CLOSE TO DISCOVERY.
When the sound of the voice came again even Aleck heard it plainly. Why,
it seemed so very near that his first thought was that the men must have
found the entrance to the treasure cave, and were pushing along the
tunnel at that very moment. But on reflection Aleck realized that this
could not be so, for the voice came from somewhere in the open air.
"I jest ain't agoin' any further, an' that's a fact. Might as well
rest up right here as keep on. I never was for comin' back, to spy on
them ere scouts, but two agin one kerried the day. So here we be,
tired in body, hungry, and nigh 'bout ready to drop. I say let's camp,
and wait till mornin'."
"That's Dickey Bird," whispered Thad in the ear of his companion.
Aleck had had a load taken from his breast. Although the three men
might be so close to the entrance of the mine that they could toss a
stone into it, still it seemed only mere accident that brought them
here, and not design, or a suspicion as to the truth.
Another voice chimed in now, that of Kracker himself.
"Oh! as for that, I'm about as leg weary as you can be; and ready to
rest up a bit. So Waffles, stir around, and gather some tinder to
start a blaze. This night air is some cool, too. And say, I'm that
hungry I could eat anything 'most. But with only one six-shot gun in
the crowd, it's going to be hard lines to provide grub, I reckon."
"Then why'd you turn back, when we was all started for a place where
we could git all the eats we wanted, with money to pay for 'em?"
grumbled Dickey Bird.
"Why? Any fool could see that," retorted the big prospector, sternly.
"Here I've been looking for this mine years and years, and it's got to
be the one dream of my life to find the same. That boy knows; he's
just been waitin' till he growed up big enough to start out. You saw
how he acted, and said he'd die before he'd give up what belonged to
his mother. That proves he's got the combination, either in his head,
or somewhar about his clothes, which we couldn't find."
"Well," said the grumbler, "what good is that same agoin' to do us,
now that he's in with that party of scouts, who say they'll stand up
for him right along? We ain't got no show, seems to me, Kracker."
"We ain't, hey?" replied the other, disdainfully. "Jest because you
can't see anything before your nose, you say they ain't nothing doing.
Let me tell you we never was nearer that same mine than we is now."
Thad felt his companion give a sudden start; he himself was wondering
what these strange words of the prospector might mean; though he could
not believe that the other could really suspect the presence of that
fissure back of the vines.
"As how? Mebbe you wouldn't mind tellin' me, to ease up the pain in my
legs; while Waffles, he's astartin' that ere fire?" Dickey Bird went
on, skeptically.
"Sure thing," answered the big man who controlled the party of mine
seekers. "If that boy does know the secret, he's going to open up
while he's got them scouts to back him, ain't he? He'll want to feast
his eyes on some of that same rich ore--that goes without saying. All
right, let him, say I. We'll try and be close enough at hand to
discover whar the pesky entrance lies; and while they're hangin' on up
here, it's us to streak it for town and file a claim on that mine by
description. First comer gets the persimmon every time. I ain't been
in this line of business all my life without learnin' something."
Again did Thad feel his companion move restlessly. It was as though
Aleck felt a sudden fear oppress him lest this sly old thief should
yet get ahead in entering a claim for the mine.
The flicker of the kindling fire now began to show through the vines
at the mouth of the opening. What if these men stayed there until
morning, how were the boys to leave? Even when the moon stopped
shining upon the face of the cliff, the light of the nearby fire would
continue to light it up, so that they would not dare try and creep
out. Such a movement, if seen or suspected by the campers, must arouse
their curiosity, and lead to an investigation. Then the only thing
that could save the mine for Aleck would be a hurried rush to town, in
which they might be beaten by the others.
It was not a pleasant thought, although of course, if necessary, the
boys could stay there without any great amount of privation. The
constant chance of discovery would bother them much more than anything
else.
Dickey Bird was still grumbling, it seemed. Things evidently did not
please him at all, and only because the fear he entertained for
Kracker, the man might have deserted the expedition.
"I jest don't like it around here, and that's what," they heard him say
presently. "It ain't the nicest place agoin' either. Now what d'ye
reckon that ere rumbling noise was, we all heard a while ago? Waffles,
he sez it was thunder; but they ain't nary a cloud as big as my hand
anywhar 'round. Sounded more like earthquake noise to me. I was in that
shake down at Frisco remember, an' ain't likely to forgit how it starts.
If these here mountings began to roll over on us, we'd be in a nice
pickle, now, eh? I tell you I don't like it any too much."
