THE QUEST OF THE MINE.
"Well, talk about luck!" shouted Dick. "Let's dig back there as fast as
we can, and rescue the missing portion of the map. He cannot have found
the mine, for his part of the map was as useless to him as the part you
have, Phil, was to us."
This seemed to be the best course to pursue, for the missing portion of
the map was Phil's by every right, legally and morally, and they felt
they had a right to pursue any tactics to get it back in their
possession.
Without waiting to make any special plans, they secured their rifles and
hatchets, but dispensed with their knapsacks, and left post haste for
the old logging camp.
So fast was their hike that they were almost breathless when they
arrived within sight of it.
Calling a halt, Garry bade them get their breath back, and then proposed
a council to see what was to be done.
"I think it would be a good idea to try and pry off that window shutter.
One of us can stand guard at the front door, the other at the rear, and
the third can play with the window. In that way we can cover all
retreat. There is a possibility of his being armed, of course, but that
is a chance that we must take," suggested Phil.
"I think I know a better scheme than that," interrupted Garry. "What do
you do when a coon takes refuge from the dogs in a tree?"
Both of his hearers were silent for a moment, and then Dick burst out:
"Why, you smoke him out of course!"
"Exactly. That is what I propose to do with this fellow."
They gathered a quantity of dry brush, and then proceeded to wet a
portion of it in the spring.
"What are we going to do about letting it down the chimney? If we drop
it all the way to the fireplace the chap can put it out, and if we use a
piece of lariat, it will burn it off," said Phil.
"I thought of that, and have a solution for you. When Dick and I started
for our hike, or rather were about to start when you came back with the
news, we thought we might climb a tree or two, and so we put some wire
in our pockets to use for a ring in climbing. That will work like a
charm and drive him out in no time," answered Garry.
The wet and dry brush was rolled into a sort of a bundle, care being
taken so that there was enough dry wood and twigs to catch fire
properly. When these had caught fire, the wet brush would burn less
easily, and cause a thick acrid smoke to be given off.
The bundle was then secured with a piece of the wire, while the other
was attached to it by an end. At the other end of the free wire, a hook
was bent, so that it could be hung over the edge of the chimney,
allowing the smoking bundle to drop about two feet down the chimney.
"I'm counting on this chap thinking that the shack may be on fire, and
will not investigate the chimney and try to pull the bundle down," said
Garry, "so we must make no more noise than is absolutely necessary."
Cautiously they approached the house, and here Dick and Garry, being the
heaviest, formed a sort of a human ladder and allowed Phil to mount to
their shoulders. It was then easy for him to clamber noiselessly to the
roof.
The bundle of brush was thrown up to him, and then they stripped their
coats off and tossed these to him. The coats were to lay over the top of
the chimney and keep the smoke from following its natural course upward.
In a few moments the bundle of brush was afire and in the chimney.
"Now we'll get action in a little while," opined Garry.
He was not mistaken, for in a minute they heard the sound of some one
hurriedly groping at the fastenings of the back door. They raised their
rifles and trained them on the door.
Phil had slipped down from the top of the roof and joined them, making a
sizable force to greet the illegal owner of the piece of map they so
much desired.
The door was thrown open and the man dashed out, to stare in a
bewildered manner at the tree. Upon Garry's sharp order, he elevated his
hands skyward and then asked what they wanted.
"We want a certain piece of paper that you got away with a few nights
ago in an old boarding house on Canal street in Bangor," said Phil. "Out
with it!"
A cunning look crept into the man's eyes, which Garry did not fail to
detect.
"I threw it away right after I left the house, because I didn't know
what it was all about or whether it was any good," he declared.
"I don't believe you," said Garry promptly. "Dick and Phil, you keep
your guns trained on him. I'm going to slide through his pockets."
At these words, the man involuntarily looked down at his chest. Garry
noted this glance, and immediately decided that the search would not
have to go further than the two pockets in the woollen shirt the man was
wearing.
