ON THE ROAD AGAIN
"Where in the world did you come from?" asked Jerry of Tommy.
"How did you get here?" inquired Ned.
"How did you know where to find us?" Bob wanted to know.
But to all these questions Tommy turned a deaf ear. He was so overjoyed
at seeing his father, and the hermit was so excited at seeing his son
once more, that neither had eyes nor ears for anything or any one except
the other.
The crowd looked on curiously, the interest divided between the
automobile and the meeting between father and son. Finally, when Mr.
Bell and Tommy had, temporarily, exhausted the theme of telling each
other how glad they were at being united, the boys had a chance to get a
word in edgeways, and Tommy answered a few of their questions.
He told them that he had remained for several days with his friend in
Las Cruces, and how a traveling miner had, in a general conversation,
mentioned the lake and told of the queer hermit that lived on the shores.
Something in the description of this odd character impressed Tommy with
the belief that the hermit might be his father, who had taken that
method to escape the gang which wanted him to sign away his rights.
Accordingly, the boy had started from Las Cruces and made his way to
Deighton, the town where Mr. Bell expected to start in search of his son.
"I got here this morning," said Tommy, "and I found a little work to do
to earn some money. I was going to start up the mountain to-morrow and
try and find the lake."
"Now you don't have to," said Mr. Bell. "Well, it certainly is a queer
world."
The travelers spent the night at the Deighton hotel, and, in the
morning, after a good breakfast, assembled to talk over their plans for
the future.
"Do you intend to go back to Lost Lake, Mr. Bell?" asked the professor.
"If you do, you and your son can ride that far in the automobile, since
we are going back in that direction."
"Where are you going after you leave Lost Lake?" asked Mr. Bell.
"To Arizona," answered Jerry. "We have a mine there, and we must go to
see how things are getting on."
"That's rather odd," commented the hermit. "I have an interest in some
mining property in Arizona, though I don't suppose it is anywhere near
yours. But I have made up my mind not to go back to Lost Lake, except to
bring away a few things that I left in the cabin. I would also like to
provide for poor Kate. After that I think Tommy and I will go to Arizona
and try our fortunes over again."
"Then why not go with us?" spoke Jerry. "We have plenty of room in the
machine, and we'd be glad of your company."
"I would like to very much," said Mr. Bell, "if I thought I would not
bother you."
He was assured that he would be very welcome, and then he consented
to go. A new stock of provisions was purchased, together with some
ammunition and some other supplies for the auto. Then, amid the cheers
of more than half the populace of Deighton, the travelers began their
journey toward Lost Lake again.
Mr. Bell had made arrangements with a family in the town to take charge
of Kate whom he promised to send to them, for he knew he could depend
on the woman to obey him and make the journey alone.
Lost Lake was reached on the second day, for the travelers were delayed
by a landslide, and had to camp out one night. They found the camp and
the hermit's hut undisturbed.
"I guess none of the gang has been around lately," remarked Jerry.
"I hope we have seen the last of them," put in Mr. Bell. "They certainly
caused enough trouble."
A few blasts on the horn brought Kate, and the poor demented woman was
overjoyed to see her friends again. She made much of Tommy, who, she
said, looked enough like his father to be recognized on the darkest
night.
At first the crazy woman objected to being sent to Deighton, but Mr.
Bell knew how to reason with her, and after some argument, she consented
to go. She started away on the second morning, and, as the travelers
learned later, eventually reached the family that had consented to care
for her. Under skillful medical treatment Kate partly recovered her
reason, and continued to live in Deighton for many years.
"Now," remarked the professor, when they had seen Kate started off on
her journey, "I suppose it is time for us to move. So let's get started
toward our mine, for I'm sure Nestor must be quite anxious to see us."
"Onward it is, then!" exclaimed Ned. "All aboard, and may we have a safe
trip!"
With Ned at the steering wheel the auto was started off. The way was
rather rougher than any they had yet traveled over, and for some
distance the ascent was steep. But with a new set of batteries and spark
plugs, and with everything on the car well adjusted, matters went along
smoothly, though no very great speed could be attained.
Mile after mile was covered, the auto mounting higher and higher amid
the mountains. There were no signs of human habitation, not even a
deserted miner's hut being passed the first two days of the trip.
Of course there was no shelter to be had, and nights were spent in the
open. But as the weather was mild, and as it did not rain, this was
considered more a pleasure than a hardship.
The third day they began to see signs that told them they were
approaching a town. Now and then cabins and huts would be passed, mostly
the lonely homes of solitary miners, who were prospecting for gold.
Sometimes they would pass quite good sized camps, and about noon of the
fourth day they were invited to come in and have a meal, which they were
glad to do.
The miners told them the nearest town was Sleighton, seventy-five miles
away, and that it was the centre of activity for a large area of country
round about.
"And I wouldn't advise you folks to speed that there machine of yours
when you strike the village," said one of the miners.
"Why not?" asked Jerry.
"Because the marshal is very strict, and he ain't got no very great
hankerin' fer choo-choo wagons."
"We'll look out," promised Jerry. "We are in too much of a hurry to want
any delays."
"I wonder if we'll hear anything more of that gang," said Ned as they
rode away from the mining camp. "It seems queer that they would drop the
thing when they seemed so anxious to capture Mr. Bell."
"We'll hear of them again, and in a way we won't like, I'm afraid," said
the former hermit. "We'll have to be on the lookout."