"Is that your cabin?" asked Sammy.
"No, my shack can't compare with that in build," answered the hunter. "That's an old deserted mansion. It used to be a sort of hotel, or boarding house, but it hasn't been used as such in a good many years. It didn't pay.
"I'm a sort of care-taker of it, and I have one or two rooms fitted up that I use when my shack gets filled. But the rest of the place is deserted, except for the bats and rats."
The boys came to a stop in front of the old house. It was bare and gaunt, and looked lonesome. On most of the windows the sagging shutters flapped dismally. Somehow there seemed an air of mystery about the place. Sammy Brown's spirits rose.
"Fellows!" he cried, "maybe the mystery is in here!"
CHAPTER IX SAMMY'S QUEER FIND
"Ha! Ha!" laughed Mr. Jessup. "My sister was right about you, Sammy! You're always on the lookout for something odd."
Sammy was a little put out by the attention he had drawn to himself. But for all of that, he was not going to back down.
"Well," he said, "I only thought that if queer things had been going on around your camp, Mr. Jessup, maybe the person who had been taking your things would be hiding in here."
"So you're sure it's a person, and not a ghost; eh?" asked the hunter, with a smile.
"I don't believe in ghosts," declared Sammy.
"Good boy! Neither do I. But I'm sorry I can't agree with you that the mystery is in this old mansion."
"Why?" asked Sammy, who liked to stick to a point.
"Because the hermit and I, so far as I know, are the only ones on this part of the island. If there was anyone else here Maybe would have routed him out long ago; wouldn't you, Maybe?"
The dog barked, and wagged his tail.
But Sammy Brown was not satisfied. The old mansion, that had been used for a hotel, when the upper part of Pine Island had been a Summer resort, looked strange enough to hide any sort of a mystery, and the boy made up his mind he would get at the bottom of this one.
"We've got two things to do while we're here," Sammy told himself. "One is to find out who has been taking Mr. Jessup's stuff, and the other is to find out what the hermit is doing here."
Instead of being worried over the seemingly hard work, Sammy Brown was delighted. It gave him a chance to do something, and this always pleased the lad.
"Well," said Mr. Jessup, after a pause, "there's no need of staying here unless you want to. Better come on to my cabin, and we'll have a meal. Then you can unpack, and get your bearings. Are you warm enough?"
"Oh, yes, indeed!" exclaimed Frank. "Mother made me put on my heavy clothes."
"Well, it's a good idea, for it often gets quite chilly on the island. Now then, forward march!"
Sammy hung back a little.
"What's the matter?" asked Mr. Jessup, looking at him. "Do you see anything?"
"No," was the answer, "but I'd like a chance to go through that deserted mansion."
"Oh, you'll get it all right enough," the hunter promised him. "I've got to straighten up the few rooms I use in a day or so, and you boys can help.
"You see," he explained, "I'm expecting a company of gentlemen up in about two weeks to stay a few days, and there'll be more of them than I can keep in my cabin. So I've got to use a few rooms in the old mansion. I'll have to clean them up a bit though, first."
"Maybe we'll be in the way then," suggested Bob.
"Bless your heart, no! They're in no hurry to come, and I'm going to give you boys a good time first, just as I promised my sister I would. You did her a good turn, and this is the only way I can pay you back.
"So don't worry. Stay as long as you like, and you'll have all the chance you want, Sammy, to go through the old house. You won't find anything, though, I'll wager."
Sammy said nothing, but he made up his mind that if there was anything in the deserted mansion that would solve the mystery he would find it.
A short time later Mr. Jessup's cabin was reached. It stood in the midst of a grove of trees, and through them a glimpse could be had of the frozen lake. This part of the island was separated from the portion where the boys had played Robinson Crusoe by a wide stretch of marshland.
"Which way is the hermit's cabin from here?" asked Sammy, when he and his chums had put away the clothes they had brought in their satchels.
"Right back of here," answered Mr. Jessup. "But I wouldn't advise you to try to find it alone. There's a bad, swampy bog near it, and you might get mired."
"Wouldn't it be frozen over now?" asked Frank.
