CHAPTER XXXI
A PERILOUS RIDE

“We don’t want to, until we get to the camp.”

“But s’pose we get to a ravine, or something like that?”

“Well, I guess it would be better to have a brake or drag,” admitted Jack. “I’ll tell you how we can make one. Get a long sapling, sharpen one end, and put it down through a hole in the back of the sled. When you want to stop, just jab it into the ground, and it will scrape along.”

“Better have two, while you’re at it,” said Sam. “Then we can steer with them by jabbing first one, then the other down. They will slew us around whichever way we want to go.”

“Fine!” cried Jack, always willing to give any of his chums the credit for a good invention. “We’ll do it.”

With a small hatchet, which they had brought with them, two stout saplings were cut, trimmed of their branches and sharpened to points. Then they were thrust down holes in the rear of the sled, near where the wooden runners came to an end.

“Now I guess we’re all ready,” remarked Jack as he surveyed the work. “Get aboard, fellows, for the Snow Sled Limited. No stops this side of Chicago.”

“And maybe not there, if we get going too fast,” spoke Bony grimly.

They had taken off their snowshoes, and piled them on the bob, with their guns and packages of food. Then the boys took their places.

“All ready?” asked Jack as he took his seat in front.

“As ready as we ever shall be,” replied Will, who was a trifle nervous.

“Then push off, Sam,” called Jack, for Sam and Nat had taken their places at the two brake poles. They used them to shove the sled nearer the edge of the hill, and then, as the sled began to move, they slipped the sharpened saplings into the holes again.

Slowly the sled began to go down the hill. At first the slope was gradual, and the speed was not great. Then, as the side of the mountain became more steep, the bob gathered headway, until it was moving along swiftly.

“Hold on, everybody!” cried Jack. “There’s a bump just ahead of us!”

The warning came only just in time, for the sled reached a sort of ridge in the slope, and bounded up in the air. The boys went with it, and as they stayed up a little longer than the sled did, when they came down they did so with considerable force, so that the breath was nearly shaken out of them.

“Ouch!” cried Nat. “I bit my tongue.”

“Lucky it’s no worse,” spoke Jack. “Did we lose anything off the sled, Will?”

“No, but your gun came near going,” for the food and other objects had slid around when the jolt came. “I held on to them,” went on the strange lad, who, from the association of Jack and his chums, was fast losing his odd manner.

“That’s the idea! Well, we certainly are moving now.”

And indeed they were. The sled was increasing its speed every moment, and was now whizzing along over the snow like some racing automobile, but with none of the noise. The snow, by reason of thawing and freezing, had acquired a hard, slippery surface, and the sled, the broad runners of which did not sink in, was fairly skimming along over it.

“Try the brakes!” Jack called back to Sam and Nat. “Let’s see if they work.”

“Put on brakes!” called Nat, giving vent to a couple of screeches in imitation of a whistle.

“That means let off brakes,” said Sam. “One whistle is to put ’em on.”

“What’s the odds?” inquired Nat. “Put your pole down.”

He was already shoving on his, and Sam did likewise. There was a shower of white flakes behind the sled as the sharp points of the poles bit into the snow. There followed a scratching sound, and two long depressions appeared to mark the wake of the bob. Then the speed began to slacken.

“They work all right,” Jack announced. “We’ll try how they steer, now.”

“Off brakes!” shouted Sam, and he and Nat pulled up the poles.

Once more the sled shot forward, coasting down the side of the mountain. Bony sat beside Jack, in front, while Will was in the centre, surrounded by the guns and packages.

“Wow!” exclaimed Bony suddenly. “There’s a bad place just ahead.”

“I see,” remarked Jack. “We must go to one side of it.”

The place was a little hollow in the face of the mountain, and if the sled, which was headed directly for it, dipped down into it, there might be a serious accident.

“Jab your pole down, Nat!” cried Jack, as he calculated to which side of the hollow it was best to pass. “Jab it hard.”

“Hard it is!” repeated Nat, as he bore down on his pole with all his force.

The result was more than they bargained for. The sled slewed suddenly around, and only by clinging desperately to it did the boys manage to save themselves from being spilled off.

“Let go!” yelled Jack quickly.

“Let go it is!” Nat managed to repeat, as he pulled up his pole.

The sled slung around straight again, and continued to slide, but the steering had been successful, for they passed well to one side of the hole.

“I guess a light jab will be all we’ll need to change the course of this schooner,” remarked Bony. “No more of those ‘hard ’a port’ orders, Jack.”

“That’s right. We had a narrow escape.”

On and on they went, Jack watching carefully for holes or rocks, that he might call orders to steer to one side or the other of them. The sled answered her “helm” readily, and, when there was need to slacken speed, the same poles served as brakes.

There was still a long snowy stretch before them, though they had come a mile or more. It was fully five miles to the bottom of the slope, where the valley began and where they knew the mysterious men were encamped.

