THE DISCOVERY
"The trouble is, those rascals have a twenty-four hours' start of us,"
remarked Jack. "For all we know they may be miles away by this time."
"It's too bad Uncle Barney didn't take our advice and either have those
deeds recorded, or else place them in some bank vault," said Fred.
"The thing now is to see if we can trail those fellows, whoever they
were," put in Randy.
"That's the talk!" cried his twin. "No use of crying over spilt milk, as
the cat said when she tipped the pan over into the well," and at this
remark there was a faint smile.
The Rovers had drawn to one side to talk over the situation while Barney
Stevenson was preparing to accompany them from the cave. The old man was
both excited and worried. He cared little about the wound he had
received on the head. All he wanted to do was to get back his treasure
box, as he called it.
The little party soon reached the point where all had left their
snowshoes. They looked around with care, and presently made out a trail
leading toward the lake shore.
"If they went down to the lake, they most likely skated away," remarked
Fred.
It was an easy matter to follow the trail through the snow. It led up to
the vicinity of some rough rocks, and here turned southward.
"I guess they reasoned that they couldn't get over those rocks,"
remarked Uncle Barney. "Maybe they were afraid of a bad tumble. I wish
they had gone over them and broken their necks!" he added bitterly.
"If only they had dropped the treasure box in the snow!" murmured Fred.
"No such luck for us, Fred," responded Jack. "I'm afraid that box and
its precious contents are far away by this time."
They continued to follow the footprints, and at the end of a quarter of
an hour found themselves at something of a clearing between the trees.
Here those who had stolen the box had evidently stopped to rest, for it
could be seen where they had been seated on a fallen log, and where they
had placed the box.
"Look here!" cried Jack, who was inspecting the ground closely. "Just as
I thought--those fellows were Slugger and Nappy, I feel certain." He
pointed to several half-burnt matches, and also a number of cigarette
stubs.
"I guess you're right," returned Randy. "I'm quite sure Asa Lemm doesn't
smoke cigarettes, and when he was on the island Mr. Brown was smoking a
black-looking cigar."
"Well, if those boys stole the box, they will most likely turn it over
to the professor and Brown," said Uncle Barney. "Oh, if only I could get
my hands on them!" and his eyes flashed.
The trail now led through a patch of woods and went into something of a
semicircle. Then there was a little loop, which caused the boys some
perplexity, but did not bother the old lumberman.
"They lost their way--that's all," explained Uncle Barney. "But, after
moving around in a loop, they headed in this direction," and he pointed
with his hand. "Come on! Maybe they got hopelessly lost further on and
are still in the woods. I hope so."
The trail led deeper and deeper into the woods and wound in and out
among a number of rocks. It was plainly evident that Slugger and Nappy
had lost their way, and had made a number of false turns.
"Here is where they rested again," announced Jack presently, and showed
where some rocks had been swept clear of the snow.
"Yes, and they stopped long enough to have something to eat," added
Randy. "Here are a crust of bread and some cake crumbs."
The trail continued to wind in and out among the woods, and the Rovers
and the old lumberman followed it for fully an hour longer. Then they
came out on the eastern shore of the island.
"I guess this is the end of it," announced Uncle Barney dismally. "They
probably skated away from this point."
"No, they didn't!" cried Jack, who was making an examination of the
footprints. "They went down the lake shore."
"I'll tell you what I think!" said Randy. "They most likely wanted to
get to Rockville, and they were afraid that if they attempted to cross
to the other side of the island they would become lost again. So instead
of going across, they went down to the lower end."
"Here come two men!" cried Randy suddenly. He had been peering out on
the surface of the lake.
"Maybe they are Professor Lemm and Mr. Brown," suggested Andy.
The men were at a great distance, but skating rapidly toward the island.
As they came closer, Jack saw that they were strangers, and he waved his
cap and shouted at them.
"They may have seen Slugger and Nappy, or else they may have some news
for us," he said.
As the two strangers came closer, Uncle Barney looked at them curiously.
Then he drew himself up and his face stiffened.
"Don't you know those two men?" he questioned rather sharply, turning to
the boys.
"No," answered Jack, and the others shook their heads.
"The man ahead is Fred Stevenson, and the other is Mr. Powell."
"Oh, is that so!" exclaimed Jack; and then without further ado he ran
out on the ice to meet the newcomers.
"So this is Jack Rover, eh?" said Mr. Stevenson, shaking hands warmly.
