IN THE BIG TIMBER
Of course it was Mr. Dennison himself. Frank could easily have guessed
as much from the manner in which the other behaved, even had he not
spoken of the building as "my house."
The first thing Frank settled in his mind was that their visitor of
the preceding night had been Aaron Dennison. The white, close-cropped
beard told him that. Then he saw that the old gentleman held a stout
cane in his hand, which he had half raised as though sorely tempted to
make strenuous use of it upon the backs of these two ambitious amateur
photographers.
Frank knew how to talk, and use soothing language. His chums always
said he would make a good lawyer. Apparently he might go a long time
before running across a better opportunity for smoothing the "ruffled
feathers" of an angry man than was now offered to him.
"I hope you'll excuse us, Mr. Dennison, for entering your grounds to
take a picture of your house," he started to say. "We didn't mean any
harm, and will go away at once, sir."
The man looked sternly at Frank, but the boy noticed with a feeling of
relief that the half upraised stick was slowly lowered. Apparently
something influenced Aaron Dennison to decide not to take the law into
his own hands, and use that heavy cane on these rash intruders.
"How did you get in here?" he demanded abruptly.
"There is a board loose on the fence, sir, and we couldn't resist the
temptation to come through. My chum here is making a hobby of taking
pictures, and he wanted one of your house, because it was so peculiar
in its build. I hope you won't think too badly of us for intruding."
Aaron Dennison did not take any notice of this last remark; but
apparently he caught some meaning back of Frank's words.
"How did you know my house differed from any other one; have you been
in here before this?"
Evidently the discreet old housekeeper had decided not to tell of the
former visit of the boys, and it was Frank himself who had given the
secret away. He determined not to evade the issue, but continue to be
frank with the irate gentleman.
"Yes, sir," he said, steadily. "I wandered up this way yesterday, and
saw the house. It was because I was so enthusiastic in my description
that Will here wanted to come and get a picture of it."
"So as to tell every one, I suppose, that it is the secluded home of
the eccentric old hermit, as I believe they call me in the towns where
my men trade," the other continued with a half sneer. "But what are
you boys doing up in this section of the country? It is the first time
for a long while that I have seen a stranger about here."
"We are camping, sir, on the lake shore, and having a good time for a
few weeks, fishing, taking pictures, and all that. In our home town of
Centerville they call us the Outdoor Chums, because we love to camp
out."
"On the lake shore, you say?" repeated the other, looking keenly at
Frank. "Tell me, is your camp anywhere near Cabin Point?"
"Yes, we've gone to work, Mr. Dennison, and fixed the old cabin all
up; and it's there we're staying," Frank told him.
"I wonder--" began the other, frowning, "if you had anything to do
with startling me last night, when I was taking a walk down to the
lake, as I sometimes do when the spirit moves me. Do you know anything
about that frightful blinding flash that gave me such a shock I had
to hurry home?"
"I am afraid we are to blame for that, sir, though I give you my word
of honor we had no idea any human being would spring the trap. You
see, my chum here is devoted to getting flashlight pictures of wild
animals and birds in their native haunts. To do that he has to place
his camera at night, and with a bait coax the little creature to set
the trap off. And it happened, sir, that you ran across the cord
connected with the trigger of the flashlight gun."
"Is this the truth you are telling me, boy?" demanded the puzzled
hermit.
"Will, do you happen to have that proof with you?" called out Frank.
Upon hearing this, the other hastened up, though there was a satisfied
smirk on his face, as though he had accomplished something daring.
As Frank believed he had heard a soft click just before this, he could
give a pretty good guess as to what the other had been up to.
Upon the proof being produced Frank stepped forward and held it out to
the old gentleman, who took it eagerly. He even smiled faintly as he
saw himself in the act of falling, and with all the elements of sudden
surprise and alarm connected with his action.
"At least this satisfies me that you had no intention of giving me
such a bad fright. I can forgive you in part, because I, too, am
interested in photography, which is indeed my only recreation nowadays
besides reading. But you must not come here again. I do not allow
intruders, and if you had chanced to be seen by one of my men the
consequences might have been unpleasant for you."
"Then we will go away at once, sir," said Frank; "though we'll always
be glad we met you, Mr. Dennison."
The recluse frowned again as though he remembered that he had a reason
for not wishing to hold intercourse with others. And seeing he did not
mean to continue the conversation any further Frank nodded to Will,
after which they walked away.
When they looked back a minute later Mr. Dennison was still standing
there as though in a deep study. Somehow he interested Frank very much
indeed, for the boy realized that there must be some very good reason
for his shunning his kind.
They had almost reached the hole in the fence, when, just as had
happened on the preceding day, there came that strange cry. Will
thought it might be the screech of a peacock, though he could not
remember having seen such a fowl strutting about the lawn.