The course they were on led almost straight down, and, by some curious freak of nature, it was quite like a cleared road down the side of the mountain. There were few trees in the path the sled was taking, and it seemed as if, in ages gone by, a great snowslide or avalanche had gone crashing down the declivity, preparing a path upon which, however, few would have ventured.

Now the speed, which had slackened on a place where the slope was not so great, became faster. The wind whistled in the ears of the boys, and the broad runners were throwing up a fine shower of frozen snow.

Faster and faster the bob went. It was skimming along like a great bird now, and the course was so clear that there was no need of steering.

Suddenly Jack spied, just ahead of them, a great boulder, partly covered with snow. To strike it meant a disaster, and the sled was headed right for it.

“Sam! Sam!” cried Jack. “Put your pole down.”

This would slew the sled to one side. Sam, bearing in mind what had happened when Nat put his sapling down too suddenly, gently dug his point into the snow. But, so great was the speed, that the sled was slewed around almost as badly as before.

But it cleared the rock, and then righted itself.

“Say, but we’re going some,” remarked Bony.

Jack nodded.

“Too fast,” he called. “Put on the brakes, fellows.”

Nat and Sam prepared to obey this order. They bore down on the saplings, but the sled seemed only to go the faster.

“Put on brakes! Hard!” yelled Jack.

“We’re trying to,” called Sam.

He and Nat bore down with all their force. They could hear the ends of the saplings scraping over the frozen snow, but they did not seem to take hold. There was no shower of frozen crystals—no depressions behind the runners.

But, try as Nat and Sam did, they could not force the newly-sharpened stakes into the ground. Jack, Bony and Will added their strength, but it was of no use.

Faster and faster the sled leaped down the slope. The wind cut the faces of the boys, and the flying particles of snow, freed by the edges of the runners, stung them like needles.

“We can’t stop!” said Nat, hopelessly.

Straight as an arrow flew the sled.

“Look! Look!” cried Will, and he pointed ahead.

There, right in the path, and not a quarter of a mile away, at the foot of the hill down which they were shooting like a rocket, was a patch of blackness.

“It’s a lake! A lake of open water!” cried Jack. “Get ready to jump!”

CHAPTER XXXII
INTO A STRANGE CAMP

He had called only just in time, for, as the sled came nearer to the black patch, he had seen, from the glint of light upon its surface, that it was hard, black, thick ice.

A moment later the sled, striking a little hollow place bounded into the air. It came down with a thump, and in another second was skimming over the frozen surface of a little pond. Straight across it flew, into a snow bank on the other side, where it came to an abrupt stop.

So sudden, in fact, was the halting, that Will, who was near the front end, was shot from the bob, and came down in the bank of snow, head first.

“Pull him out!” cried Jack, as he leaped off.

“Maybe he’s hurt.”

The others hastened to the aid of their chum, and he was soon hauled out. He seemed dazed, and there was blood coming from a cut on his head.

“Hurt much?” asked Jack anxiously.

“No—not much—hit my head on a stone under that pile of snow, I guess. But where are we?”

“Where we started for, I think,” replied Jack. “My, but that was a trip!”

“Petrified pole-cats! I should say so!” ejaculated Nat. “I thought we were goners!”

“Same here,” remarked Sam. “But we don’t seem to have arrived at any place.”

“We’re at the foot of the hill,” spoke Bony. “That’s something,” and he tried to crack his knuckle joints, forgetting that he had thick mittens on.

“Let’s see what’s beyond those trees,” proposed Jack, after they had rested, and he pointed to some dark pines that fringed one shore of the pond. “Bring your guns, fellows, and come on.”

“What about the grub?” asked Nat.

“Leave it on the sled,” replied Jack. “We’ll probably come back here.”

He led the way to the trees, and passed beyond the natural screen they formed, followed by his chums. No sooner had he penetrated the thick branches, than he uttered a cry of surprise. And well he might.

For in front of the young hunters was a strange camp, a large one, consisting of a big shed-like structure, with several small log cabins grouped around it. And the place smelled of gasolene, while from one of the cabins came a noise of machinery in operation.

“Boys!” exclaimed Jack, “we’ve found the place.”

“Yes, and there doesn’t seem to be anybody here to stop us,” remarked Nat.

They stood for a few moments on the edge of the camp, the secret of which they had tried to solve several times before.

“Come on,” said Jack. “Might as well take it all in.”

As he spoke the doors of the big shed swung slowly open. The boys saw a man pushing the portals, but something else they saw attracted their attention, and held them spellbound.

For the “something” was a great bird-like creature in the shed, a creature with an immense spread of wings, and from the big structure there came a peculiar throbbing noise, such as that they had heard in the air over their camp several nights.

“There it is!” exclaimed Nat. “There’s the monster that’s been flying in the air over our heads! They’ve got it captive, and they’re trying to tame it!”

The doors opened wider, the man pushing them with his back to the boys, so that at first he did not see them.

“Wow! Aunt Jerusha’s Johnnie cake!” exclaimed Nat. “See that bird.”

