for it, fellows. But then, like as not none of us will ever know the truth."
Again did Frank and Will exchange that sudden glance and nod, showing that the little secretthey shared in common must have some connection with the subject Bluff was even then harping upon.
On the way home the talk of course reverted several times to Aaron Dennison and his strangely fenced-in property. But although many suggestions were brought out in the discussion, none of them were fully accepted as correct.
Frank and Will remained almost silent, and let the other two do most of the talking. If the opinion of the former was requested now and then he gave it off-hand, but neither Bluff nor Jerry found much to encourage him in the information thus gleaned.
Frank never once lost the dim trail on the way home. He had no difficulty whatever in following his course, because by now he was getting familiar with it; and since several of them had tramped over the ground there were many signs to be found that had not been there the first time.
A tired lot of boys it was that joyfully greeted the sight of the cabin on the Point late that afternoon.
"But after all's said and done," declared Bluff, "we've had a bully day!"
"And I've added considerable to my stock of pictures, if only these turn out O. K.," addedWill, his mind, as usual, running to the one great subject.
Later on he and Frank happened to be left alone. Bluff had gone down to the edge of the lake to clean some fish left over from the day before, being kept in the water at a shady place; while Jerry was trying his hand at mending the leaky boat.
"Let me see that first picture you took of the house, Will," remarked Frank.
"I keep it separate from all the rest," explained the other, as he drew out a little book, and opening it took a print from between the leaves. "You told me to do that, Frank."
"Because I didn't know whether we ought to let the other fellows into this suspicion we've got between us," said Frank, as he accepted the little print that displayed the building inside the high board fence. "And right now I'm wondering if we hadn't better keep this out of their sight until we get home."
"I take it to mean you're afraid of Jerry and Bluff?" queried Will. "They are both of them determined fellows, once they take the bit in their teeth. That face might tantalize Jerry so much that he'd give in."
"Of course it's struck you, Will, that there are what seem to be bars across that window, thoughneither of us remembers seeing them at the time. For that matter we failed to glimpse the white face or the waving handkerchief."
"Frank, you've been thinking this business over," observed Will, soberly; "please tell me what decision you've come to. I've kept my word about not dropping a hint to the other fellows, as you asked me; and I've also hidden this print away from them. What does it mean, Frank?"
"Of course you must remember that I'm only guessing," replied his chum. "In the first place then, it seems that old Aaron is keeping some one a prisoner up there!"
"Whew! is it as bad as that?" gasped Will.
"It's impossible to make out whether the owner of that white face is a man, a woman or a child," continued Frank, slowly; "but I'm pretty sure the window has bars across it. The person saw us, and tried to attract our attention, but made no sound just then, you remember. Afterwards we heard that cry."
Will was plainly much exercised. He seemed to shiver as though he felt a chill creep over him.
"But Frank, what would old Aaron keep any one shut up in his place for?" he demanded. "Why, it would be against the law, you know, to deprive any one of his liberty."
"Not under certain conditions, Will," he wastold; "and perhaps Mr. Dennison has the backing of the law in what he's doing."
Will stared hard at the speaker.
"Oh! do you mean, Frank, that the person behind that barred window might be a madman?"
"That's the only reasonable explanation I'm able to scare up, Will. Suppose, now, his wife went out of her mind years ago. He cared so much for her that the thought of having her confined in any ordinary insane asylum was repulsive to him. What would he do then, having plenty of money?"
"It sounds reasonable to me, for a fact. Who could blame him if he built this house, and surrounded it with a high fence that would keep the inmate from escaping when allowed in the grounds with an attendant? Yes, I shouldn't wonder but that you've guessed the truth, Frank. Everything seems to go to prove it. And then, after all, can you blame him for getting so huffy when he believed we were trying to pry into his terrible secret?"
"I don't think he acted queerly, if what we suspect is true," ventured Frank.
"On my part I'm inclined to feel sorry for old Aaron," declared Will, who had a tender heart. "He looks like a man who has suffered heaps. And then, you know, he's interested inthe same things I am, which ought to make me think of him as a fellow artist."
After more talk Will hastily hid the tell-tale print as Jerry was seen approaching. The other looked a little suspiciously at them as though he wondered why Will secreted something so hurriedly at his coming; but other matters arising, he soon forgot the circumstance.