"Drop that kind of talk, Dickey Bird," ordered the big prospector,
gruffly, "and draw up closer to the fire here. You're cold that's
what, and things they looks kind of blue like. Get warmed up and
you'll feel better. I've got a little dried meat in my knapsack, and
we'll chew on that for a change."
"Good for you, Kunnel!" exclaimed the discontented one, whose mood
probably had its inception in hunger, after all. "And don't be long
about passin' that same around, will ye? I'm that nigh famished I
could eat Indian dog, though I never thought I'd ever come to that."
The three prospectors sat down around the fire, and in order to
overhear what they might say while they munched at the tough pemmican,
Thad crept closer to the vine screen.
Something moved ahead of him, and he thought he saw the vines tremble,
as though giving passage to some sort of body. Immediately afterwards
there was a shout from one of the three prospectors, and they could be
seen scrambling hastily to their feet, showing every evidence of alarm.
"What is that coming this way?" roared Kracker.
"Say, looks like on'y a wolf cub, arter all!" declared Dickey Bird, with
a catch in his husky voice, showing plainly how startled he had been.
"Well, now, that's just what it seems to be; knock the critter on the
head, one of you," and the big man dropped back again to his seat.
It was Waffles who picked up a club, and jumping forward, hastened to
wind up the earthly career of the motherless wolf whelp; though the
savage little beast snarled furiously at his approach, and showed fight.
"Now I wonder what next?" remarked Kracker, as he watched the other
engaged in a regular fight with the cub, which would not give up the
ghost as easily as Waffles had evidently anticipated.
Indeed, the second man had to also arm himself with a club, and put in
a few vicious blows before the wolf whelp was subdued.
"That's what comes to a man when he ain't got no gun!" complained
Dickey Bird; from which remark it might be taken for granted that if
there was only one revolver in the crowd, which the scouts had allowed
them to retain possession of, Kracker had made sure to hold that.
"Oh! that was only a cub, and a wolf ain't anything to be scared of!"
remarked the big prospector; though he turned his head even while
speaking, as though he fancied that he heard something moving in the
bushes back of him, with visions of a red-eyed furious wolf mother
coming to demand satisfaction for the killing of her offspring.
"Whar d'ye reckon the critter kim from now?" demanded Dickey Bird.
"Oh!" whispered Aleck, as though something warned him the danger point
was getting very close now.
"First thing I see, he was acomin' away from the rock yonder,"
remarked Waffles, pointing straight at the hanging vines that screened
the fissure so completely.
"Then it looks like he might a come out of them vines?" suggested
Kracker, carelessly.
"Reckon, now, he did," replied the other.
"Go and take a look, Waffles," added the big man. "If so be we expect
to sleep right here, we want to know if there's any wolf around. I
ain't so fond of the ugly critters that I want to have one crawlin'
all over me when I'm trying to get some rest. Look behind the vines, I
say, Waffles, and make sure."
Waffles did not seem any too anxious to obey. Possibly, if he had
gripped some sort of firearm in his hand, he might not have shown the
same timidity. Perhaps he too had an animosity toward ferocious and
maddened wolves; and besides, it had been his hand that had given the
finishing blow to that nasty little spitting cub, just now, and the
mother wolf might have it in for him on that account.
But then he feared the scorn of the big prospector even more than he
did the possibility of danger from a she wolf bereft of her whelps.
And so, rather hesitatingly to be sure, the man started toward the
cliff, with the intention of lifting the screen of vines, and peering
behind the same.
Of course he would immediately learn of the fact that there was a
fissure in the rock; and curiosity was apt to induce the men to make an
attempt to explore the cavity, since they were all experienced miners,
and eager to discover signs of a "find" in some unexpected place.
Closer came Waffles. He was now within a few feet of the vines, and
indeed, had one hand stretched out, as with the intention of clutching
the mass of vegetation, and drawing it aside; while the other gripped
that stout cudgel, with which he expected to defend himself
desperately, should he be attacked.
Aleck was quivering with suspense, and Thad could easily understand
that he must be handling his gun, as though tempted to discharge this,
and frighten the man off. But that would be giving the secret away,
for these men were cunning; and after they had come to figure things
out, they would arrive at something like the truth.
If discovery were to be averted other means must be employed in order
to keep Waffles from raising that curtain, or at least daring to
venture into the fissure as much as one foot.
Finding the ear of his companion Thad managed to whisper in it the few
words:
"Don't shout."
"Do just what I do; we've got to scare him!"
And Aleck pressed his arm, to let the scoutmaster know that he
understood; even though the means to be employed might as yet be a
mystery to him.