_TREASURE TROVE_
To the delight of the girls, the next morning was clear. It had rained
in the night and they had been sure that it would storm and they might
have to stay at home.
The sun rose pleasantly warm, but the hour was five o'clock and the
girls knew that before breakfast time it would be almost unbearably hot.
"But what do we care?" laughed Bet gaily. "We're out for adventure.
Today is the grand and glorious event. We will hunt for treasure."
"Oh, no, we won't," Enid returned decidedly. "You forget that
Professor Gillette and Dad decided that it would be better to do the
location work on that claim first."
Bet frowned. It was not her way to be patient. At last she said, "Oh,
well, if it has to be done, we'll do it. We'll go over early and
finish that ten foot hole by noon, then we'll have all afternoon for
the treasure."
"Kit said it would take us at the very least, a full week, to do that
work," returned Enid.
"Don't be a spoil-sport," pouted Bet. "You don't know anything about
it."
But Shirley Williams and Joy Evans both backed up Enid. "Why, Bet,
that hole has to be dug through solid rock, almost."
"How stupid!" shrugged Bet.
"If you should dig right into a vein of rich copper ore, you won't
think so. Why not have hopes of a mine and forget the treasure?" said
Shirley quietly. "Have you given up the idea of being a mine owner?"
"Not exactly. But to tell the truth, 'Orphan Annie' doesn't look very
hopeful to me." Bet shook her head dolefully. "Well, it's no use
fretting. If that hole has to be dug before we start looking for the
treasure, it has to be, that's all."
"Now you're being sensible, Bet. It's just as the professor says, it's
wise for us to have a real claim on the land around that tracing. It
might be worth something. Perhaps there is a treasure buried there,
but it isn't likely." Shirley was not a dreamer and Bet, for the
moment, was disgusted. She turned away and left them.
"Let's get breakfast over," called Enid, leading the way toward the
dining room. "We'll be pleasing Tang and that's a good start for the
day. Then we'll be ready for Kit when she comes."
"Where do we meet the professor?" asked Shirley.
"He'll be waiting for us by the pass into the small canyon. Isn't he a
dear to help us out instead of looking for his village? I like him!"
declared Bet.
It was only seven o'clock when the girls bade good-bye to Mrs.
Breckenridge, listened to her instructions about taking care of
themselves, and started down the trail, Kit in the lead.
Although it was twenty minutes before the appointed time, Professor
Gillette was waiting for them. On his burro, borrowed for the occasion
from Dad Patten, he carried all the tools needed for prospecting.
"You look as if you expected to dig twenty mines," laughed Bet, as she
drew up her pony beside the old man.
"Only one," insisted the professor. "At least I hope that is all we
will need. But no one can tell for sure."
"I think it is all foolishness anyway," Joy exclaimed. "What we want
now is that treasure, and instead of looking for it, you are going to
dig a well."
Kit laughed as she always did at Joy's mistakes. "Call it a well if
you want to," she said patronizingly, "but don't let Tommy Sharpe or
Seedy Saunders hear you say it. They'll tease you unmercifully."
"It's this way, Joy," explained Bet, impatiently. "Kie Wicks might get
wise to it, and come in at the end of two months and snap up this claim
too, if we haven't done our work. That has to be done within two
months."
"Then he'd get the stone with the markings?"
"Yes, that's it. And he might find the treasure, if we don't watch
out," added Kit.
"Then let's get to work at once!" cried Joy, digging her spur into
Dolly's side.
"You mean, Professor Gillette will get to work at once while you and
the rest of us stand around and look pretty," said Enid.
"Why we don't mean any such a thing, Enid Breckenridge. I'm perfectly
willing to work and do my share," snapped Bet, her face red with anger.
"I'll not have Professor Gillette imposed on like that."
"We'll all do what we can," soothed Kit. "Although I'm not sure we'll
make much headway with the pick and shovel."
"I think we should have a Mexican do the work, girls," said Enid.
"He'd do it in half the time."
"Professor Gillette said it was better not to have anyone else around
for a while until we could find out something about this treasure," Bet
said. "So we might as well make up our minds to dig right in and work
hard."
Once on the site of the claim, the professor unloaded his tools and
looked about for a suitable place to put down the ten-foot shaft. His
knowledge of mining was not very great but he and Kit finally decided
on the best spot.
The old man started in at once, swinging the pick as if it were a
hammer. He soon dug away the thin layer of earth and crushed rock, and
reached solid stone.
"It's a good thing I brought the drills along!" the professor threw
down his pick and took up a drill and heavy hammer.
"Isn't it exciting!" cried Bet. "Do let me try to use the drill.
"All in good time, child, all in good time," he promised her as he
adjusted the tool. "This is a two-man job anyway. Somebody has to
help me."