On the following morning Bluff and Jerry went out in the boat to fish, and the latter soon found himself enjoying the thrill that comes to the angler when fast to a vigorous two-pound black bass bred in the cold water of a big northern lake.
The fun grew when Bluff struck the mate to Jerry's fighter, and both boys were put to their best efforts in order to save the fish, as well as to keep them from fouling the lines, in which case one or both might have broken away.
In the end they managed to scoop up both prizes in the landing net, and this gave them more pleasure than many generals would find in capturing a fortress.
About ten o'clock the boys came in. Jerry said they were tired of sitting in the sun and playing havoc with the fish, for they had put back many small ones, being real sportsmen. Bluff, on his part, admitted that he was tired, but declared itlay along the line of baling out the leaky boat, and not of taking fish.
"Hey! you two fellows in camp, come down here and look, if you want to see a sight good for sore eyes!" called Jerry, as he jumped ashore and commenced to drag the old boat up on the sandy beach.
Accordingly Frank and Will approached to look at the catch, and not only admire but tender their congratulations.
"As fine a mess of bass as I've set eyes on in many a day," announced Frank.
"Hello! see who's coming past the cabin, and heading for us!" exclaimed Will. "There's Mr. Dennison, to begin with, but I don't know the other man."
"Well, we do, don't we, Jerry?" ventured Bluff, a vein of uneasiness in his voice. "We happened to talk with him over at the village. You can see the badge on his coat from here. That tells who he is—the constable of the village, and he said he was also the marshal of this district. But what under the sun does he want atourcamp, I'd like to know!"
Frank Langdon watched the two men hurrying toward the beach with an uneasy feeling in the region of his heart. He could easily see that Aaron Dennison looked angry, and from this it was not difficult to surmise that fresh trouble hung over the heads of the Outdoor Chums.
"Whew! what's in the wind now, I wonder?" he heard Bluff asking himself; and so far as that went both Jerry and Will were also plainly disturbed.
The two men quickly reached the spot where the boys were grouped. Jerry mutely held up the two finest bass he and Bluff had taken. It was as though he meant to show that they were engaged in legitimate sport, such as boys in a summer camp were supposed to follow.
"Here they are, the young rascals, Mr. Jeems. Now do your duty!" exclaimed Aaron Dennison, harshly.
Bluff managed to catch the eye of the constable whose acquaintance he and Jerry had made when in the lake village. Perhaps he gave him a humorous wink. At any rate, the tall lanky man shrugged his shoulders and immediately remarked:
"I guess that you'd better tell the boys what you be suspectin' them of, Squire. I don't know nothing about the same, and I'm only here to do what I believes to be my bounden duty as an officer of the law."
"But I explained to you," expostulated the old man, "that my treasured cup disappeared mysteriously, and also that yesterday I came upon these four boys acting in a suspicious manner close to my enclosed grounds."
"Outsideyour grounds, you said, Mr. Dennison," urged the constable.
"That is very true, Constable. But I chance to know that on two different occasions some of their number actually had the brazen audacity to push their way through a gap in the fence."
"You don't tell me!" exclaimed the other, trying to look very fierce; but when he saw that whimsical grin on the features of Bluff the attempt was not much of a success.
"Worse than that even," continued Mr. Dennison, whipping himself into higher rage. "That boy with the angel face had the nerve to takea picture of my house. I caught him in the very act. Think of that, Mr. Jeems, will you?"
Frank could have laughed if the situation had not been so very serious. It seemed as though Mr. Dennison looked on such a thing as any one's taking a picture of his hidden home as a capital offence; hanging would about fit such a terrible crime, according to his opinion. And Will's "angel face" vastly amused them all.
Desirous of finding out what all the trouble was about, Frank now turned his attention to the irate old gentleman. When he spoke his voice was as soothing and respectful as he could make it; for Frank believed in pouring oil on troubled waters.
"Mr. Dennison, you surely are very much mistaken if you think for a minute that either I or any of my chums would ever steal anything. We are proud of the reputations we have in our home town of Centerville. None of us can understand what you are accusing us of doing, just because we happened to be up in the neighborhood of your place yesterday."
"Where you had no business to be," snapped the other.
"Perhaps not, sir," continued Frank, "but I explained to you just how it happened. And Iassure you positively that none of us so much as put a finger inside your grounds yesterday."