Inside the shed the great creature appeared to be fluttering its wings.

The boys were peering forward eagerly. Suddenly there sounded a shout, and from one of the cabins a figure ran.

“Jerry Chowden!” cried Jack.

Jerry had seen the boys. Pointing one hand at them, he yelled something to the man opening the shed doors. In an instant the man turned, went back into the shed, and the doors swung shut. Then, from other cabins came several men, running toward Jack and his chums. Jerry joined them.

“We’re in for it, now,” remarked Nat.

“Keep cool,” advised Jack. “They can’t hurt us.”

“That’s them! They’re the same fellows!” exclaimed Jerry, as he ran up.

“Glad to see that you recognize us,” remarked Jack calmly. “I was afraid you’d forgotten us, Jerry.”

“Hu! Think you’re smart, don’t you?” sneered the former bully of Washington Hall.

“None of this chinning!” exclaimed one of the men sullenly. “How did you chaps get here, this time?”

“Slid,” replied Jack laconically.

“Don’t get fresh. It might not be healthy.”

“That’s a fact,” went on Jack. “We slid down the side of the mountain on a sled, and landed on your little lake back of the trees.”

“You never did it!” exclaimed the man incredulously.

“Well,” said Jack slowly, “if you don’t believe it you can go back there and look at the lake.”

“Yes,” added Nat, “and if that doesn’t convince you, you can go look at the mountain, and see the sled.”

The man turned, and spoke a few words in a low voice to one of his companions. The latter set off toward the fringe of trees.

“Now, what did you chaps come here for?” went on the spokesman.

“To see your big bird fly,” replied Jack.

The man started.

“We haven’t any big bird,” he said.

“Looks mighty like one, in that shed,” went on Jack.

The man scowled. Then he resumed.

“Weren’t you warned to keep away from here before? Weren’t you told that your horses would be shot if you came?”

“Yes,” answered Jack, smiling a bit, “but you see we haven’t any horses with us now.”

“Hu! That’s a mighty poor joke,” sneered the man.

“I don’t think much of it myself, but it was the best I could make under the circumstances.”

Jack was as cool as a cucumber, while the man was visibly losing his temper.

“Lock ’em up!” burst out Jerry Chowden. “That Ranger fellow and Nat Anderson are always making trouble.”

“Say, when I want your advice I’ll ask for it,” said the man curtly. Just then the individual he had sent off to report about the sled came back.

“It’s there,” he said.

“Hum!” murmured the other. Then, turning to the group of men about him he said: “Better take ’em, and put ’em in one of the vacant cabins for the time being. Then I’ll decide what to do with them.”

“You haven’t any right to touch us, or detain us!” exclaimed Jack.

“We haven’t, eh? Well we’re going to take the right, just the same. You put your head in the lion’s mouth, and now you are going to be lucky if he doesn’t bite it off. Lock ’em up, men.”

Several of the roughly-dressed men advanced toward the group of boys. Jack’s chums looked to him for advice. He had gotten them into the difficulty, and it was up to him to get them out.

“See here!” exclaimed our hero boldly. “Don’t you lay hands on us. We are camping on this mountain, and I happen to know that it’s government land, and that any one has a right to travel all around it. We have just as much right here as you have, and if you annoy us I’ll appeal to the law.”

“There ain’t no law out here, sonny,” said one man. “You are suspicious characters, anyhow. Better not make a fuss now. We’re too many for you. Next time mind your own affairs and you’ll not get into trouble.”

The men had seized Nat, Bony, Sam and were advancing toward Will and Jack, who stood a little to one side of their chums.

One man laid hold of Jack, and our hero tried to wrench himself free. But the man was too strong for him.

Suddenly Will looked across the camp. He saw the man again coming from the big shed. For a moment it seemed as if the lad had seen a ghost, his eyes stared so. Then, with a cry he sprang forward, and ran toward the person near the big shed.

“Catch him!” shouted the man who had directed that the boys be made prisoners. “He’s locoed—crazy!”

“Andy will look after him! He’s running right into his arms,” said some one, and sure enough, the man did catch Will in his arms. The next moment the two disappeared inside the big shed.

Jack and his chums looked at one another.

“He must have gone suddenly out of his head,” said Jack. “That blow he got when he landed in the snow bank has crazed him.”

CHAPTER XXXIII
HELD CAPTIVES

“Well, you’d better go ask him to decide at once,” suggested Sam. “We’ve got a long way to go back to camp, and we want to start.”

“Now just take your time,” advised the man. “You’re not running this.”

He took off his cap, and scratched his head in perplexity. He had a shock of thick, red hair, and for want of a better name, since he had not announced it, the lads dubbed him Sandy.

“Was that Andy, as you call him, who went in the big shed with Will?” asked Jack.

“That’s him. He’ll have to decide what to do with you, for I’m blessed if I know. He’s the boss.”

“Then go ask him,” demanded Jack, backing up Sam’s suggestion.

“I can’t,” was the reply.

“Why not?”