"No; and that's the funny part of it. That bog never freezes, even in the coldest weather. It's down in a sort of valley, and it's protected. So keep away from there unless I'm with you. There's another reason, too, for not looking up Mr. Addison."
"What is it?" asked Sammy, while the other boys waited eagerly for the answer.
"Well, he's a queer sort of man," went on Mr. Jessup. "He doesn't like company, and he even objects to me, sometimes, though I seldom bother him. Just how he would take to you boys I don't know."
"He didn't take to us at all the first time he saw us," spoke Bob.
"I should say not!" cried Frank. "He ordered us away."
"And we went—in a hurry," added Sammy.
"Yes," remarked the hunter, with a smile. "Then I'd give him a wide berth. I don't just know what his rights are on this island. I know he doesn't bother me, and he keeps off my land, except when he wants to borrow something, or have me buy food for him. So I don't bother him, and I'd advise you boys to do the same."
"All right," answered Sammy. He did not exactly promise, and the truth of the matter was that he made up his mind to find out more about the queer hermit, as well as about the mystery and the deserted mansion, as soon as he could.
And his chums felt the same way.
"Well, anyhow, we're here!" exclaimed Sammy, a little later, while they sat about a campfire in front of the cabin, and ate the meal which Mr. Jessup got ready. "We're here, and we're going to have some fun!"
"That's what we are!" cried Frank. "What can we do first?"
"Well, I'm going to do a little hunting for rabbits this afternoon," said Mr. Jessup. "You boys can come along, if you like."
"Fine!" cried Sammy.
"I wish we had guns and could hunt," said Sammy.
"You're a bit too young for firearms," said the hunter. "Later on, when you grow up, you can have 'em, and I'll show you how to shoot."
With this the boys had to be content, though it must be confessed they looked on with eager and envious eyes while Mr. Jessup got his gun ready for the little expedition.
Maybe, the dog, as soon as he saw the preparations, frisked about in delight. He barked, and ran to and fro from the cabin, as if asking everyone to hurry.
"All right, old fellow," said Mr. Jessup, soothingly. "We'll soon be with you."
Pine Island, as I have said, was a large one in the midst of Rainbow Lake. Years before, many years, when only the Indians roved about that part of the country, it had been part of the main land, so scientists said. They had located a reef in the lake, and their explanation was, that, through the raising of the waters of the lake, the point of land became surrounded by water, and was made into an island.
It had happened suddenly, and many large, wild animals, as well as some smaller ones, had been trapped there. In time the wild animals, such as deer and bears, had been killed off, and were never replenished. But the small game, such as rabbits, squirrels, opossums and raccoons, were still rather plentiful. The island was protected by game laws, now, so that the supply was not killed off.
Then, too, there was some valuable timber on the island, and Mr. Jessup cut that in the Summer when there was no hunting. He floated it down to Fairview where he sold it.
Off through the snow-covered woods started Mr. Jessup and the boys, with Maybe frisking about here and there, trying to scare up a rabbit or a partridge for his master to shoot. For a time luck was poor, and then some pheasants were flushed, and Mr. Jessup brought down two fat ones.
"Hurray!" cried Bob. "Now we'll have a fine dinner!"
Later on the hunter got two fine rabbits, and oh! how the boys wished they were big enough to have guns!
"I'm coming up here every hunting season, as soon as I'm old enough to shoot!" cried Frank.
"So am I!" exclaimed Sammy and Bob.
As he did not shoot game to sell, and as he had enough for present needs, Mr. Jessup, as all good hunters do in such cases, ceased the use of his gun. With his rabbits and pheasants on his back he led the boys on the return trip. As they came to the old mansion, Sammy asked:
"Could we go in now, Mr. Jessup, and look around?"
"I guess so," he answered. "But don't stay too late. It gets dark early now, you know. I'll keep on to my cabin."
Eagerly the boys entered the old deserted house, Mr. Jessup letting them take his key. As he had said, they found several rooms fitted up with beds, and a few pieces of furniture. These were the apartments used by those of the hunting parties who could not find bunks in the cabin.