"It may be what you say," admitted Frank, "but when you hear a queer
sound under such conditions as these it seems different from anything
you ever ran up against. Bluff thought it was a dog chained up; you
say a peacock; and for my part I hardly know what to believe."
"Anyhow, Frank, I got him all right," chuckled Will.
"Meaning the old hermit, of course," said the other. "I thought I
heard your shutter click. It will be worth something to say you took
his picture as well as that you got one of his peculiarly built house,
which I reckon few people have ever so much as seen."
"But after all's said and done, Frank, old Aaron isn't just the kind
of man I always thought a real hermit must be. Why, he's a gentleman,
and not a bit careless of his appearance, the way most of them are
described to be. He dotes on books, they say. And oh, Frank! did you
hear him admit he was fond of dabbling in amateur photography
himself?"
"Yes, that was what he said, Will."
"I wish I could make a good impression on old Aaron, then, because
like as not he'd have some dandy pictures to show. He's got rafts of
money, you know, and must have traveled a heap in his time."
Frank laughed at hearing this.
"Now I wouldn't be surprised," he remarked, "if you tried to get thick
with our hermit before we shut up shop at Cabin Point!"
"I own I'd like to, though I don't think I'll have much of a chance,
Frank, because you see he's shut down on us, and forbidden us to ever
look in on him after this. Now what do you reckon ails the man, and
why should he act in that way? He must have just soured on the world
for some reason or other."
They passed outside, and allowed the loose board to fall back into its
place again. Unless one were looking for a break in the fence it would
be possible to pass by without noticing anything wrong there.
"But now since he knows some of us were in his grounds twice,"
lamented Will, "old Aaron may give his men orders to search all around
till they find the break. If they had any sense at all they could
follow our tracks and come to it. But, Frank, how about taking a swing
around on the way home?"
"You spoke of that before, Will, and as we have plenty of time I don't
know any reason we shouldn't make something of a circuit. I'm as
curious as you can be to see something of the country."
"Likely none of us will ever be up this way again," remarked Will,
"and so we'd better make the most of our opportunities. Besides,
there's no telling what cracker-jack chances we may strike for
pictures. I'm always on the lookout for anything like that, you
remember."
Frank of course knew next to nothing about the lay of the ground, but
he could give a pretty good guess, for he had kept his eyes about him
all of the time. Accordingly he laid out the course they would take.
"Unless we strike something tougher than we figure on," he explained
to Will, "we ought to make the round and be back in camp long before
sundown."
"What if the other fellows do arrive before us," remarked the
photographer of the expedition, "they can start in to get supper if
they're half starving. I just feel like making hay while the sun
shines. This seems to be one of my lucky days, because I've already
snapped off some pictures that ought to be worth while. When we start
to talking about hermits and such things we'll have something to show
for it."
Starting off, they were speedily in the heart of what seemed to be a
dense wood. Will expressed himself as well pleased with the
surroundings, and soon discovered some remarkable sights that called
for the use of his camera.
They pushed on for more than an hour, and by that time had covered
considerable distance. When Frank hinted that perhaps they had better
turn back Will begged him not to give up just then.
"You see we've still plenty of time to make the cabin long before
dark," he urged, "and I'm sure we'll find it worth our while to keep
on the way we're going. It seems to me the country keeps getting
rougher the further we push ahead. Already I'm just tickled to death
with what I've seen."
"It's a fact that we've run across as wild a section as I've ever met
with," admitted Frank. "I never would have believed there could be
such a primitive stretch of land within a hundred miles of
Centerville. Right now you can look around in every direction, and
there isn't a sign to show that you're not out at the foot of the
Rockies, just as we found it at the time we had our big hunt."
"At that time, you know, Frank, I hadn't caught on to this wild animal
photography business. What wonderful pictures I could have taken then
if only I'd known the racket. It keeps growing on me all the while,
too. Right now I expect I get more of a thrill when I'm snapping off
the picture of a bull moose bellowing his defiance to the guide's
call, than you would with your rifle at your shoulder ready for a
shot."
"I reckon you do, Will, for I can understand what you feel. I really
believe that if you hadn't gone in for the game I'd have picked it up
myself. But one photographic crank in the party is enough; some of us
have to stick to the gun in order to supply the meat for the camp when
the season is on."
Frank had been persuaded by Will's logic, and he continued to push on,
though constantly keeping track of conditions. He did not wish to have
to confess sooner or later that he was lost, which would not be so
impossible a thing to happen in that dense wood.
It was while they were making their way along in this fashion toward
the middle of the afternoon, that, without the slightest warning,
there came a loud and angry crash of thunder; and looking up in a
startled way they saw inky black clouds gathering overhead.