“Because Andy has given orders that no one but himself is allowed inside that shed, except on certain occasions.”

“Is he afraid the big bird will get away?” asked Nat.

“What big bird?” inquired Sandy quickly. He took a tighter grip of Jack’s arm, and the other men in the group, each of whom held one of the young captives, seemed waiting for Nat’s reply.

“Oh, we know you’ve got some kind of a monster bird in that shed,” went on Nat. “We heard it flying over our camp, and we came out here to see it.”

“Is that all you came for?” asked Sandy.

“That’s all,” put in Jack. “We wanted to solve the mystery of the strange noises, and the queer marks in the snow.”

“What queer marks in the snow?”

Jack told Sandy what he and his chums had seen, relating in detail how they had tried, on several occasions, to penetrate to the camp, and how, at length, they had made the trip on the sled.

“Now why don’t you go tell Andy, who seems to be the head of this crowd, what I say, and ask him to let us go?” went on Jack. “We meant no harm, but we’d like to see the bird.”

“So you think it’s a bird; eh?”

“Yes, or perhaps some prehistoric monster.”

Sandy laughed.

“You’re right in thinking Andy is the head of this camp,” he said. “We’re all working for him, but, as I said, he won’t let one of us go inside that shed without his orders. Since your friend went in there he’ll have to stay until Andy brings him out. Then you can make your own plea. Until then I’m going——”

“If you’re going to hold us prisoners, you’d better think twice about it,” went on Jack. “My father has friends out West here, and I shall telegraph him of this outrage as soon as I get away.”

“Now go easy,” advised the red-haired man. “I’m not going to harm any of you, but I’m not going to let you get away until Andy has seen you. You’ll have to stay here, but we’ll make you as comfortable as possible. I guess you can stay in one of the cabins. There are some of them empty, as a number of the men have left.”

“Then we’re captives?” asked Jack.

“Well, I wouldn’t exactly call it that,” spoke Sandy with a grin. “Just consider yourselves our guests. We’ll treat you well, and give you plenty of grub, such as it is.”

“We have some of our own,” Bony said.

“You haven’t any right to detain us,” declared Sam.

“We won’t discuss that again,” said Sandy. “Now be reasonable. S’pose I did let you go. You couldn’t get back to your camp to-night, over the mountain, and without horses. You’d have to camp in the open. Isn’t it better to stay in one of our cabins, where it’s nice and warm? Besides, it looks like a storm.”

Jack could not but admit that this reasoning was good. They had not counted on getting back, after their trip on the sled, but it was obvious that they could not coast back to camp, and if they had started to return, they would have had to pass the night in an open camp, no very pleasant prospect.

“Well,” said Jack at length, “I guess we’ll have to stay. But I don’t like the idea of being considered prisoners.”

“Well, don’t think of it then,” advised Sandy with another grin. “Now, you’re free. I let you go. Where will you head for?”

He released Jack’s arm, and motioned for his companions to do likewise for the other lads.

Jack looked about him. Clearly there was no place to escape to. Besides, it would never do to go off and leave Will in the hands of the enemy. There was nothing to do but to stay.

“Now, then,” went on Sandy, “you can go to that cabin over there,” and he pointed to a large one. “You’ll find some bunks there, a good fireplace, and some grub. Or you can use your own provisions, just as you like. All I ask is that you give me your word of honor that you’ll not leave without telling me first. It may be that Andy won’t want you detained at all, but I’m taking no chances. Will you promise?”

“Will any harm come to Will?” asked Jack.

“You mean the lad who ran into the shed? I can’t say. I know Andy will be very much put out at his going there, but I don’t believe he’ll harm him. Now, will you give me your parole, or will I have to lock you up?”

Jack hesitated a moment.

“I haven’t any right to speak for my chums,” he said.

“Then take a few minutes to talk with them. We’ll leave you alone for five minutes, and you can give me your answer then.”

Sandy and his men withdrew a short distance, leaving the boys in a group by themselves.

“Well?” questioned Jack. “What shall we do?”

“I don’t see what we can do but give him our promise,” replied Sam. “It will be better to be by ourselves, and comparatively free, than to be locked up somewhere. Besides, we haven’t discovered the secret yet.”

“That’s so,” agreed Nat. “I want to see what’s in that shed.”

“And we may be better able to help Will, by being somewhat free,” added Bony. “I’m for giving our parole.”

“All right,” agreed Jack. “I think, myself, that will be the best plan. I wonder what in the world can be in that shed?”

“And I wonder what’s happening to Will in there?” added Nat. “We must find out, if possible.”

“We’ll give our parole,” called Jack to Sandy, and the red-haired man approached the group of boys alone, having motioned to his companions, on hearing this, that they could resume their occupations.

“That’s good,” answered the red-haired man, apparently much relieved. “Now you can go over there and make yourselves at home. You say you have some grub of your own. Fetch it, and get busy. Nobody will disturb you.”

“And you’ll speak to Andy about us, as soon as you can; won’t you?” asked Nat.