"Now let's begin at the top of the house, and work down," proposed Sammy, when they had looked about the lower floor. "Maybe we can find something of the mystery."
"Maybe—the dog—yes," laughed Bob.
"Oh, you just wait!" exclaimed Sammy. "I'll find something yet."
But it did not seem that he was going to, at first. Room after room was deserted, the once gay wallpaper hanging in mouldy strips. Broken shutters flapped in the wind, and there was ruin on all sides. In some rooms were bits of broken furniture, and in others only heaps of rubbish.
"I shouldn't like to stay here," said Bob, with a little shiver.
"Me, either," added Frank.
They were up in the top story now, and had found nothing.
"Well, I suppose we may as well go down," spoke Sammy, in disappointed tones. "There's nothing here."
"Unless it's in one of those secret rooms you read about," said Bob. "This mansion looks old enough to have one of those."
Sammy did not reply. He was looking at a spot on the wall, and suddenly he put forth his hand and pressed on a carved bit of moulding.
To his surprise, as well as to the surprise of his chums, the wall seemed to slide away. There was a rumbling sound, and a hole came into view.
Then, as the boys' eyes became used to the gloom, they saw that they were looking into a room of the existence of which they had never guessed.
"Look!" cried Bob excitedly. "Sammy's found it—the secret room!"
"Yes, and see what's in it!" cried Sammy, as he pointed to a heap of odd-looking objects in one corner. "Fellows, maybe this is the mystery!"
CHAPTER X THE MYSTERIOUS ROOM
The boys hung back for a moment on the threshold of the room Sammy had so strangely discovered. Truth to tell they were a little afraid to enter, and no one could have blamed them. For surely there were some queer looking objects in the secret apartment.
That it was a secret room, intended to be hidden from the ordinary person going through the old house, was plain. As one looked at the wall, before Sammy had pushed on what must have been a secret spring, it did not seem different from the rest of the building. There had been a little piece of carved wood sticking out, and this must have worked on some springs and levers to slide back the hidden door.
"Say, this is great!" cried Sammy, delighted at his discovery.
"It sure is," agreed Bob. "How'd you come to do it?"
"I just happened to," answered Sammy. "I saw that carved wood bulging out, and it looked as though it was meant to press on. So I did."
"You're a great one!" cried Frank. "You're all the time talking about finding something mysterious, but it never before amounted to anything. This time you did hit it, Sammy Brown!"
"And I guess you fellows won't laugh at me any more; will you?"
"I won't," said Bob, with a sigh, wishing he had discovered the secret room.
"And look what's in there, fellows!" went on Sammy. "Maybe now we can find out how and who has been taking Mr. Jessup's stuff!"
There was indeed an odd collection of things in the secret room. Besides a bed, table and some chairs, there was on the floor, and on the wall-shelves, some tubes, with shining pieces of glass in the ends. There were tin boxes, springs, long pieces of wire, black wooden boxes, and many other strange things. One of the tubes, with a glass in the end, seemed to be pointed directly at the boys, like some strange gun.
"Come on, let's go in!" urged Sammy. "Let's see what those things are."
For a moment his two chums looked at him, and then Frank said:
"Do you think it's safe to go in?"
"Why not?" asked Sammy.
"Well, that door might suddenly slide shut while we were in there, or there might be a false bottom to the floor, and we'd drop through, or something like that," suggested Bob.
"Huh! You're as bad as you say I am, in thinking up things!" cried Sammy. "I say let's go in. We can put a stick, or something, across the sliding door, so that can't go shut on us."
"Well, maybe that's all right," agreed Bob. "But it sure would be hard luck if we got caught in here. No one would ever know where to find us."
"That's right," admitted Sammy, and, for a second or two, he was almost ready to give up the adventure.
But his desire to see what the strange things were was so strong that he decided, by taking care, it would be all right.
"Oh, come on, fellows," he exclaimed. "Let's take a chance! I'll fix the door."
They found a piece of a broken shutter which they wedged across the sliding doorway so that, even if they, or someone else, accidentally touched the hidden spring which sent the door to and fro, they would not be trapped.
