SAMMY'S QUEER FIND
"Ha! Ha!" laughed Mr. Jessup. "My sister was right about you, Sammy!
You're always on the lookout for something odd."
Sammy was a little put out by the attention he had drawn to himself. But
for all of that, he was not going to back down.
"Well," he said, "I only thought that if queer things had been going on
around your camp, Mr. Jessup, maybe the person who had been taking your
things would be hiding in here."
"So you're sure it's a person, and not a ghost; eh?" asked the hunter,
with a smile.
"I don't believe in ghosts," declared Sammy.
"Good boy! Neither do I. But I'm sorry I can't agree with you that the
mystery is in this old mansion."
"Why?" asked Sammy, who liked to stick to a point.
"Because the hermit and I, so far as I know, are the only ones on this
part of the island. If there was anyone else here Maybe would have
routed him out long ago; wouldn't you, Maybe?"
The dog barked, and wagged his tail.
But Sammy Brown was not satisfied. The old mansion, that had been used
for a hotel, when the upper part of Pine Island had been a Summer
resort, looked strange enough to hide any sort of a mystery, and the boy
made up his mind he would get at the bottom of this one.
"We've got two things to do while we're here," Sammy told himself. "One
is to find out who has been taking Mr. Jessup's stuff, and the other is
to find out what the hermit is doing here."
Instead of being worried over the seemingly hard work, Sammy Brown was
delighted. It gave him a chance to do something, and this always pleased
the lad.
"Well," said Mr. Jessup, after a pause, "there's no need of staying here
unless you want to. Better come on to my cabin, and we'll have a meal.
Then you can unpack, and get your bearings. Are you warm enough?"
"Oh, yes, indeed!" exclaimed Frank. "Mother made me put on my heavy
clothes."
"Well, it's a good idea, for it often gets quite chilly on the island.
Now then, forward march!"
Sammy hung back a little.
"What's the matter?" asked Mr. Jessup, looking at him. "Do you see
anything?"
"No," was the answer, "but I'd like a chance to go through that deserted
mansion."
"Oh, you'll get it all right enough," the hunter promised him. "I've got
to straighten up the few rooms I use in a day or so, and you boys can
help.
"You see," he explained, "I'm expecting a company of gentlemen up in
about two weeks to stay a few days, and there'll be more of them than I
can keep in my cabin. So I've got to use a few rooms in the old mansion.
I'll have to clean them up a bit though, first."
"Maybe we'll be in the way then," suggested Bob.
"Bless your heart, no! They're in no hurry to come, and I'm going to
give you boys a good time first, just as I promised my sister I would.
You did her a good turn, and this is the only way I can pay you back.
"So don't worry. Stay as long as you like, and you'll have all the
chance you want, Sammy, to go through the old house. You won't find
anything, though, I'll wager."
Sammy said nothing, but he made up his mind that if there was anything
in the deserted mansion that would solve the mystery he would find it.
A short time later Mr. Jessup's cabin was reached. It stood in the midst
of a grove of trees, and through them a glimpse could be had of the
frozen lake. This part of the island was separated from the portion
where the boys had played Robinson Crusoe by a wide stretch of
marshland.
"Which way is the hermit's cabin from here?" asked Sammy, when he and
his chums had put away the clothes they had brought in their satchels.
"Right back of here," answered Mr. Jessup. "But I wouldn't advise you to
try to find it alone. There's a bad, swampy bog near it, and you might
get mired."
"Wouldn't it be frozen over now?" asked Frank.
"No; and that's the funny part of it. That bog never freezes, even in
the coldest weather. It's down in a sort of valley, and it's protected.
So keep away from there unless I'm with you. There's another reason,
too, for not looking up Mr. Addison."
"What is it?" asked Sammy, while the other boys waited eagerly for the
answer.
"Well, he's a queer sort of man," went on Mr. Jessup. "He doesn't like
company, and he even objects to me, sometimes, though I seldom bother
him. Just how he would take to you boys I don't know."
"He didn't take to us at all the first time he saw us," spoke Bob.
"I should say not!" cried Frank. "He ordered us away."
"And we went--in a hurry," added Sammy.
"Yes," remarked the hunter, with a smile. "Then I'd give him a wide
berth. I don't just know what his rights are on this island. I know he
doesn't bother me, and he keeps off my land, except when he wants to
borrow something, or have me buy food for him. So I don't bother him,
and I'd advise you boys to do the same."
"All right," answered Sammy. He did not exactly promise, and the truth
of the matter was that he made up his mind to find out more about the
queer hermit, as well as about the mystery and the deserted mansion, as
soon as he could.
