REPAYING HIS DEBT
"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 lying there 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 and decide 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 the bottom 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 outside with 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.