The two boys closed in on him, with their rifles-pointing directly at
his head, while Garry advanced to look through the shirt pockets. The
man looked for a moment as though he were about to resist, but the sight
of the two rifles made him use common sense.
The first pocket revealed nothing, but in the second was an old
envelope, and in this was a piece of paper which at a glance was
recognized as the missing portion of the map. With this in his hands,
Garry backed away.
"Now," he said sharply, "this belongs to us. It was given by the dying
man to our chum here. We are not going to give you in custody, for the
coroner found that the man had not died by foul play. However, if we
catch sight of you again, you will be seized and given to the
authorities, and a charge of theft of this paper from us will be lodged
against you. Now dig out of here. You have three minutes before we
shoot. Forward, march!"
"Can I get my blanket?" asked the man.
"Certainly, and anything else you have in the shack, only we'll go in
with you while you get it," answered Garry.
Sullenly the man went in and got his blanket and what tinned food there
was left, also a hand axe which he stuck in his belt. He had no weapon
other than a wicked hunting knife, and this he was allowed to keep.
Muttering threats under his breath, he left the shack, and started
slowly up the trail to the town, stopping once or twice to look back and
shake his fist meantime to see if the boys meant business. Finally Garry
lifted his rifle and sent a shot whistling several feet over the man's
head. Immediately he put on a burst of speed that didn't decrease until
he was far out of sight.
"That's that. I think we have seen the last of him," said Garry.
As a matter of fact, this was the last they saw of him, for he never
stopped until he reached the station, where he hid until he had a chance
to steal a ride on the rods of a freight train.
Back at the lean-to, they pieced the map together again, and were able
to find the second missing location. According to the remainder of the
note, mark number two consisted of three great stumps, close together in
triangular form. The directions were to dig between them, where the
secret of the mine would be disclosed.
Garry fished out a map of the State, and found that the Shohela river
ran not more than forty miles away. The town of Jennings was marked, and
proved to be a small village, deserted almost in the summer, for the
tourists had not penetrated to that section, but quite a center in the
winter for lumberjacks coming and going to their work in the woods.
The river itself was used for the log drives in the spring. Somewhere
above was the bend in the river, from where they could guide their steps
until they found the secret mine. Just what kind of a mine it would
prove to be, none of the boys had any idea. It would hardly be silver or
gold, for there never had been one found in that State. They thought
there was a chance of there being copper, as in Wisconsin there were
great copper mines.
Figuring out their course, they decided to start that afternoon, and by
easy marching, arrive at Jennings late the following day.
They repacked their knapsacks, using part of the food they had stored in
the tree cache, and then left the remainder of it in the lean-to with a
note addressed to old Dud, saying he could have it, and bidding him
goodbye for the time being.
They intended to come back after they had found or failed to find the
lost mine and say goodbye to the Everetts.
After a march of about five hours, they camped under the trees for the
night, and were soon eating a supper cooked over the open campfire. For
safety's sake they kept sentry duty up through the night, not fearing
anyone in particular, but with the idea that an ounce of prevention was
worth a pound of cure.
After breakfast they took up the march again, stopping an hour for
lunch, and then resuming the journey, reached Jennings just at sunset.
"Let's dodge the town altogether for the present, and go around it, and
find a spot where we can camp for the night. Then in the morning we can
follow the river up its course till we come to the bend mentioned in the
note on the back of the map," suggested Dick.
This suggestion met with the approval of the others, and so they circled
Jennings, and found a desirable place to sleep and eat.
Sun-up found them awake, and after a hasty breakfast, so anxious were
they to find the mine, they made for the river bank, without losing
time.
Up the river they went, getting more and more excited with each step. A
walk of less than an hour brought them to what was unmistakably the bend
in the river that was the first mark noted in the note. Here, using the
sun as a guide, they proceeded east for the necessary two miles. True
enough, here was a ravine, small enough, but still a ravine. The region
was only sparsely wooded, and the boys knew enough about geology, which
they studied the preceding winter at school, to know that the formation
of the land in that section was quite rocky, there being evidence of
much granite.