"I'm glad to know you; and I must thank you for sending me that
telegram."
"I sincerely hope you can patch up your differences with old Uncle
Barney," answered Jack quietly. "He's in a peck of trouble just now."
"Why, what has happened?" questioned Ruth's father. "But excuse me," he
added. "This is my friend, Mr. Powell."
By this time the other Rovers had come forward, and all told the two men
of what had taken place. In the meantime, Uncle Barney remained behind
on the lake shore, resting on his gun and eyeing the visitors
speculatively.
"I wish you would all do me a favor," said Mr. Stevenson, in a low tone
of voice, so that the old lumberman might not hear. "I wish you would
give me a chance to speak to Uncle Barney alone."
"Certainly we'll give you that chance, Mr. Stevenson," answered Jack
readily. "We are after the two rascals who stole that treasure box. Tell
Uncle Barney that we are going to continue the hunt while you are doing
your talking. Maybe Mr. Powell would like to go with us."
"Certainly. I don't want to interfere with this affair between these
other men," was the quick reply.
Leaving Ruth's father to talk matters over with the old lumberman, the
Rover boys and Mr. Powell began the journey down the side of Snowshoe
Island. As they proceeded, the boys told the man many of the particulars
of how Professor Lemm and Mr. Brown, accompanied by Slugger and Nappy,
had come to the island to take possession, and then how the old
lumberman had been attacked in the cave and how the precious blue tin
box had been stolen.
"That's certainly carrying matters with a high hand," was Mr. Powell's
comment. "I sincerely trust the old man gets the box back. If he
doesn't, it may cause him a great deal of trouble, especially if those
deeds have not been recorded since the old courthouse burnt down. I
remember well that that fire caused a great deal of trouble among
property owners in this county."
He told the boys that he and his wife and daughter May had been visiting
the Stevensons at the time the Rovers' telegram arrived. He had left his
wife and daughter to continue the visit, and had accompanied Mr.
Stevenson on the trip just for the sake of a little outing.
"This quarrel between old Uncle Barney, as he is called, and the
Stevensons is all nonsense," he declared flatly. "It could have been
cleared up years ago if the old man would only have listened to reason.
But he was much upset by his financial losses, and more upset when his
wife died, and he wouldn't listen to a word. Now that he is willing to
talk I am sure they can patch it up."
About a mile was covered, and then the Rovers and Mr. Powell found where
Slugger and Nappy had gone ashore again at a point where the island was
quite low.
"I'll wager they thought they could cross here with ease, and thus save
themselves the trouble of going around the south point," said Jack, and
in this surmise he was correct.
Once again the trail led into the woods, and now it was fairly straight
up to a point where the ground became rougher. Here they found the snow
scattered around some rocks, and rightly guessed that one of the youths
had had a tumble.
"And I guess the tumble must have hurt some," announced Randy. "Look at
those footprints further on, will you? One of the fellows did a lot of
limping."
"Maybe he twisted his ankle, or something like that!" cried Andy.
"It's too bad he didn't hurt himself so severely that he couldn't go any
further," grumbled Fred.
"It won't be long now before we come out near that cabin where we stayed
during that awful snowstorm," said Jack.
It was now well along in the middle of the afternoon, and the Rovers
rightly concluded that this point had not been reached by Slugger and
Nappy until late the day before.
"If one of them was hurt, they wouldn't want to skate away over to
Rockville in the dark," said Randy. "Maybe they stayed on this island
all night."
"There is that old cabin!" exclaimed Fred, as they reached a cleared
space and could see some distance ahead.
The little cabin was thickly surrounded by snow, and looked very much
as it had when they had left it. But to their surprise, not to say
delight, they saw a thin wreath of smoke curling up out of the chimney.
"Somebody is there as sure as fate!" exclaimed Jack.
"Come on, let's see who it is!" burst out Randy.
All hurried forward, making no noise in the snow, and soon reached the
side of the cabin. Then Jack, who was in advance, peered in through a
corner of the broken-out window, pulling aside the nailed-up blanket for
that purpose.
The sight which met his gaze filled him with surprise and satisfaction.
On a rude couch at one side of the single room of which the structure
boasted, rested Slugger Brown, his ankle tied up in a rude bandage. In
front of the fire sat Nappy Martell with the old lumberman's treasure
box on his lap. Nappy had a knife in one hand, and, with the file blade,
was trying to file apart the padlock to the box.