"You give us your solemn affidavy on that, do you, young feller?" asked the village constable, eagerly, as though seizing on the first pretext to make peace.
"No matter what he says!" cried the owner of Cabin Point. "I tell you their being in that vicinity just when my treasure was taken so mysteriously looks suspicious. I firmly believe they know something about the gold cup, and I shall not leave this spot until I make certain of their guilt or innocence."
"Gold cup!" muttered Jerry; "now, what do you think of that? Since when have the honorable Outdoor Chums taken to cracksmen's ways, I'd like to know? Wow!"
"Please let me understand this thing better," pleaded Frank, determined to win the angry old man over if he could do so. "You say something you think very highly of has disappeared, Mr. Dennison?"
"I told you it was a gold cup!" snapped the other. "My nephew, who is one of the most famous amateur golf players in the country, won it as a prize in a great competition last summer. He is very proud of it, and I have cherished that magnificent cup as the apple of my eye. To haveit mysteriously disappear, and feel that in all probability it may be melted down just for the gold there is in it, almost breaks my heart."
"I can easily understand your feelings, Mr. Dennison," said Frank, quietly. "We happened to meet your nephew while on the way here, though it never struck any of us before that Gilbert was a Dennison, for we didn't wholly catch his last name. And, sir, if we can do anything to help you find the lost cup we'd be only too glad to lend a hand in the search."
"Now that's what I calls reasonable, Mr. Dennison," spoke up the friendly constable, who evidently did not mean to be urged into extreme measures, if diplomacy and soft words could avoid such a thing.
The old man eyed Frank keenly. He looked just as suspicious as ever, and as though he were trying to understand what the boy might have secreted back of his words.
For years Mr. Dennison had been hiding something from the world, and during that time it was only natural he should be growing more and more suspicious of every one about him.
"Your words sound all right, boy," he finally remarked coldly, "but I am not so easily deceived. You want time to cover up your tracks. Perhaps you even hope I may invite you and yourrowdy companions to my house, and that the occasion will allow you to satisfy your vulgar curiosity to the bent."
These cruel words struck the boys severely. Bluff was heard to mutter half under his breath, while Jerry frowned and bit his lip as though he found it very hard to keep from telling Aaron Dennison what he thought of him.
Frank himself had to hold back the angry words that tried to escape his lips; the insult was so uncalled for, so unjust, he thought.
"Of course, sir, if you have that sort of opinion of all boys," he went on to say, deliberately, and with considerable dignity for a mere lad, "you wouldn't want us bothering around. I only meant to show you how ready we are to lend a hand. I am sure that if the cup you speak of wasn't simply mislaid it must have been taken by some one belonging to your own household, and may be returned again."
The angry man chose to see some hidden meaning back of Frank's words, which were after all only natural, considering the circumstances.
"There, straws show which way the wind blows!" he exclaimed, turning toward the constable; "and you can see, Mr. Jeems, how these boys have been talking over my private affairs among themselves. They are really consumedby a curiosity to know about matters that do not concern them; and in prowling around my place have perhaps been tempted to take things that did not belong to them."
"But Mr. Dennison, if this prize gold cup was so precious why did you leave it around so that it could be easily taken?" asked Will, suddenly, as though this idea had struck him as strange.
"Because in the first place," replied the old man, "I was fool enough to believe my people were as honest as the day was long; and the thought that any outsider would ever try to enter my house never came to me until lately. In fact, it was after meeting you boys in my grounds that I began to feel uneasy, since I saw it would be possible for a robbery to occur, once desperate men conceived the plan to break in."
"And even then you did not put the golden cup away in some place of security—you continued to leave it out where servants and others could reach it, did you, sir?" Frank continued, with something of a lawyer's skill at cross questioning.
"It was beginning to worry me," confessed the old man, frowning. "I found myself wishing my nephew would hasten his return, and take possession of his prized cup. Then last night I had a bad dream in which it seemed to me thatthieves entered my house, and among other things took away Gilbert's loving cup."
"Last night, you say, sir, this happened?" questioned Frank.
"Yes, and it gave me such a shock that when I awoke and remembered the dream, the first thing I did was to hurry to the closet where two days previously I had placed the gold cup. It was gone!"