Bet crouched down close beside him and held the drill steady while the
old man prepared to hit. She glanced up at him, dubiously. The old
man laughed.
"Don't know as I blame you any," he said as he twisted a piece of heavy
wire about the drill and gave Bet an end to hold. "There, you can
steady it with that, so I won't hit your fingers."
"Oh, I wasn't afraid," began Bet but the professor laughed and Bet did
not finish her sentence.
"You looked as if you were very much frightened indeed. You were
certain I would hit your fingers, and I'm not sure I wouldn't have," he
chuckled.
And his first strong blow did miss the drill and the girls, watching
him, laughed.
"Gee, if Bet's fingers had been there!" gasped Joy.
"Well, maybe I'd have been more careful if her hand had been there. I
never take chances."
While Bet held the drill in place the professor dealt blow after blow
until he was ready to drop with exhaustion.
"And some men keep that up all day, I'm told," he gasped as he threw
down the tool and dropped to the ground. "I don't believe they do," he
added.
"I've seen men keep at it pretty steadily for hours," interrupted Kit,
"but they don't go at it so strenuously. You put all your soul and
body into it. They don't get excited and they don't wear themselves
out with wild flourishes. You see when a prospector has that work to
do, he doesn't have to hurry. He has all the time there is."
"To tell you the truth," laughed the professor sheepishly, "I'm so
anxious to start looking for the treasure that I don't want to dig this
shaft, I'm like a child with a new toy."
"Come here, Kit," called Bet. "You hold this drill for a while and let
me swing the hammer. I'm just dying to do it."
"And maybe I'm not glad there is a wire to hold. You'd hit me, sure."
"Don't trust me even yet," Bet returned with a gay laugh.
"That's right, Kit," trilled Joy. "You are only two feet away from her
hammer, she might easily miss the mark by that much." Joy was glad of
a chance to tease Bet.
Bet swung the hammer with vigor, bringing it down on the drill with a
force that seemed impossible from her slender arms.
"Go it, Bet. You'll get there yet," shouted Joy.
Bet was soon worn out and the girls took turns and had the joy of
finishing one hole to the required depth for setting the charge.
The professor was bending over the tracings on the rock. He had
forgotten all about the location work that had to be done. While the
arrow pointed southwesterly and showed the direction in which to look,
it pointed over a deserted country that stretched for miles into Mexico.
"If there is anything thrilling about this, I'd like to be shown,"
pouted Joy. And in sheer boredom she got up, walked to a rocky ledge
and scrambled up the steep face of it.
Enid and Shirley, who were watching the professor studying the markings
on the rock, heard a cry of surprise from Joy, but before they could
turn toward her, they saw her falling, clutching wildly at the ledges
in an attempt to save herself.
Joy had turned her head to speak to her friends and had missed her
footing. As she touched the ground, her ankle bent under her and she
fell with a groan.
Bet ran to her help. "Speak, Joy, speak to me," we said shaking the
girl. Joy's face was deathly white but her eyes fluttered open and
seeing Bet she cried hysterically:
"I found it! I found it!"
"Found what, Joy? What did you find?"
"Another arrow. Right there on the rock!" Joy was struggling to her
feet, but at the attempt she fell back with a groan.
"For the love of Mike, is that all? Why, Joy Evans, you'd get so
excited over an arrowhead that you'd lose your footing!" Kit cried.
"I thought you had more sense than that."
Between clenched teeth Joy answered, "It wasn't an arrowhead! It was
an arrow carved on the rock."
"Don't be silly, Joy. You're dreaming!" laughed Kit.
"If I thought you were just teasing me, Joy, I wouldn't be sorry about
your poor foot." Bet stared at the girl with a threatening look. "It
isn't nice to tease about things as serious as hidden treasure."
"But the arrow's there," Joy answered.
"Which way did it point?" asked Professor Gillette, the only one who
seemed to credit Joy's story.
"Why, really, I don't know. I never thought to notice. I saw an arrow
and I think it was pointing toward that hill over there--but then again
it might be pointing away from it. I'm not sure." Joy stopped
helplessly, and clutched her aching foot.
"You're helpful at least," Kit shrugged her shoulders. "I do believe
she's just teasing us. Joy would never find anything!"
"Then go and see for yourself!" snapped Joy.
"I'll do it," replied Bet suddenly letting go of Joy in her excitement.
Joy collapsed with a groan.
Bet turned to help her but Enid shoved her aside. "Here is where I
shine. You go and find your arrow and I'll play nurse and fix up Joy's
ankle. You're lucky, Joy Evans, that it isn't broken."
"It feels as if it were," sobbed Joy.
"I don't see any arrow," called Bet in a disgusted tone. "Don't be
mean, Joy. If there isn't one here, say so."
"Go on, Bet, up a little higher!" cried Joy.