"There, I guess that's all right," cried Sammy. "Now come on in!"
But Bob still hung back, though Sammy stepped across the door sill.
"Well, what's the matter now?" asked the discoverer of the hidden room.
"I'm thinking that the floor might give way," faltered Bob.
"Nonsense!" exclaimed Frank, taking sides with Sammy. "It must be solid, or how would it hold up the tables, chairs and the other things? I'm going in."
Bob would not be left behind, in the mysterious old house, so he followed his chums into the room. They advanced cautiously, and listened closely. There was no clicking sound, that might tell of hidden machinery.
"Pshaw! It's all right!" exclaimed Sammy, presently. "Now to see what those things are."
"Who do you s'pose put 'em there?" asked Frank, as they advanced toward the odd collection of things on the table.
"Counterfeiters!" exclaimed Sammy, promptly.
"Counterfeiters!" cried Frank. "What do you mean?"
"Just what I said," answered Sammy, with a calm smile, as though he knew it all. "This is a hidden place where some men have been making false coins, and maybe bad paper money too."
"You mean money that's no good?" asked Bob.
"Sure," replied Sammy. "Money that looks good, but which isn't—counterfeit money. I've read a lot about it. Fellows, we have discovered a counterfeiters' den!"
Sammy's chums looked rather frightened. It did seem as though they had stumbled upon some strange "den."
"Well, if counterfeiters work here, where are they, and where is some of the false money?" asked Bob. "I'd like to see some."
"Pooh! You don't s'pose they'd leave it around loose; do you?" asked Sammy. "They go out to spend it. That's probably where they are now. We'd better hurry and look around, and then we can go back to town and tell the police!"
Frank looked as though he did not quite agree with Sammy. It was often this way with the excitable small chap. He saw some things and imagined the rest. But in this case it was different. He had really discovered a secret room, and this was more than his chums had done. Perhaps, after all, he was right about the counterfeiters.
The boys advanced farther into the room. A nearer view of the strange tubes, with the glass in the ends, showed the latter to be large and bulging, like the lens of a bull's-eye lantern, or an automobile lamp. Attached to the tubes were black boxes, with a number of springs and levers fastened to them.
"Ha! I know what these are!" cried Frank. "They're telescopes, that's what they are. This isn't a counterfeiters' place at all. It's where one of those men live who look at the stars—astro—astor—Oh, you know what I mean," he added quickly.
"Astronomers," said Bob. "That's what it is, Sammy."
"It is not!" declared Sammy, quickly, bound not to give up his sensational idea. "Those may be telescopes all right, but if they are, the counterfeiters use them to look and see if the police are coming."
"Say, maybe that's right," agreed Frank, with a look of admiration at Sammy. "I never thought of that."
"Pooh! I did!" exclaimed the lad who had found the secret room. He was not going to lose any chance of showing off, now that he had the opportunity. "That's what they are—telescopes for spying out when the counterfeiters are at work."
There were several small windows in the secret room, and they were rather high up from the floor. In fact Sammy and his chums had to drag out boxes to stand on, in order to see above the sills.
They paused a moment in looking over the strange apparatus to glance at the furniture in the room. As I have said, there was a bed, a table and several chairs. The bed did not look very nice, being covered with old blankets and some cut-up bags for covers. But it appeared to have been slept in, and was not actually dirty. In fact it was no worse than the place where the boys had slept when they were wrecked on the other end of Pine Island in the Summer.
"I wonder if they live here all the while?" spoke Bob.
"I guess they stay here when they're not away getting rid of the bad money," said Sammy. "They may come back any minute. We'd better be getting out of here!"
"Let's look around a little more," proposed Bob, who was getting braver now. "What can you see from the windows?"
The boys looked out. The windows of the secret room gave a view of only a dense mass of trees, and it was plain that this was the reason no one had ever found the apartment before. That side of the old mansion was opposite a deep and seldom-visited part of the woods.
"Well, we'll look at the counterfeiting machinery a little more, and then we'll go," suggested Sammy. "We'd better tell Mr. Jessup about this, and he can get the police after these fellows."