"Of course you questioned your servants, sir, to learn if any one had misplaced it?" asked Frank, bent on understanding everything.
"They were filled with consternation," continued Mr. Dennison. "I have a housekeeper, a nurse, and two men employed on the place, no more. One of them suggested that I send to the village and have Mr. Jeems come to the house. While waiting for the constable I suddenly remembered about meeting you boys yesterday, and like a flash it struck me that you were guilty."
"That is a hard thing to say about us, Mr. Dennison," urged Will. "What object could we have in taking your gold cup? We have plenty of money, as you can discover by telegraphing to Centerville; and our neighbors will vouch for our honesty."
"I do not know," said the old man, rubbing his forehead as though puzzled. "Boys havealways been a deep mystery to me. I never had one to raise, for as a baby he was taken away from me; and I have always felt it was that loss which unsettled—but it does not matter. I believe you might have carried off the gold prize cup won by Gilbert in the golf tournament last year, perhaps thinking it a lark. So I am prepared to say to you here and now, if such was the case, and you will immediately restore my property to me, I will say nothing about it. If you refuse, it will go hard with you."
"But Mr. Dennison!" expostulated Frank, "we have never so much as set eyes on any sort of a gold loving cup, so you can see how impossible it would be for us to hand it over to you."
"And what is more," burst from the indignant Bluff, unable to hold back any longer, "we insist on your searching all our duffle to see whether we've got that cup hidden away."
"Yes," added Jerry, "I'm sure none of us would feel right if you didn't examine every bit of our possessions. We're in just the same position as Joseph's brethren when they were leaving Egypt, and overtaken by a messenger who said a cup or something had been stolen while they were getting corn at the capital."
"Hey! what's that you're saying, Jerry?" exclaimed Bluff, startled by the comparison, "don'tyou remember they did find the lost thing, and in Benjamin's pack, too?"
"But it was put there at the orders of Joseph, wasn't it?" demanded the one who had told the old-time story; "and for a purpose too. But make your mind easy for they can't play that game on us. The lost cup isn't at Cabin Point."
"Then you will offer no objections to our making a search, do I understand?" asked Mr. Dennison, eagerly.
"Rather, we insist on your doing that, sir!" said Will, promptly, for it galled his proud soul to be under suspicion, especially when such a thing as the taking of a valuable piece of property was concerned.
Frank immediately led the way to the log cabin. Mr. Dennison paid not the least attention to the fact that the boys had done so much to make the forlorn place habitable since taking possession. All he seemed to be thinking of just then was that missing golden cup, and the possibility of discovering it somewhere among the possessions of these young boys, to whom he had taken such a violent antipathy.
They passed inside the old building, which, if the guess of the boys was correct, had long years before been the home of Mr. Dennison at a time before he possessed much of this world's goods.
"I call on you to help me in the search, Constable!" said the owner of the cabin.
"And we will only too gladly do all we can to assist, sir!" declared Will, who secretly meant to keep hold of his camera, for fear lest it be knocked to the floor and injured beyond repair.
Upon that every one began the search. Mr. Dennison did not do so much himself, but he kept those keen eyes of his constantly on the watch, as though to let nothing escape him.
The constable apparently did not fancy his job. He went about it in what appeared to be a half-hearted fashion. In fact, when he and Bluff came together, as the boy emptied his clothes bag, and shook each individual extra garment, the wearer of the nickel badge muttered something half under his breath that sounded in the nature of an apology.
Evidently Mr. Jeems was a believer in boys, if the old hermit was not. And when Frank afterwards learned that he had seven youngsters of his own at home, he knew the reason of the constable's sympathy.
By degrees the search included every nook and cranny about the old cabin where it seemed possible an article like the missing golden cup could be secreted. Still nothing rewarded the efforts of the constable.
"It shore ain't here, Mr. Dennison!" remarked the perspiring officer, as he dropped the empty clothes bag belonging to Jerry; "and I guess we'll have to give the hunt up, sir."
"Wait!" snapped Mr. Dennison, his eyes sparkling afresh, as though a sudden and brilliant thought had flashed across his mind. "It stands to reason that a thief would be apt to hide his plunder in some place where he believed it could not be easily found. Of course it was not among their clothes. But perhaps there may be other secret hiding places."
He seemed to glance around at the bare walls. Then Frank saw him drop his gaze toward the floor.