“Sure thing. You’re only in the way here, if you’ll excuse my saying so, and the sooner you’re off, the sooner we can go on with our work.”

The boys went to where they had left the sled, got the packages of food, and, with their guns, which had first been taken from them, and then restored, as they gave their parole, they went to the cabin Sandy indicated.

The red-haired man seemed to pay no further attention to them, but entered another cabin, near the big shed, while none of the other men were now in sight. Jerry Chowden had also disappeared.

“They’ve left us to ourselves,” remarked Jack.

“Yes,” added Sam. “I wonder what their ‘work’ can be?”

“It’s got something to do with that gigantic bird, I’m sure,” said Nat. “Queer, though, it doesn’t make some sound.”

“Maybe it’s dead,” suggested Bony, absently cracking his finger knuckles.

“No, for we saw the wings moving when the doors were open,” said Jack. “They were evidently just going to let it out, when they saw us.”

“But what puzzles me,” went on Nat, “is why Will ran off in that queer fashion.”

“And why they’re keeping him in that shed,” added Bony. “Why don’t they let him come here with us? We’re all in the same boat, as far as coming here is concerned.”

“Maybe they’re going to make an example of him,” suggested Nat.

“An example? What do you mean?” asked Jack.

“Well, you know they’ve got a terrible big bird, or some monster in there. Maybe they’re going to feed Will to it—offer him up as a sort of human sacrifice, you know. Maybe these men worship that strange bird.”

“Say, you’ve been reading too many dime novels,” cried Jack. “Offer Will for a sacrifice! You’re crazy to think of such a thing, Nat!”

“I don’t care. Didn’t the old Aztecs make human sacrifices?”

“Yes, but these men aren’t Aztecs.”

“How do you know?”

“How do I know? Of course they aren’t! They’re Americans, all right.”

“But they’ve got some queer secret in that shed,” declared Nat obstinately.

“True enough,” admitted Jack, “and we’re going to discover what it is, if possible. But now let’s get something to eat. I’m hungry.”

They found a good fireplace in the log cabin, and plenty of dry wood, and soon had a roaring blaze going. They prepared a simple meal, finding a sufficient supply of dishes in the place, and after eating heartily of the food they had brought along, they felt better. It was getting late in the afternoon, and they prepared to spend the night in the hut.

“I wonder if Budge and Long Gun will worry about our not coming back?” asked Sam.

“No,” replied Jack, “for I told Budge I didn’t see how we could return, in case we were successful in getting to the mysterious camp.”

“Well, we got here all right,” remarked Nat, with an uneasy laugh. “The question is, how to get away.”

“And rescue Will,” added Bony.

“Yes,” continued Jack, “I don’t like the way he acted. I’m afraid his brain was affected by the blow on the head, following the fright at coming down on the sled. He isn’t very strong, and it wouldn’t take much to upset him. Besides, he’s been worrying about finding his uncle, and about the mean way his guardian has treated him. I certainly hope nothing has happened to him in that shed, but I can’t understand why that man Andy should keep him there.”

The boys passed rather an uneasy night, not only because of their strange surroundings, but on account of worrying over the fate of Will. Nor were they altogether easy regarding themselves.

“Well, we’re still alive, at any rate,” observed Jack, as he arose the next morning, and helped to get a simple breakfast. “Did any of you fellows hear anything in the night?”

“It seems to me that I heard people sneaking around the cabin,” said Bony.

“Same here,” added Sam.

“Guess they didn’t altogether trust us,” came from Nat. “They looked in on us every once in a while. I wonder how Will slept?”

“Guess we’ll have to wait to have that answered,” remarked Jack. “If I see Sandy I’ll ask him——”

He stopped suddenly, and looked from a window.

“Here comes Will now,” he added.

“And that man Andy is with him!” exclaimed Sam. “Maybe now we’ll solve the mystery.”

CHAPTER XXXIV
THE MYSTERY EXPLAINED

“That’s right. My uncle, whom I ran away from home to seek,” went on Will. “I never expected to find him here.”

“Nor I to see my nephew,” explained Mr. Swaim. “I was never more surprised in my life than when he ran to me in the shed. After he had called me by name, he fainted dead away. He has been unconscious all night, and only a few minutes ago did he come to his senses. I remained at his bedside all the while. As soon as he roused, and felt better, he told me about coming here with you boys, and insisted that I come out to look for you. That was the first I knew you were still in my camp. I hope you haven’t suffered any inconvenience. I saw you as I was about to open the shed doors, but I supposed my men warned you away. I hope you are not angry.”

“Not much,” replied Jack with a smile. “And so Will fainted as soon as he greeted you?”

“Yes. He explained later that he got a blow on the head, and that, together with the thrilling ride down the mountain, on top of the worry he had sustained in searching for me, and other hardships he had undergone, made him go temporarily out of his mind. But he is all right now, he says.”

“Yes, that’s what I am,” said Will. “All my troubles are over, now that I’ve found my uncle. What did you think, when I ran away?”