This seemed good advice to his chums, and they went back again to the table and shelves where the apparatus was spread out. They now examined it all more closely.
"Better not touch anything," advised Sammy, as Bob put out his hand to examine one of the tubes with glass in the end.
"Why not?" was asked.
"Because you might get a shock."
"A shock? How do you make that out?"
"Why there's some electric batteries attached to the things," said Sammy, pointing out the dry cells in their red pasteboard boxes.
"That's right," agreed Frank. "They're the same kind of batteries Jerry Grow has in his motor-boat. And they can give you a fierce shock, too."
"What, those little things?" asked Bob, in surprise.
"Sure," spoke Sammy. "You see the batteries aren't so strong in themselves, but when you run the current through a production coil——"
"Induction coil—not production," corrected Frank.
"Well, induction coil then," went on Sammy. "When the current from the electric battery goes through that, it gets stronger, and it sure does hurt."
"I know it does," agreed Bob, "for I got stung once on Jerry's boat, when he was putting in some new batteries. Oh, I won't touch these!"
Look as they did at the strange apparatus, the boys could not understand what it was for, unless, as Sammy said, it was used for making false money. Of course the chums had never seen any machinery for that purpose, and had no idea what was necessary. But Sammy's idea appealed to them.
"I guess we'd better be getting out now," said Frank, after a bit. "I shouldn't like to be caught here."
"Me either!" agreed Bob. "Let's go."
The boys started out of the mysterious room, excited over their strange find, Sammy in particular. This trip to Pine Island was going to be more sensational than their previous one. They were sure of that.
"What'll we do about the door; leave it open?" asked Frank.
"No, we'll close it," decided Sammy, "that is if we can. Then the counterfeiters won't know we've been here, and they'll come back to their den, and we can help the police capture them."
"That's the way to talk!" cried Bob. "You're all right, Sammy!"
And then something happened. How it came about none of the boys knew, but Sammy admitted afterward that he must have touched one of the wires, or springs.
At any rate there was a blinding flash, a great cloud of white smoke shot out, and a loud boom.
There was a blinding flash.
"An explosion!" yelled Sammy.
"They're shooting at us!" cried Bob.
"Come on—get out of here!" gasped Frank, as they made their way through the blinding and choking vapor to where they imagined the secret door to be.
CHAPTER XI THE STRANGE HERMIT
"Come on, fellows, this way!"
"No, over this way!"
"I tell you the door's here!"
Thus cried Bob, Sammy and Frank as they stumbled about in the mysterious smoke-filled room. They banged into the bed, tripped over chairs, and slammed into the table.
"Look out, don't go near those things again!" warned Sammy.
"We won't—if we know it!" panted Frank. "Where is that door?"
"Maybe—maybe the explosion slid it shut!" cried Bob.
This thought caused terror in the hearts of the boys until Sammy with a joyful cry, shouted:
"It's all right! Here's the door still open! Come on!"
Out they rushed, following Sammy's lead, for the smoke had now cleared away enough for them to see in the dim room.
They never paused to take away the piece of broken shutter that held open the secret sliding door, or panel in the wall. They had no desire, now, to leave things as they had found them, in hopes that the mysterious person, or persons, who used the strange room, would come back, unsuspecting, and be caught. All the boys cared about now was to get away.
Down the attic stairs they rushed, and they never paused until they were safely out of the old house. Then, some distance off, the fright left them, and they halted to look back.
"What happened?" panted Sammy.
"It was an explosion," decided Frank.
"No, those counterfeiters must have come back and shot at us," gasped Bob.
"Go on! You're worse than Sammy," said Frank, who was more calm than his chums. "It was some sort of explosion. Maybe it was powder the men left there, or it might have been some of the chemicals they use, in whatever they do, whether it's making bad money, or something else. Anyhow it was just an explosion. There was no one in that room but ourselves."
"Well, I guess that's right," agreed Bob, when he had thought it over a bit. "But who exploded it?"
"Maybe I did," admitted Sammy, slowly. "I know just before that flash and puff came, I touched one of the wires on those telescope things. There was a click, and it went off—all at once!"