"That's a loose board there, Mr. Jeems," the hermit said excitedly; "see if you can raise it. I should think a cavity under that board would offer a safe hiding place for anything that had been stolen. Lift it up, Mr. Jeems, and let us see."
"I will help him do it!" exclaimed Bluff, eagerly, and leaning forward he inserted his fingers in the crack, and secured a good hold of the loose plank.
The constable, also, had by this time taken a firm grip on the board.
"All together, son; there she be!" Mr. Jeemscalled out, as he strained himself at his task; and in another second the plank was placed to one side.
Mr. Dennison leaned eagerly over. Then, uttering a cry of mingled delight and savage satisfaction, he snatched an object from the gaping hole, and hurriedly held it up so that every one could see plainly what it was.
Frank and his three chums held their breath in astonishment, for they found themselves looking on a loving cup made of gold, upon which were fashioned various beautifully executed designs especially interesting to those who were devoted to play upon the golf links.
"Gee whiz!"
Of course it was Jerry Wallington giving vent to the feeling of utter amazement that very nearly overcame him. His words accurately expressed the feelings that filled the heart and soul of the other three chums as well.
Meanwhile Mr. Dennison was holding that wonderful trophy aloft, and laughing to himself. He acted as though wild with delight over its recovery. Frank was watching him closely, and could see no sign of "make-believe" in his actions.
"What did I tell you, Mr. Jeems?" cried the old hermit, excitedly. "I said they had taken the cup, either to sell it, or in a spirit of boyish mischief. And now you'll believe me, because here we find it hidden under the floor of their cabin. The young rascals—to add to their offense by trying to deceive us so! Do your duty, Mr. Jeems; I will prosecute them to the limit of the law!"
Frank began to feel anxious. He could see that Mr. Dennison meant what he was saying. Even the recovery of his property had apparently not softened his heart as might have been expected.
All then depended on the constable. If he showed a disposition to assert his authority there would be an untold volume of trouble, and their vacation plans would be "all messed up," as Jerry would say.
"Mr. Dennison," said Frank, trying to keep his voice steady, "I am glad that you have found your lost golden cup; but I want to tell you, sir, none of us knows the least thing about it, nor how it happened to be in that hole."
"A likely story, boy," sneered the other, "which may and may not be believed by the justice of the peace when you are brought before him. Evidence no stronger than this has hung men before now."
"Whew!" gasped Bluff, startled more than he would have cared to admit upon hearing the vindictive old hermit talk in that strain.
Jerry and Will were both indignant.
"When we first came here," said the former, "we tripped so many times over that loose plank that we raised it up to settle the earth underneath. There was certainly no gold cup lyingthere then where you just now found it, I give you my word on that, sir!"
"Certainly not," agreed Mr. Dennison, "because at that time it was safe under my roof. But I want you to notice, Mr. Jeems, that they admit knowing of this hole under the loose plank. It made a very good hiding-place for valuable property, as you can see."
"Yes, sir," suddenly spoke up Frank, "and apparently this is not the first time it has been used for that same purpose. When we looked we found this silver coin there, a part of an old yellow envelope, and this fragment of what seems to have once been a baby's shoe."
He picked the several things up as he mentioned them, for they had been lying on a little shelf, where Frank himself had placed them days before. Watching Mr. Dennison's face, Frank saw it turn white as the eyes of the old man were focussed on that poor little remnant of what had once been a baby's shoe.
Involuntarily the old man thrust out his hand, and Frank quickly dropped the article into his palm. He could see that Mr. Dennison was very much affected. Doubtless memories long since buried were once more resurrected by the sight of that reminder of his once happy past.
Frank wondered whether he would relent anddecide to let matters drop, or once more demand that the constable take them all to the village, to be held for trial before the justice.
When he saw the man thrust into his pocket the fragment of the tiny shoe, the leather of which was now dried up and hard, and then frown again at them, Frank expected the worst.
"Since you have also tried to deceive me, after robbing my house in this shameless manner," said Mr. Dennison, "I believe I shall be only doing my duty toward the community if I see to it that you are severely punished."
"Do you mean, sir, that you would have us arrested?" asked Frank.
"That is exactly my present intention," affirmed the other, showing that he was still angry, and bent on punishing those he believed to have wronged him.