“We didn’t know what to think,” replied Jack. “Especially when you didn’t come back.”

“This is how it was,” explained Will. “I saw my uncle as soon as he began opening the big doors the second time. Before I knew what I was doing I had run toward him, and when I was near enough I called his name, and told him who I was. He recognized me at once, and——”

“Yes, and I saw that he was about to keel over,” interrupted Mr. Swaim. “I caught him in my arms, carried him inside the shed, and I had my hands full all night with him. I had given orders to my men never to enter that shed except on certain occasions. They did not disobey my instructions to tell me you boys were still here, and, of course, Will could tell me nothing until this morning. Then he insisted that we come out and find you. I called in Stephen——”

“Is that the red-haired man?” asked Jack.

“He is. I called him in, and he explained about you being in this cabin. And now here we are—Will and I, and I can’t thank you enough, Jack Ranger, for what you did for him. He has told me a little about it, and how kind you were to him in school. I shall have a score to settle with that rascally guardian of his. I never suspected Gabel could be so mean. But his charge of my nephew is ended. I will make other provisions for Will. Are you boys all right now? Did you have some breakfast?”

“Oh, yes,” replied Jack. “If we had known that Will’s uncle was in charge of this camp, we wouldn’t have——”

“Now don’t make any apologies,” interrupted Mr. Swaim. “It’s all right. I want you to make yourselves right to home here. My regulations were only intended for men who might try to spy on my work. For I am perfecting a means——”

“Fellows, you’ll never guess what the mystery is,” burst out Will. “Excuse me, Uncle Andy,” he went on, “but let me tell them. You see we’ve puzzled over it so long, and none of us could guess. Jack, Nat, Sam, Bony—what do you think it is that my uncle has in the big shed—the thing that flew over our camp and scared Long Gun so? See if you can guess.”

“A great bird—like the roc of the Arabian Nights,” said Nat.

“No.”

“Some sort of eagle, larger than any ever seen in these parts,” ventured Sam.

“No, that’s as far off as Nat was.”

“A kite, carrying an engine, working a camera, for taking moving pictures at night,” was Bony’s guess.

“No,” said Will. “It’s your turn, Jack.”

Jack thought for a minute. He glanced at the big shed, and then started, as a sudden idea came to him.

“A balloon?” he asked.

“No, but you’re nearest to it. Shall I tell them, Uncle Andy?”

Mr. Swaim nodded.

“It’s a great aeroplane!” exclaimed Will.

“An aeroplane!” exclaimed all the other lads in a breath.

“A new form of aeroplane, with propellers built like the great wings of a bird,” explained Mr. Swaim. “It’s an invention of mine, but is not perfected yet, though it flies fairly well. There are certain parts, on which I have not yet got my patents, and that is why I do not admit any of the men to the shed when the ‘Eagle’ as I call her, is there. But Will got in before I could stop him, though I guess he’ll not try to get ahead of his uncle.”

“No, indeed, Uncle Andy!”

“And did you fly it over our camp?” asked Jack.

“I did, and that was the sound you heard. It makes quite a whirring noise, when the wings are working fast, and the engine has a peculiar throbbing sound. I don’t wonder you and the Indian guide were frightened.”

“Oh, Long Gun was more scared than we were,” explained Nat.

“Probably. You see I only flew it at night, because I did not want any one to see it.”

“And it really works?” asked Bony.

“Yes, but not as well as I would like it to. I have only been able to take up myself and one other man, so far. I want it to carry at least five passengers, but I shall have to alter my engine, or change the shape of the wings, or else increase their size, before it will lift that much. But Stephen and I often flew over the mountain. We used to judge of our position by your camp-fire. At least I suppose, from what Will tells me, that it was your fire.”

“Yes,” said Jack. “We heard you calling to one another one night, and that kept us guessing more than ever.”

“What about those queer marks in the snow?” asked Bony.

Mr. Swaim looked puzzled until Jack explained.

“Oh,” said the inventor, “that was when we had an accident. The Eagle came down unexpectedly, and turned turtle. Neither I nor Stephen was hurt, but we had quite a time righting the machine. The marks you saw must have been the impressions of the wings in the snow.”

“We thought it was a great bird,” explained Nat.

“And I wasn’t so far out, calling it an eagle,” spoke Bony, cracking a couple of finger knuckles, and ending up with both thumbs.

“I have been out here in this secluded place for several months,” went on Mr. Swaim. “That is why I left no address for my nephew’s guardian, as I did not want to be disturbed. I never supposed my nephew would try to find me, and he probably would not have done so, except by accident. But I will soon go back East, for my invention is almost perfected, and I want to give some exhibitions, and try for some government prizes. Would you boys like to see it tried?”

“You bet!” exclaimed Jack fervently, and the others nodded assent.

“We were going to give it a trial when you boys arrived here,” went on Mr. Swaim. “Now that Will is all right, I think I will take the Eagle out for a flight. I was considerably worried,” he continued, “when my men brought me reports of strangers trying to enter the camp, and I gave strict orders to keep them out. That is why my men were rather brusk with you.”

