THE MAN AT THE CABIN
"That man is your uncle?"
"Do you mean the man who disappeared so mysteriously after that
robbery?"
"That's the man." Phil's manner showed increased excitement. "Isn't this
the strangest thing that ever happened? To think of my running across my
uncle in this out-of-the-way place!"
"You want to make sure that he is your uncle first," warned Dave.
"Perhaps he is only somebody who looks like your relative, the same as
that Ward Porton resembles me," added our hero, with a grim smile.
"Oh, I am sure that man is my uncle," declared the shipowner's son.
"Do you think he is the same fellow we saw before--the wild man?"
queried Roger.
"I don't know as to that. Maybe he is," and Phil's face now showed
worriment. "I do hope my uncle hasn't lost his mind!"
"Well, he might do that because of his troubles," was Shadow's comment.
"It was trouble that affected Wilbur Poole, if you'll remember."
During the course of this conversation, the boys had withdrawn to the
shelter of some trees and brushwood. In the meantime the man with the
bucket of water had disappeared within the cabin.
"I noticed he limped considerably," remarked Dave.
"Yes, and he had his left foot bound up," announced Luke. "More than
likely he hurt it in some way."
"It would be an easy matter for somebody to hurt his foot if he cut up
like that fellow who nearly scared the girls and Link Merwell to death,"
remarked Ben.
"I am going to the cabin and see what he has to say for himself,"
declared Phil, resolutely starting forward.
"If you go we had better go with you," announced Dave. "But be careful,
Phil. If that man is out of his head he may be dangerous."
"I don't think my Uncle Lester would hurt me even if he was out of his
mind," answered the shipowner's son, as he moved toward the cabin,
followed closely by the others.
The boys were still a hundred feet or more away from the habitation when
the man reappeared at the doorway. On catching sight of the newcomers he
uttered a sudden cry of dismay, and then disappeared like a flash,
banging the cabin door shut behind him.
"Evidently he's not very sociable," remarked Luke, dryly. "I guess he
doesn't want any visitors."
Advancing to the door, Phil knocked loudly.
"Go away from here! I don't want to see any of you!" cried a heavy voice
from within. "Go away, I tell you!"
"Open the door, please. I want to speak with you," answered Phil, as
calmly as he could.
"I won't talk to you! I don't want any one around this place!" came
angrily from within the cabin. "Go away, or I'll shoot!"
"Say, I don't like this!" cried Shadow, in a low voice. "I guess we had
better get out," and he started to retreat, followed by Luke and Ben.
Phil, however, stood his ground, and not to desert their chum, Dave and
Roger did the same.
"We are not going to molest you," called out Phil, after several seconds
of silence. "All I want to do is to talk to you."
"I won't talk to anybody, I tell you! Go away! If you don't I'll use a
shotgun on you!" returned the man in the cabin.
"Aren't you Mr. Lester Lawrence?" demanded Phil.
"What's that?" And now the voice of the man showed sudden interest.
"I say: Aren't you Mr. Lester Lawrence?" repeated Phil.
"Who said I was Lester Lawrence?" demanded the man, suspiciously.
"If you are, I must talk to you. I am Phil Lawrence, your nephew."
"Phil Lawrence!" the boys outside heard the man mutter to himself. "Phil
Lawrence? Oh, it can't be!" Then he raised his voice: "You are trying to
play some trick on me," he shouted.
"It isn't any trick," put in Dave. "This young man here is Philip
Lawrence, and he is looking for his uncle, Lester Lawrence. He has good
news for him."
"Good news? I can't believe it! It is some trick. I want you all to go
away."
"Uncle Lester, it isn't any trick. I am Phil, your nephew. I want to
talk to you. I've got the best kind of news for you; something that
you'll be glad to hear. Won't you please open the door and let me talk
to you?"
"It's a trick, I know it's a trick," came from the man, in almost a
whine. Nevertheless, he advanced toward the door, and with trembling
hands threw off the bolt that had been shot into place. Then, with great
caution, he opened the door several inches and peered out.
"Who says he is Philip Lawrence?" he questioned, sharply.
"I am, Uncle Lester," announced the shipowner's son. "Don't you remember
me? You used to think the world and all of me some years ago, when you
lived across the street from us."
The man opened the door a little wider, and gazed sharply into Phil's
face. Then his manner seemed to change, and, allowing the door to swing
wide open, he tottered back and sank down on a bench.
"It's Phil--little Phil, sure enough," he murmured. "How in the world
did you come to follow me to this faraway place?"
"I didn't follow you, Uncle Lester," returned the youth. "I and my
friends were looking for a wild man who is roaming around in this
vicinity, scaring people, and we reached this place by accident. We saw
you coming to the cabin with a bucket of water, and I easily recognized
you at once."