"But you have found your cup again, sir; and we still declare on our honor that until you picked it up just now none of us has ever set eyes on it before."
When Frank said this he found the keen orbs of the hermit fastened on his face as though the other would read his very soul through the windows of the boy's eyes; but not once did Frank flinch.
"That is very true, boy," said Mr. Dennison,"but I believe in justice, and that it is the wrong thing to be too lenient with culprits. When young fellows are given to such practices as this they need to be brought up with a round turn. So I mean to have the constable arrest you all!"
To the astonishment of Frank and his three companions, just at that moment there was a new element injected into the game. Some one hurriedly entered the cabin; and somehow Frank breathed a little more freely when he recognized the newcomer as the young man whom they had been able to help while on the way to Cabin Point.
It was Gilbert Dennison, the old hermit's nephew.
"Please wait a minute before you go to such extreme measures, Uncle!" he exclaimed, as he hurried to the side of the hermit, whose face lost some of its stern expression as he recognized his relative.
"I'm glad to see you again, Nephew," he observed; "and pleased to give over into your keeping the cup you value so highly. I shall insist on your taking it back to town with you when you go. It has already given me one bad scare, and I do not feel able to stand another, with all the troubles I already stagger under."
"But what is this I heard you say about having these boys arrested, Uncle?" continued Gilbert. "Surely you must believe them when they protest their innocence? I have been up at the house, and was told about the cup's disappearance; also that you had come down here with the constable, meaning to have some one taken up for the crime. But I hope you will not think of doing such a thing now."
"I consider it a sacred duty I owe to the community, Nephew," urged the stubborn old hermit. "All the circumstances point to one of these boys as the culprit, and he should by all means be punished. Why should you interfere with my designs, Gilbert?"
"Let me tell you, Uncle," burst out Gilbert, eagerly. "I owe my life, it may be, to these same boys."
"How is this?" asked his uncle, looking somewhat bewildered. "They did say they had met you while on the way here, but in what fashion could they have done you a favor?"
"In my hurry to catch the train after the vehicle broke down," explained Gilbert, "I stumbled in a very dangerous place on the road, lost my footing, and fell over the edge of a precipice. I managed to clutch hold a dozen feet down, but must in the end have let go and fallen to thebottom only for the coming of these boys, who rescued me in a remarkably clever and very unusual way."
Bluff gave a satisfied grunt. After all Gilbert was a pretty decent sort of fellow, he made up his mind; though at the time of the adventure Bluff had thought him rather ungrateful to hurry away so fast, and not half thank them for all the trouble they had taken.
Mr. Dennison apparently had reason to believe anything his nephew said. That was evident from the change that came over his manner. He looked at Frank and his three chums again, shrugged his shoulders, and then went on to remark:
"Of course if that is the case, Nephew, and you are indebted to these boys for helping you out of a bad fix, I have nothing more to say. Because of that they can go free, for all of me; though I may live to repent my kindness; because no matter how they protest, the fact remains that the cup was found under this floor, and I still firmly believe they secreted it there."
The kind-hearted constable was grinning as he winked at Bluff. It was very evident that the new conditions pleased Mr. Jeems; since he was relieved from executing a most disagreeable duty.
Mr. Dennison told the officer to come outsidewith him, and Gilbert added that he would join his uncle in a minute.
Left in the company of the four chums Gilbert's first act was to offer Frank his hand. It was done with such a boyish freedom that the other eagerly grasped the outstretched hand, and squeezed it in return.
"Of course it goes without saying," began the college boy, "that I do not believe any one of you could do such a thing as steal my cup. There's a queer mystery about its being found under this floor, and I intend to discover the truth before long. In the meantime I hope you'll stay here and enjoy yourselves the best way you know how."
"And we'd like to see more of you, if you expect to stay around here longer," spoke up Jerry, impulsively.
"I promise that you shall," assented Gilbert; "because I, too, am fond of camping, fishing, and all such things; and I can see how my stay up here might be prolonged indefinitely, if such a jolly set could be found to help kill time."
"Did you win in the golf tournament?" asked Bluff, as though to show that they knew about his ambition in that sport.
"I'm sorry to say that I came in a poor second this time," laughed the other; "and I really believe it was because I didn't have the kind of balls I'm in the habit of using."