“That’s all right,” answered Jack. “We had no right to come around, but we were very curious.”

“I don’t blame you. Well, I’ll go and get the machine ready for a trial spin.”

“Excuse me for mentioning it,” said Jack, as Mr. Swaim prepared to leave the cabin, “but you have a chap here named Jerry Chowden? My friends and I used to know him.”

“Is that so?” asked Mr. Swaim in some surprise. “I know little about him. He came to me one day, and asked for work, saying he needed money. As I was short of help I took him on, but I am sorry I did so, for my foreman tells me he is not worth his salt, and is lazy in the bargain. He never said anything to me about meeting you. I shall get rid of him, I think. Is he a friend of yours?”

“Well, I guess not!” exclaimed Jack heartily.

“I’m glad of it, for I don’t like his manners. Now I’ll go and see about taking the ship out. Will may remain with you.”

The boys had plenty to talk about now. Their exchange of experiences of the incidents of the last few hours was interrupted by the appearance of the great aeroplane, as the men wheeled it out of the shed.

“Wow! Petrified pancakes!” exclaimed Nat. “That’s a dandy, though!”

Indeed the Eagle, in spite of the fact that Mr. Swaim had said it was not completed, was a fine example of an aeroplane. The boys crowded up close to it, examining the different parts, while Will’s uncle and some of his men got it ready for a flight. As they started the motor, which worked the great wings, Nat said:

“That accounts for the gasolene smell. I guess the mystery is all explained now.”

“It seems so,” spoke Jack.

The aeroplane was taken to the ice-covered pond, over which the sled had slid on the finish of its perilous trip.

“Is that what this is for?” asked Jack.

“Yes,” replied Mr. Swaim. “We cleared the snow off it on purpose to use for our trials. An aeroplane, you know, as at present constructed, has to get a start on the ground, in order to acquire enough momentum to rise. I find it much easier to skim along on the slippery ice, than over the ground. Well, are we all ready, Stephen?”

The red-haired man, who was the chief mechanic, nodded an assent. He and Mr. Swaim got into a seat, adjusted some levers and wheels, and then another man cranked up the motor.

The great propellers, built like the wings of a bird, began to work, with a sound that was exactly like that heard over the camp. The aeroplane slid forward, and after going for some distance over the frozen pond, rose into the air, as Mr. Swaim shifted the elevation rudders.

Up, up, up it went, until it was higher than the mountain down which the boys had slid. Then it began to circle about.

“My! But that’s fine!” exclaimed Jack.

“Jupiter’s Johnnie cake! But it certainly is!” exclaimed Nat fervently.

For half an hour or more Mr. Swaim circled about in the air overhead; then he and Stephen came down, landing on the pond with scarcely a jolt.

“What do you think of it?” asked the inventor proudly.

“It’s great!” exclaimed Jack enthusiastically, and his chums echoed this sentiment.

“Would you like to try a ride in it?” asked Will’s uncle.

“Well—er—not just now,” stammered Jack, and Mr. Swaim laughed.

“No, I wouldn’t want you to risk it, until I have perfected it a little more, though Stephen and I have gone twenty miles in it.”

One of the workmen ran up, and whispered something to Mr. Swaim.

“Is that so?” he asked, in some surprise. “Well, that simplifies matters. I have just been told,” he went on, turning to the boys, “that Jerry Chowden has disappeared. I guess he did not want to meet you lads.”

“I guess not,” said Jack significantly.

The boys spent some time further, examining the aeroplane, and visiting the machine shop, whence came the throbbing of a gasolene engine—the same sound they had heard when on their second visit to the camp.

Jack asked Will’s uncle if on any occasion he and Stephen had not landed near the camp, for Jack had in mind the occasion when the meat was stolen from the tree by the bear.

“Oh, was that your meat?” asked Mr. Swaim with a laugh, when Jack had explained. “We always wondered whom we had robbed. Stephen and I were out for a flight that night, and we had to descend because of an accident to the motor. We came down near the tree where the meat was, and surprised a bear at work getting it. Bruin scrambled down and ran away, and we concluded to take some of the meat, as we were short. Then we started the machine off again, and came here. I hope we didn’t put you to any inconvenience.”

“Oh, no,” replied Jack. “It only puzzled us some, that was all. But have you an arrow in hobnails, on the soles of your boots?”

Mr. Swaim lifted his foot and showed the arrow.

“That explains everything,” remarked Nat.

“Yes, the mystery is ended,” added Jack.

CHAPTER XXXV
JACK MEETS MABEL—CONCLUSION.

“I’d like to go with Jack and his chums,” said Will, “only they’ll be going back East soon, I expect, and they haven’t got an extra horse for me to ride.”

“We can easily manage that,” said Jack. “I’ve got to send word to Tanker Ike to come and get our camp stuff, and he can just as well bring along an extra horse with him. So don’t let that worry you.”