"I should say it did," spoke Frank. "It went off fast enough."
"And there was an awful lot of smoke!" added Bob.
"Well, I'm glad we're out of the place," said Sammy. "Come on, now, it's getting late, and Mr. Jessup may be worried about us. We'd better go tell him about what we found."
"And then get the police after those counterfeiters," said Bob. "They had no right to explode stuff at us that way."
"Well, they may claim we had no right to go in their room," went on Frank, "but I guess they won't—that is if we get them. Well, come on."
"I'll tell you what let's do," proposed Sammy. "Let's see if we can locate the windows of that room from the outside. We might want to point out to Mr. Jessup where they are."
"That's a good idea," agreed Frank.
But it could not be done, for the boys found it impossible to get through the thick underbrush on that side of the old mansion. They might have managed it in broad daylight, but it was now getting dark, and they did not want to take any chances.
"The best thing we can do," said Sammy, "is to go to Mr. Jessup right away, and tell him about what happened. He'll know what's best to do."
To this Frank and Bob had no objection, and with a last look at the queer old house, the boys found the trail leading to Camp Mystery, and hurried along it.
On the way they talked over what they had seen and what had happened to them. Try as they might, they could not explain it. Sammy was sure they had discovered a counterfeiters' den, but neither Frank nor Bob would admit that this was positively so, though they agreed that it all looked very strange.
Frank did not say so, but he kept thinking that so many queer things which Sammy had discovered had turned out to be only commonplace after all, that now he feared this one would, also. Still he had to admit that the finding of the secret room was rather strange.
"There's the cabin!" exclaimed Sammy, as they came in sight of it.
"Yes, and there's Maybe, the dog, but I don't see any signs of Mr. Jessup," spoke Bob.
"I guess he's inside, getting supper," suggested Frank. "I hope he is—I'm as hungry as one of the bears that used to live on Pine Island."
"So am I," admitted Bob. "I'd like some nice hot pancakes, the kind Mr. Jessup makes, and some of his baked potatoes."
"Don't talk about it—I'm so hungry!" laughed Frank.
They kept on toward the cabin. Maybe rushed out to meet them, barking and wagging his tail, to show how glad he was to see them. But Mr. Jessup did not appear.
Somehow a sense of fear came over the boys. They did not know why, but the strange experience they had just gone through had made them nervous, and not seeing Mr. Jessup at once, added to their fears.
"I wonder where he can be?" asked Sammy, looking around the cabin. There was no sign of their friend.
"Maybe he's off hunting," suggested Frank.
"Why, he just came back from a trip," spoke Bob. "I guess you forgot that."
"I sure did," admitted Frank. "But so many things have happened in the last hour that it's no wonder. There's the game he shot," and he pointed to the rabbits and the birds.
"Yes, and there's a note on them!" cried Sammy. "Fellows, it's for us. Look it's addressed to the 'Fairview Boys.' I'll read it."
Which he did quickly enough. The note said:
"Dear Boys: I have been called over to the mainland to see my sister. She was taken suddenly ill. I will be back before long. Don't worry, and get the best supper you can. I know you can cook it.
Peter Jessup."
For a moment the boys felt much disappointed, and not a little alarmed. Then their spirits rose.
"Well, it's too bad Mrs. Blake is sick," said Sammy, slowly, "but I guess we can manage without Mr. Jessup. We sure can get up a good meal. There's plenty of stuff."
"And we'll have roast pheasant and stewed rabbit!" cried Bob, who was fond of eating.
"No, we'd better leave them until Mr. Jessup gets back," suggested Frank. "I don't believe he'd like us to touch his game. He'll probably be back before it gets very late."
"And maybe he'll be hungry too," said Bob. "We'll cook enough to save him some."
"Then let's get right at it!" suggested Sammy. "Those counterfeiters will have to wait," and he laughed. All the boys were feeling better now, especially since they were in their own camp. And if Mr. Jessup was not there, they had good old dog Maybe, who frisked about, glad of the company of the boys. It must have been hard for him to stay behind when his master left.