This was the opportunity poor anxious Will had been waiting for.
"We've got your bag safe and sound here, Gilbert!" he exclaimed, springing forward to pick the leather receptacle up, for it, too, had been closely examined by the constable, acting under Mr. Dennison's orders; "and I certainly hope my precious Maine films are in the same condition."
"Make your mind easy on that score, my boy," he was told by the other; "although I was terribly provoked when first I opened the bag and saw them, I understood that the mistake was all mine. So I took good care of your films, though I had a photographer make me a print from the whole bunch. I must say they are some of the most interesting pictures I've ever seen. I wanted Uncle to admire them, for he, too, is devoted to photographic work."
Of course this news caused Will to lose the anxious expression that his chums had noticed on his face at times.
"The bag I left up at the house," continued Gilbert, "but you shall have it in a short time. There's uncle calling me, so I'll have to move along; but you can expect me again before long," and with that he hurried out of the cabin.
"Well, I feel as weak as a sick cat, after meeting with such an adventure as that!" exclaimed Jerry, after he and his three chums once more found themselves alone in the cabin.
"To think of our being accused of being common, every-day thieves!" grumbled the indignant Bluff. "Why, it just makes my blood fairly boil!"
"But I'm mighty glad to know my films are all right," Will burst forth with, and this remark showed that this important fact took precedence of all others in his mind.
Frank stepped over to the opening where the plank had been removed, and glanced down as he rubbed his chin reflectively.
"Look here, fellows," he said to the others, "all of you saw the hole under this board that time we found the coin, the half of an old envelope with Mr. Dennison's name on it in faded writing, and that baby shoe; isn't it so?"
"Of course we did, Frank," assented Jerry; "and I want to make my solemn affidavit to the fact that there wasn't any gold cup lying there then."
"Will, you are just as positive about that as Jerry, of course?" continued Frank.
"Well, I should say I was!" came the prompt reply.
"And you too, Bluff?" Frank went on, evidently intending that there should not be a single dissenting voice in the group.
Bluff immediately lifted his hand, with the fingers stiffened as though he fancied himself on the witness stand.
"Give you my word for it, Frank; nothing doing," he asserted in his customary vigorous manner, that was usually very convincing.
"Gilbert came up to the scratch smiling, didn't he?" remarked Jerry; "and I take it he's going to turn out a pretty decent sort of a fellow."
"Queer, isn't it," Will was saying, "how chickens do come home to roost? When we stopped a little while on our way here, and pulled Gilbert up by the use of that wild grape-vine, none of us ever dreamed he'd be in a position to return the favor, and yet see what happened. What's that old proverb about the bread thrown to the fishes, or something like that?"
"You must mean 'bread cast upon the waters will come back again ere many days,'" explained Frank, smilingly.
"All right, no matter how it runs, it worked, you see," continued Will. "We got Gilbert out, and now he has returned the favor."
"Huh! strikes me he kept us from getting in," interrupted Bluff; "because the old gentleman seemed bent on ordering Mr. Jeems to arrest us, and throw us in the village lockup."
"Luck still seems to hang out with us," ventured Jerry; "and you know they say it's a heap better to be born lucky than rich. Money may fly away, but so long as luck stands back of you it's easy to get everything you want."
"But all the same that mystery of the golden cup bothers me," said Frank.
"Yes, that's a fact," added Jerry. "How in the wide world could it ever have come into this cabin, when we know it wasn't here a few days ago?"
"Mr. Dennison admits it was safe in his house until about the day before yesterday," continued Frank; and then he cast a sly look out of the tail of his eye in the direction of Jerry.
Truth to tell, Frank was just a trifle uneasy concerning that member of the little party. There was a shadow of a reason why heshould feel that way, too. He could only too easily remember how impulsive Jerry had hinted that he felt a great temptation to try to find out what the secret of the hermit's house was. At the time he expressed this longing Frank had taken him severely to task; and Jerry had promised faithfully to forego all effort to pry into matters that were none of his concern.
Jerry as a rule could be depended on. When he gave his word about anything it was as good as his bond, and Jerry was proud to declare that.
Frank could not bring himself to believe there could be anything in this sudden thought. Even if Jerry had crept out in the night-time while his chums were fast asleep, how could the boy possibly have made his way along the trail to the hermit's place, have entered the house and carried off the valuable cup, to hide it under the cabin floor?