And his chums felt the same way.
"Well, anyhow, we're here!" exclaimed Sammy, a little later, while they
sat about a campfire in front of the cabin, and ate the meal which Mr.
Jessup got ready. "We're here, and we're going to have some fun!"
"That's what we are!" cried Frank. "What can we do first?"
"Well, I'm going to do a little hunting for rabbits this afternoon,"
said Mr. Jessup. "You boys can come along, if you like."
"Fine!" cried Sammy.
"I wish we had guns and could hunt," said Sammy.
"You're a bit too young for firearms," said the hunter. "Later on, when
you grow up, you can have 'em, and I'll show you how to shoot."
With this the boys had to be content, though it must be confessed they
looked on with eager and envious eyes while Mr. Jessup got his gun ready
for the little expedition.
Maybe, the dog, as soon as he saw the preparations, frisked about in
delight. He barked, and ran to and fro from the cabin, as if asking
everyone to hurry.
"All right, old fellow," said Mr. Jessup, soothingly. "We'll soon be
with you."
Pine Island, as I have said, was a large one in the midst of Rainbow
Lake. Years before, many years, when only the Indians roved about that
part of the country, it had been part of the main land, so scientists
said. They had located a reef in the lake, and their explanation was,
that, through the raising of the waters of the lake, the point of land
became surrounded by water, and was made into an island.
It had happened suddenly, and many large, wild animals, as well as some
smaller ones, had been trapped there. In time the wild animals, such as
deer and bears, had been killed off, and were never replenished. But the
small game, such as rabbits, squirrels, opossums and raccoons, were
still rather plentiful. The island was protected by game laws, now, so
that the supply was not killed off.
Then, too, there was some valuable timber on the island, and Mr. Jessup
cut that in the Summer when there was no hunting. He floated it down to
Fairview where he sold it.
Off through the snow-covered woods started Mr. Jessup and the boys, with
Maybe frisking about here and there, trying to scare up a rabbit or a
partridge for his master to shoot. For a time luck was poor, and then
some pheasants were flushed, and Mr. Jessup brought down two fat ones.
"Hurray!" cried Bob. "Now we'll have a fine dinner!"
Later on the hunter got two fine rabbits, and oh! how the boys wished
they were big enough to have guns!
"I'm coming up here every hunting season, as soon as I'm old enough to
shoot!" cried Frank.
"So am I!" exclaimed Sammy and Bob.
As he did not shoot game to sell, and as he had enough for present
needs, Mr. Jessup, as all good hunters do in such cases, ceased the use
of his gun. With his rabbits and pheasants on his back he led the boys
on the return trip. As they came to the old mansion, Sammy asked:
"Could we go in now, Mr. Jessup, and look around?"
"I guess so," he answered. "But don't stay too late. It gets dark early
now, you know. I'll keep on to my cabin."
Eagerly the boys entered the old deserted house, Mr. Jessup letting them
take his key. As he had said, they found several rooms fitted up with
beds, and a few pieces of furniture. These were the apartments used by
those of the hunting parties who could not find bunks in the cabin.
"Now let's begin at the top of the house, and work down," proposed
Sammy, when they had looked about the lower floor. "Maybe we can find
something of the mystery."
"Maybe--the dog--yes," laughed Bob.
"Oh, you just wait!" exclaimed Sammy. "I'll find something yet."
But it did not seem that he was going to, at first. Room after room was
deserted, the once gay wallpaper hanging in mouldy strips. Broken
shutters flapped in the wind, and there was ruin on all sides. In some
rooms were bits of broken furniture, and in others only heaps of
rubbish.
"I shouldn't like to stay here," said Bob, with a little shiver.
"Me, either," added Frank.
They were up in the top story now, and had found nothing.
"Well, I suppose we may as well go down," spoke Sammy, in disappointed
tones. "There's nothing here."
"Unless it's in one of those secret rooms you read about," said Bob.
"This mansion looks old enough to have one of those."
Sammy did not reply. He was looking at a spot on the wall, and suddenly
he put forth his hand and pressed on a carved bit of moulding.
To his surprise, as well as to the surprise of his chums, the wall
seemed to slide away. There was a rumbling sound, and a hole came into
view.
Then, as the boys' eyes became used to the gloom, they saw that they
were looking into a room of the existence of which they had never
guessed.
"Look!" cried Bob excitedly. "Sammy's found it--the secret room!"
"Yes, and see what's in it!" cried Sammy, as he pointed to a heap of
odd-looking objects in one corner. "Fellows, maybe this is the mystery!"