Sammy and his chums were soon busy over the meal. They had been camping before, several times, and were getting to be quite expert. One made the fire, another got the meat and potatoes ready, while Frank opened a can of baked beans to warm in a frying pan over the stove, the fire being made there instead of outside, though later the boys intended to kindle a camp blaze in front of the cabin.
"Well, this is something like!" exclaimed Sammy, as they sat about the table, after supper, the lamp glowing on their shining faces.
"That's right!" said Frank.
"It's nice and cozy in here," agreed Bob.
They had kindled a fire outside, and sat about that for a while, waiting for the sound of Mr. Jessup's return. Then as it grew later, and colder, they went inside.
"He may not come until nearly midnight," said Sammy.
"Oh, well, we won't sit up for him," suggested Frank. "I'm tired and sleepy. I'm going to turn in soon. Maybe will stand guard for us, won't you old fellow?"
The dog barked his answer.
A fire was kindled on the hearth, and the boys sat about this for a while, talking over what had occurred since their arrival at Camp Mystery. Then, as they were very sleepy, they locked up, leaving Maybe stretched out before the glowing fire, and turned into the bunks.
Contrary to their expectations, nothing happened all night. In fact they did not wake up until morning, when the sun was streaming into the cabin. Then Sammy jumped up, looked at the clock, and cried:
"After eight; and Mr. Jessup isn't home yet!"
"Maybe his sister is worse," suggested Frank. "Let's get breakfast, and then we can decide on what to do."
They made a good meal, and then, after talking matters over, they made up their minds that the best thing to do would be to take a walk about the island. If they saw no signs of Mr. Jessup by noon, they planned to go over to the mainland, and perhaps give up their camp at Mystery, to go home.
"For, though we'd like to stay here alone, first rate," said Sammy, "our folks might not like it, or think it safe. They let us come because they thought Mr. Jessup was going to be with us, and if he isn't, we ought to go home."
"I s'pose so," sighed Bob, "but it's mighty jolly here."
"Even with the old hermit, and the counterfeiters," spoke Frank.
"Oh, the old hermit never will bother us," declared Sammy. "And maybe the counterfeiters have been gone a long time."
"And maybe Mr. Jessup will send someone to stay with us, if he can't come back himself," went on Bob. "Then we could stay all right."
"Say, that would be fine!" cried Frank. "It may happen, too. We'll wait a bit about going back."
They decided this would be a fair thing to do, and, after putting the cabin to rights, after their morning meal, and planning what they would have for dinner, they set out for a tramp about the island, Maybe the dog going with them.
They went on for half a mile, when Bob, who was in the lead, suddenly stopped, and called out:
"There's somebody moving over there!"
"Over where?" asked Sammy.
"There," answered Bob, pointing to a clump of trees, at the foot of which was a bank of snow. "I just saw a man."
"Maybe it's Mr. Jessup," spoke Frank.
"I hope so," murmured Sammy. "I'd like to get after those men who live in the secret room."
And then, as the boys watched, the figure of an old man came out from a clump of bushes. The man had a long white beard, and white hair, and as he came into a little opening he looked in the direction of the boys.
"The old hermit!" whispered Frank. "There he is!"
And, as the boys looked, the aged man, about whom there seemed to be such a mystery, shook his fist at them, and then disappeared behind a clump of bushes.
CHAPTER XII INTO THE DRIFT
"That sure was him!"
"Yes, he's the old hermit!"
"I wonder what he's up to now?"
In turn Sammy, Bob and Frank spoke, as they looked toward the place where the aged man had disappeared. They could still see the bushes shaking as he forced his way through them.
"I wish it had been Mr. Jessup," said Sammy, and he could not help sighing a bit.
"Yes, we need him," added Bob. "But we'll do the best we can. If he doesn't come by night, I s'pose we'll have to go back home."
"And I sure will hate to do that," put in Sammy Brown. "Maybe there'll be a way out."
For a moment the boys looked at one another, and then at the spot where the hermit had vanished. Maybe barked once or twice, and then began running about, as he had been doing ever since he came out with the boys, hoping perhaps to scare up a rabbit.