“I’m afraid I’m giving you a lot of trouble,” said Will.

“Not a bit of it. Come, and welcome.”

“If you can manage it, I think it will be the best plan,” said Mr. Swaim. “My camp isn’t much of a place for a boy, but I will soon be coming East, Will, and then I’ll look after you. In the meanwhile take this to use for the spending money that Mr. Gabel wrongfully kept from you,” and he handed his nephew a substantial sum.”sum.

The boys took a last look at the aeroplane, and bidding Mr. Swaim good-by, set off on a long tramp over the mountain for their camp. Fortunately the weather was fine, and they were not hampered by any storm, so they reached their tent late that afternoon.

“Jugitback?” asked Budge, as calmly as if they had been gone only an hour or so, and he pulled out a long string of gum, and began to work it back into his mouth again.

“Yes, we’re here,” said Jack. “Did you and Long Gun get along all right?”

“Sure’syou’reafoothigh.”

“Well, we’ll soon begin packing for home——”

“Home? You mean Pryor’s Gap, I guess,” exclaimed Nat. “You’re not going without seeing Mabel; are you?”

“That’s none of your affair,” retorted Jack, his face reddening under his tan.

“We ought to have one more hunt before we go,” said Sam.

“That’s what,” put in Bony, and Jack agreed.

They spent two days more tramping over the mountains after game. Will killed a fair-sized bear, Nat got a large deer, and Jack bowled over a great ram, that had a fine pair of horns, which our hero declared he was perfectly satisfied with, as they would appropriately fill a certain space on the wall of his room.

“And now,” he said, as they were gathered around the camp fire that night, “I think the outing of our gun club is almost at an end.”

“Got to go to Pryor’s Gap yet!” murmured Nat from the shadows, and the rest of them laughed.

The next day Long Gun started on his horse to take word to Tanker Ike that the boys were ready to come back. He was gone two days, which the lads put in by packing up, and taking little trips, not far from their camp. The third day the Indian returned with the freight wagon, driven by Ike, who also brought along an extra horse for Will.

“Well!” he exclaimed, “you certainly had great luck,” and he looked at the collection of skins and horns. “But it’s about time to go back. There’s a big storm coming, and it’ll be here soon.”

“We must take plenty of water this time, so if a tank springs a leak on the desert we won’t get thirsty,” said Sam.

“We’re not going to cross the desert,” spoke Jack.

“Why not?”

“Because we’re going back by way of Pryor’s Gap,” explained Jack boldly, and he did not heed the shouts of laughter that greeted his announcement. “We promised to call on Mr. Pierce, you know,” he added.

“Oh, yes, Mr. Pierce, with the accent on the Mister,” shouted Nat, and then he dodged behind the wagon to get out of Jack’s reach.

Two days later they were at Pryor’s Gap, and Mr. Pierce was glad to see them. He insisted that they stay several days at his house, to which Jack agreed. But his host did not see much of our hero, for, somehow, there were many sights of interest about the Gap, and no one seemed able to point them out to Jack, save a certain brown-eyed maiden—but there, what’s the use of rubbing it in?

“Well, I hope you lads will come camping out here again, soon,” said Mr. Pierce, as the members of the gun club prepared to take their leave.

“I hope we can,” said Jack. “We have enjoyed the hospitality of you and your daughter very much.”

“Especially the daughter,” put in Nat, in a voice intended only for Jack’s ear. “You old duffer, you monopolized her.”

“Humph!” exclaimed Jack. “Who had a better right?”

“Good-by, boys!” called Mr. Pierce.

“Good-by,” chorused the members of Jack Ranger’s gun club.

“Good-by,” spoke Mabel, with a blush, but she only looked at Jack. “Come again.”

“We will,” said our hero decidedly, as he held her hand at parting a little longer than perhaps was strictly necessary. But, as we asked before, what’s the use of rubbing it in?

“We certainly had a great time,” observed Will, as they started off from Pryor’s Gap.

“The best ever,” agreed the others.

“I wonder what we’ll do next year,” spoke Sam.

But what they did will be told in the next volume of this series, to be entitled “Jack Ranger’s Treasure Box; or, The Outing of the Schoolboy Yachtsmen.” In that story we shall meet all our old friends again and learn the particulars of a most unusual mystery, and how it was solved.

A few days later the boys were in a train that was swiftly taking them back East, and to Washington Hall, which institution, as Jack learned in a letter from his father, that was waiting for him at Denver, had been repaired, and was ready for the students.

“Oh, dear, to think of going back to studies again,” sighed Nat, as he thought of the fun they had had.

“Never mind, we’ll have some sport yet,” consoled Jack. “Professors Socrat and Garlach are still available.”

“Yes, and think of the experience we have had,” said Will.

“Oh, well, we always have some sort of queer experience when we go out with Jack Ranger,” added Nat. “All out for Pryor’s Gap,” he shouted, as the train pulled into a station. Then he ducked down behind a seat to escape a wad of paper that Jack threw at him.

THE END