"You don't suppose the old chap that fixed that note was mixed in his
terms through ignorance, and meant that there was a good granite quarry
there, do you?" asked Dick dubiously.
"Never can tell," answered Garry. "Only thing to do is follow directions
and see what happens."
Following directions, they paced about a mile and a half, keeping a
sharp lookout for the triangle of stumps. To make sure they would not
miss it, they deployed and marched about twenty paces distant from each
other. Phil was the one to spy the landmark. His shouts brought the
others running to him.
"Let's dig, and dig quick," pleaded Phil. "I want to see if we've found
a fortune, or are only the victims of a practical joke, or gigantic
hoax."
The others were as curious as he, and using their axes, as a sort of
combined pick and shovel, dug away at the ground surrounded by the
stumps. In a few minutes, Phil's axe struck something hard, and
abandoning his axe, he scratched the earth away with his fingers. The
hard something was a tin can, evidently, about which had been wound
several feet of tape such as is used to repair bicycle punctures and
such. Fishing his knife from his pocket, Phil proceeded to cut away the
taping, while the others, with bated breath, awaited the result of the
find. It took some minutes to scrape and cut away the hardened tape, but
at last it was accomplished.
Tearing the cover from the can, they found an old envelope, which was
soon opened, disclosing a letter, written in the same cramped hand as
was the note whose directions had guided them there. It said:
"One hundred paces due east from here is a sharp ridge of granite, that
projects above ground for nearly thirty feet. After the granite enters
the ground, there the treasure begins. I know it is there, for I have
been a miner all my life, and know geology as well as though I had
gotten it out of books. The granite ridge is rich in quartz and in
tourmalines. I got some out and had them cut and polished, and they are
the finest ever found in Maine. This secrecy is necessary, due to the
fact that a partner who went back on me has tried to wrest the secret
from me, also the fact that I must wait until I can buy the land the
ridge is on from its owners."
The three boys stared at each other.
"Tourmalines," said Garry. "Why, those are the semi-precious stones
known as the State of Maine gem. They are delicate pink and green, and
when cut make beautiful stones for jewelry. Don't you chaps recollect
the ring my mother wears? Well, that is a pink tourmaline. As far as I
know, they are found in only three other places in the State. If there
is any quantity of them, there is a neat sum of money to be made by
mining them. Let's go and look at the ridge and see if we can see
anything, although I doubt it, since they are under ground and we have
nothing to dig properly with, neither have we geologists' hammers or
blasting powder to shelve off parts of the ledge. Also, we don't own
this land, and would be liable under the law as trespassers."
They paced their way to where the ridge was, and looked at it carefully.
It gave evidence of having been blasted two or three times, but they
could see nothing that looked like the matrices of the tourmaline gems.
"Well, we know all about it, and can find it again, so I move we destroy
all notes about it, and telegraph Dad to see if he can find out who owns
this. He will know, because you see at no little distance from here
begins timberland, and he knows who owns most of the big tracts. Phil,
you are in luck."
"Why me?" asked Phil in surprise.
"Because the old fellow made you his legatee by his spoken last will and
testament. All that remains is for you to buy about an acre of this
ground for your operations, and get busy mining," answered Garry.
"Not by a long shot. We've shared our dangers together. Twice you boys
have rescued me from death, and this mine will remain a secret for
someone else to find out about unless you fellows go in on a share and
share alike basis. I mean that, absolutely flat, and won't listen to any
discussion or debate about it," declared Phil in resolute tones.
Both Dick and Garry attempted to argue with him, but he was firm and at
last they agreed. At first it was decided to call it the Ranger Mine,
and then Phil, with a nudge at Dick, proposed that they call it the Ruth
Mine, and give her the first gem taken out, as a testimonial for the
help she had given them in their quest for the smugglers. Garry reddened
like a beet, and thought he was being joshed, but seeing Phil was
serious, they voted it to be so.
"Now back to Jennings and the telegraph office, and start the ball
rolling for the purchase of some of that land, and then maybe we win a
fortune, and again perhaps we don't, but it's worth a chance," said
Garry.