No wonder Frank decided that such an explanation of the mystery was impossible. Even if they never learned the truth he could not bring himself to suspect any of his chums of doing such a monstrous thing.
To the surprise and also the consternation of Frank, he found that Jerry had noticed his manner, and he immediately accused the other.
"I can guess easily enough what you're thinking, Frank," asserted Jerry, with offended dignity marked in his manner; "but 'tisn't so, I tell you. I never set eyes on that old cup before he snatched it up out of that hole."
"No need of your saying that, Jerry," declared Frank, "because I believe you are as innocent as I can be myself. I only happened to remember that you talked of wanting to sneak up there and spy around a bit, though you owned it would be mean. And I also chance to know that you've been around every hour since you came back from the village."
"I'm blessed if I can make head or tail out of the game," admitted Jerry. "I never was a good hand at guessing answers to riddles; and say, let me tell you this thing is the toughest nut to crack that ever came our way, eh, Frank?"
"It's going to bother us a heap, that's right, Jerry."
"But somehow I've got my little hunch, Frank, that in the end you'll hit on the answer. It may take a lot of time and figuring, but I sure believe you can do it."
"It may be Gilbert can help us out," suggested Will, just then.
"But how would he know anything about the job," objected Bluff, "when he just got back from that golf tournament?"
Frank bent down and looked closely into the hole.
"All we know for certain is that somebody put that gold trophy cup in here," he observed reflectively.
"Yes, and if the old plank could talk it'd be easy for us to get at the truth. But then of course that isn't possible," Jerry remarked, with a sigh.
"Help me to put the plank back in place again," said Frank, and after this had been done he commenced to work at it as if to see whether one person could manage to raise the heavy board.
"It can be done, you see," was what Frank said, as, managing to get his fingers underneath, he raised the plank a little.
"Now what's the line you're figuring on, Frank?" demanded Jerry; "because it's as plain to me as the nose on my face that you've struck a strong clue."
"Yes, tell us what it is, won't you, Frank?" urged Will.
"Well, listen," the other began to say, slowly, as with upraised finger he marked off each point in his theory. "Look back a little, Will, to when we got home here after our high jinks up in the woods. Don't you remember what we discovered the first thing?"
Will thereupon uttered an exclamation, while his face lighted up with eagerness.
"That's so, Frank!" he exclaimed; "we knew somebody had been in here after we started out the afternoon before. The door wasn't shut close, and a chair lay on its side on the floor. Besides that, a number of little things showed they had been disturbed. Yes, somebody had been in the cabin!"
Jerry gave a shrill cry in which delight could be traced.
"It was that person, then, who hid the pesky old cup under the loose plank; that goes without saying, Frank!" he announced, as though his mind was made up to that fact and could not be easily changed.
"Well, even if we agree on that," said Bluff, "how're we going to learn who the intruder was? To tell you the truth, it gets me why a sneak thief would steal just that gold loving cup of Gilbert's, and then come all the way down here to hide it under the floor."
"Frank, you're keeping something back; I can see it in your face!" cried Will. "Tell us, do you think old Aaron put that cup here himself?"
"Whew! that would be the limit, I should say!" gasped Jerry.
All of them waited to hear what Frank wouldhave to say. The leader of the Outdoor Chums did not reply hastily, for Frank did not wish to commit himself in so grave a matter without due consideration. Still, he must have had his mind made up fairly well, for presently he started to answer.
"Let's see, fellows, how the case stands," he told them. "We know that long ago Aaron Dennison once lived in this cabin. We also know that he probably kept what little money he owned in those days down under that loose plank. The finding of that old mouldy half dollar points toward that. So you see he knew about the cavity under the board."
"So far as that goes, Frank," observed Bluff, "you could see by the way he had the constable raise the plank that he knew. But I was watching his face at the time, and let me tell you he looked as astonished to see the cup lying there as any one of us did, and that means a lot."
"That's what bothers me," admitted Frank; "one minute I seem to think Mr. Dennison put the cup there; and then again I'm just as certain that he believes us guilty of stealing it. We'll have to keep trying to find the answer; but just now, Jerry, you and Bluff had better get busy cleaning those fine bass you hooked, if we mean to have them for dinner to-day."