Sammy was doing some hard thinking. His eyes blinked fast, as they always did when he had several ideas going through his mind at the same time. Suddenly he exclaimed:
"Fellows, are you with me?"
"With you? In doing what?" asked Frank.
"In following that old hermit? I want to see where he goes."
Neither Bob nor Frank answered for a moment.
"Well, he's probably going to his cabin, or cave, or whatever he lives in," Bob finally said: "We know about where it is, and I don't see any good in following him. He might get mad at us."
"He probably would," said Sammy. "But getting mad wouldn't hurt us. I'd like to see where he goes."
"Why?" asked Bob.
"I have a certain reason," went on Sammy. "Do you know, fellows, the hermit may be the—counterfeiter!"
"What!" cried Bob.
"Do you mean that?" inquired Frank.
"Well, I'm not sure, of course," went on Sammy. "But he might be, you know."
"Yes, of course," laughed Frank, "and the time we thought we had struck a bear here, it might have been one, only—it wasn't!"
"Oh, well, of course anyone can make a mistake," said Sammy. "And I'm not saying I'm right. Only it's worth trying; isn't it?"
"Well, maybe so," replied Frank, slowly.
"All I want to do," went on Sammy, "is to follow the old hermit, and see what he does. If he goes toward the place where we found the secret room, and the queer things, we'll know he has something to do with them."
"Maybe," put in Frank, with a laugh. He did not always agree with Sammy.
"Oh, of course, I'm not saying for sure," went on the other. "But will you come?"
"I don't mind," spoke Frank, after a few moments' thought. "But we'd better not go too close."
"That's what I say," added Bob. "He might try to harm us."
"We've got Maybe with us," said Sammy, boldly. "I'm not afraid."
And so the boys decided on Sammy's plan, little thinking what would come of it.
They could no longer see the hermit, but they thought they could trace which way he went by following the tracks in the snow.
"Besides, we have the dog with us," added Sammy, "and he can follow. He can track the hermit just like he does a rabbit."
The boys went on cautiously. They did not want to get too close to Mr. Addison, who, though he was an old man, might be one who was very easily made angry, and who might work some harm to them. In fact they already knew that he lost his temper easily.
For perhaps half a mile they followed the tracks of the aged man through the snow. This was easy to do since he tramped over a place where the white crust was unbroken by other footsteps. The dog, too, led them by sniffing at the trail on the ground. But they had had no sight of Mr. Addison since he had disappeared into the bushes after shaking his fist at them.
"He isn't going toward the old house," said Sammy, after a bit.
"No, he's heading in the wrong direction for that," added Frank. "Maybe he's going to his own cabin."
"If he does," spoke Sammy, "we won't follow him there."
The boys were now some distance away from Camp Mystery. They had occasional glimpses of the frozen lake, but they had not seen any figure bearing a likeness to Mr. Jessup, skating over it. The hunter was probably still with his sick sister, they thought, and they did not quite know what to do.
"Look out for yourselves here, fellows," said Sammy, as they came out into an opening in the woods.
"What's the matter—did you see the hermit?" asked Frank.
"No, but there's a big cliff here, and we might slip over."
"Let's have a look," suggested Bob, pressing forward with Frank to where Sammy stood on the edge of a cliff which was about ten feet high, going down steeply into a little valley.
Suddenly, as the boys were looking over into a big drift of snow below them, they heard a noise behind them. There was a rush of feet, and Maybe, the dog, barked furiously. Then the harsh voice of the hermit cried:
"Follow me, will you? I'll teach you to do that! You'll be sorry you ever tried to find out my secret!"
Before the boys could defend themselves, or make a stand, the furious old man rushed at them. With extended hands he pushed Bob over the cliff into the deep bank of snow below.
"Look out!" yelled Frank, as he saw his chum disappear.
"Hey! What are you doing that for?" demanded Sammy.
"I'll show you! I'll teach you to follow me!" snarled the old hermit. "Down you go! All of you!"
He pushed Frank over the cliff also, the boy struggling to keep his balance. But over he went, head first.