"I thought I was safe here--safe from the whole world," muttered Lester
Lawrence. "But you said you had good news for me," he added quickly.
"What is it?"
"It's the best kind of news, Uncle Lester. Don't you know that shortly
after you disappeared the bank authorities and the police found the
guilty parties?"
"They did?" And now the man's face showed his amazement.
"Why, sure they did! And then, of course, they knew that you were
innocent."
"Oh, Phil! can this be true?"
"It certainly is true, Uncle Lester, every word of it! You are an
innocent man, and everybody at home knows it. Father has been trying his
best to get into communication with you. He inserted personals in the
newspapers, and even put detectives on your track; but, as you know,
without avail."
"Then the world knows that I am innocent! Thank God for that!" exclaimed
the man, with fervor. "Oh, how I have suffered! And for such a long
time, too!" And tears stood in his eyes.
"But why didn't you communicate with father?" asked the nephew. "You
ought to have known that he would be tremendously worried about you."
"I was bitter, bitter against the whole world. I didn't think I had a
friend left!" cried Lester Lawrence. "I didn't want to see anybody, and
I didn't want anybody to see me. I was afraid that they might catch me
and put me in jail, and then if I could not prove my innocence--and
there was to my mind no way of doing that--they would send me to prison
for a long term of years. That's why I made up my mind to disappear."
"And you've been up here ever since?" asked Phil.
"No, I've been here only since last Summer. Before that I was in another
section of the Adirondacks."
Lester Lawrence looked at Dave and Roger, who had followed Phil into the
cabin, and at the other boys, who were crowded around the doorway.
"Who are these; some of your school chums?" he questioned.
"Yes, Uncle Lester," answered the shipowner's son, and introduced his
friends one after another. "They are all good fellows, and I hope you
will consider them as friends."
"I will do that, Phil, if you want me to," was the reply. "Your
revelation has lifted a great weight from my shoulders. Tell me all the
particulars."
Sitting down beside his relative, the shipowner's son related all that
he knew of the occurrences of the past. Mr. Lawrence listened to the
recital with close attention and asked many questions, his face
meanwhile showing his intense satisfaction.
"What you have told me makes me feel ten years younger," he declared.
"If all this is true--and I have no reason to doubt your word--I can
once more face the world and those who are dear to me."
"Phil has got another surprise for you, Mr. Lawrence," put in Dave, when
the recital was at an end. "You will not only be a free man when you
return to your former home, but you will also have a good deal of money
coming to you."
"Indeed! And how is that?"
"It's this way, Uncle Lester," answered Phil, and thereupon gave a few
of the details concerning the land which the rival railroads wished to
purchase from the uncle and Phil's father.
"That certainly is splendid news!" declared Lester Lawrence, his eyes
lighting up. "What a wonderful change the last hour has brought! Before
you came I thought I was doomed to live here, unknown and alone, for
perhaps the rest of my life."
"But how have you managed to live?" asked Dave, curiously.
"Oh, that has been easy. You see, when I left home I had quite a little
money that belonged to me. I buy necessary provisions down in one of the
towns, and also do some hunting and fishing. This cabin belongs to the
daughter of an old hunter who lived here for years, and as she did not
wish to occupy it she let me have it at a very reasonable rental."
"Do you know anything of that wild man who is in this vicinity?" queried
Roger.
At this direct question Lester Lawrence dropped his eyes and showed much
confusion.
"I am afraid I do," he answered, shamefacedly. "The fact of the matter
is, it was I who played the wild man, dressing myself up in some old
outfits that were left in this cabin by those who used to live here."
"But what was your purpose?" questioned Luke.
"I wanted to scare the folks in this vicinity, so they would not come
near this cabin. I was afraid if too many people came to this
neighborhood, sooner or later somebody might recognize me and inform the
authorities."
"You nearly scared the ladies and girls in our bungalows to death," said
Ben, bluntly.
"I am very sorry for it, now," was the reply. "But you see, what Phil
has told me has put an entirely different face on the matter. I looked
at all strangers as enemies. I was very bitter against everybody."
"Well, I guess you had a right to feel bitter, Uncle Lester," returned
Phil, who could realize how his relative had suffered. "But it's all
past now, and you must give up your life here and come home with me."
"I am willing to go home, now that I know my name is cleared," answered
Lester Lawrence. "But I can't travel just yet," he added, ruefully,
looking down at his bandaged foot.
"What is the trouble?" questioned Dave, kindly.
"I sprained my ankle the day I followed one of you boys--that is, I
suppose it was one of your crowd. I mean the chap who fell over the
cliff."
"Link Merwell!" ejaculated Phil. "He is no friend of ours, he is an
enemy. By the way, Uncle Lester, have you seen him since then?"
"He is an enemy, you say!" cried Mr. Lawrence. "Is that so? Yes, I saw
him. He was here early this morning, and I chased him away."