Bet crept along the ledge, climbing from one projection of rock to the
next.
There was a sudden cry of joy. "Here it is!"
The professor craned his neck to get a glimpse of the arrow. "Which
way does it point, child?" he asked eagerly.
"It points toward the hill, that way," replied Bet, studying the
markings carefully.
"That's our good luck. If it went the other way, it would be across
the claims of Kie Wicks and his friend Ramon. Come on down, child,
before you fall."
Bet slid down easily, her nimble body could cling to the sheer cliff,
or so it seemed to those who watched her.
"I think we'll call you the goat girl, Bet, you sure can climb rocks,"
exclaimed Kit admiringly. "I never could do it."
"And you an Arizona girl?" laughed Bet.
"An Arizona girl only knows how to ride horses," retorted Kit.
"And if they can all ride the way you can, they need no other
accomplishment." Bet ran to join the professor.
The old man was examining the ground in the direction the arrow was
pointing.
"Who ever would have thought to look up at that rock for an arrow," Bet
said excitedly.
"But you see, Bet, we're starting in the middle. Somewhere there's a
map that shows all this, and by that map you would know you had to look
at that cliff for the arrow," explained the professor seriously.
"But where to next?" asked Bet.
"Follow the arrow, that's all we know," answered Kit.
There was no more digging on the claim that day. Even lunch was eaten
by them in a half-hearted way. Joy was suffering with her ankle or she
might have done justice to Tang's picnic spread.
The professor was in a delightful dream. This was the sort of thing
that he loved.
"Do eat something, Professor Gillette. You'll be sick if you don't,"
pleaded Bet.
"Why, I'm not hungry in the least. I do wonder why the arrow is
pointing that way. There doesn't seem to be a thing in sight."
"Maybe if we climbed the hill, we'd find it," suggested Enid. "Suppose
we divide up in teams. Some go over the hill and some hunt on this
side."
"Who's going to stay with me? I won't stay alone," cried Joy her voice
trembling with fear, "I'm afraid of buzzards. I've read about them.
When they see people sick or crippled, they fly around, waiting for
them to die. And sometimes they don't wait, they pick at them while
they still live."
"Don't worry, Joy. I'll stay with you!" Enid looked longingly toward
the hill, then turned to Joy.
The two girls watched the other members of the group, scramble up the
steep ledge to the flat-topped hill.
"It's stupid to have to stay here," said Joy with impatience.
"Couldn't you help me over there to that wall? There's some low bushes
that will keep this horrible sun out of my eyes."
"Let's try it anyway. Come on!" Enid lifted Joy to her feet and
supported her. "Now lean on me and just hobble along. Don't put any
pressure on that ankle. Hop like a rabbit!"
Joy groaned as she limped along. By resting many times the girls
reached the clump of Palo Verde trees, and were glad to drop down in
their scant shade. Joy's face was white and strained.
"I know what I'd do if I had my way," announced Enid anxiously. "I'd
get you home at once."
"But I won't go. I want to wait for the others."
Enid sat down on the ground beside Joy, crouched under the bushes.
They were close to the wall of the cliff.
"What a funny rock!" said Enid. "I wonder what causes these strange
formations. Doesn't that look like an altar? And there is a figure of
a man in a long robe. And the professor will tell us that it is all
made by the rain."
"Yes," said Joy indifferently. "You know, Enid, I'm tired of this
Arizona country. I hate these bare mountains, and I hate the herds of
cattle that stare at you and then race madly away. Everything is
unfriendly. Yet, I'm almost sure I'll be homesick, like Kit, when I
once get away."
"It's glorious!" answered Enid.
"It frightens me. Everything seems cruel. I'd give a dollar this
minute to see a soft, green meadow."
"I'm perfectly happy right here, I wouldn't have it different." Enid
was gazing over the ranges of mountains that seemed to go on and on.
It was half an hour later when the girls heard Bet's familiar call.
"She's found the treasure!" whispered Enid. "You can hear the
happiness in her voice."
But the girls were mistaken. The group had searched high and low but
nothing was in sight. The professor had found a bit of old ruin, part
of a wall that he claimed was Indian fortification. But that was all.
No mounds or signs of a village.
"Why Joy and I found something just as interesting as that," laughed
Enid. "Under the trees here, the wall of that small cliff has the most
peculiar weather markings. Take a look at it, Professor Gillette.
It's interesting."
The professor bent away some of the branches of the trees so as to get
a good view of the rock. The girls standing near, heard him give a
gasp of astonishment.
"What's the matter now?" asked Bet Baxter.
"Those markings were never made by the weather. They were carved by
human hands. And our arrow is pointing straight toward it. I don't
understand why we didn't see it before."
"It's the treasure!" exclaimed Bet. "Let's see what's there!"