Fenton raised his fist as if to strike the speaker, but Cameron caught his arm.

"Not now," he said. "Wait until all other plans have been tried."

"We have other work to do at this time, anyway," Fenton said, with a scowl, "so we'll just lock the door on these young gutter-snipes and leave them to think the matter over!"

The men passed out of the small cavern, but before they left the outer one, they rolled a great stone into the opening they had just passed through and blocked it firmly on the outer side.



CHAPTER XVII

THE MORSE CODE

"And this," said Sandy, as the great stone began to render the atmosphere of the place close and unpleasant, "is what I call a fine little Boy Scout excursion! Did they leave one of the searchlights?"

"Not intentionally," replied George, "but I swiped one!"

"Well, we mustn't show a light until they get some distance away!" advised Sandy. "We don't want them to know that we have it."

"And we'll need it badly," George suggested, "if we're to give Bert any attention! I wonder if the poor boy has had any care since he's been here! It doesn't seem to me that they would be heartless enough to leave him here in an unconscious condition very long!"

"You can never tell what such fellows'll do," Sandy observed.

The boys remained silent for a long time, each one busy with his own thoughts. After what seemed an aeon, they saw that it was daylight outside. Then they turned on their electric and made an examination of their wounded chum.

They found that the bandage on his head had been changed, and that his pulse was not so high as when he had been discovered in an unconscious condition at the cabin.

"I guess they've done the best they could," Sandy observed, "and I'm much obliged to them for that! Have you got anything to eat?"

"Now, look here, Sandy," George replied whimsically, "have you any idea that I'd ever go away with you without taking something to eat? You got up from the table one minute and demand something to masticate the next! You're about the most regular boy at your meals I over knew. What'll you have now, pie or cake?"

"Pie!" laughed Sandy.

"Well, you get a bear sandwich!" replied George. "I've got four great big thick ones wrapped up in paper and stowed away in my pockets. If those ginks had suspected anything of the kind, they would have taken them away from me. They're a bum lot, those men!"

"Produce one of the sandwiches!" demanded Sandy. "They named me Sandy at first because I'm such a hand for sandwiches!"

George brought forth two great slices of bread and about a pound of fried bear meat. Sandy's eyes sparkled at the sight.

"We'll have one apiece now," George suggested, "and one apiece tonight. But every time they come near the cave, we'll tell them how hungry we are. That will make them think we're suffering."

"You don't think we're going to stay here till night, do you?" demanded Sandy munching away at his meat.

"I hope not," answered George.

"I wonder if Bert's had anything to eat since he got the wallop on the coco?" asked Sandy. "Suppose we mince some of this meat up very fine and feed it to him. He may not know when he swallows it, but it will give him strength just the same."

The suggested plan was followed, and Bert was given quite a quantity of the tender meat. At first it was necessary to pass it down his throat with draughts of water, but later, much to the surprise and joy of the boys, he began, to swallow naturally.

"He's coming back to life!" shouted Sandy. "A boy's all right as soon as he begins to eat! Sprinkle some water in his face and we'll see what effect that has."

The boys were so pleased that they almost cheered with delight when at length Bert opened his eyes and looked about.

"Time to get up?" he asked.

"Naw," replied Sandy. "Go to sleep again!"

"That you, Sandy?" asked Bert.

"That's Sandy all right!" replied the boy.

"Why don't you open a door or window and let in some air?" asked Bert.

"Aw, go to sleep!" advised Sandy.

"Nice old dive you've got here!" Bert went on. "Here I've walked about nineteen thousand miles to find a boy named Sandy and a boy named Will, and a boy named Tommy, and a boy named George, and when I find them they shut me up in a rotten old morgue."

"How'd you come to ask for Sandy?" demanded the boy.

"The name struck me as being funny!" was the reply. "Where are the others? Are you here alone?"

"George is over there on the floor," replied Sandy. "Ring off, now, and go to sleep! You're in no shape to talk."

"I remember something about getting a dip on the head," Bert said in a moment, evidently after long cogitation. "What was there about it?"

"You got it!" replied Sandy. "Go to sleep!"

"If you'll give me some more of that meat, I'll go to sleep!"

George pushed forward about half of one of the sandwiches and the boy began eating it greedily. In a moment, however, his arm dropped to his side and he appeared to be unconscious again.

"He's too weak to go at the grub like that," George advised, turning on the light. "We'll have to be careful!"

But Bert was not unconscious again. He was only sleeping.

"I'd like to know what brought him out of that trance," remarked George as the boys sat regarding the youngster with inquiring eyes.

"I don't know any more about it than you do," answered Sandy, "but, if you'll leave it to me, setting the stomach to work put the blood in circulation, and that swept the cobwebs out of his brain."

"Sounds all right, but I don't believe it!" replied George.

The day passed slowly. Bert slept continuously until George's watch told him that it was nearly four o'clock in the afternoon. Then he opened his eyes for a few moments, finished the rest of the sandwich and went to sleep again.

"Weak as a cat!" exclaimed Sandy.

The boy had scarcely closed his eyes when Cameron's voice was heard at the entrance.

"Are you boys ready to write that note?" he asked.

"Come in here a minute," requested Sandy. "I want to get a good poke at that ugly mug of yours!"

"You won't feel quite so lively after going hungry for a day or two," sneered Cameron. "You needn't mind about the letter, anyway," he added. "I have information that there's a boy coming in from Cordova who can read the code despatch and we're laying for him now."

"I don't want to seem to be irreligious," Sandy replied, "but I beg leave to state that if I owed the devil a debt of a thousand of the greatest liars on earth and he wouldn't take you and call the debt square, I'd cheat him out of it! Your fabrications are too cheap!"

"Don't get fresh now," advised Cameron. "If you do, I'll come in there and take it out of your hide!"

"Come on in!" urged Sandy. "I'd just like to get a good crack at your crust! I think I could fix you up in about five minutes so you'd want to lie in bed for about five months!"

"Aw, what's the good of stirring him up!" whispered George.

"I want to get him so mad that he'll say something that he wouldn't say if he wasn't angry!" replied Sandy. "What's your idea about this boy coming in, anyway? Do you believe it?"

"No!" was the reply. "There isn't any one to come in. And even if there was, there is no way in which he could be notified that he was coming! So you see, he's just lying for the fun of it!"

"Well, I'm sorry, boys," Cameron observed, "that you won't take advantage of the offer I'm making you. I brought a basket of provisions with me, and you might be having a square meal in five minutes if you'd only do what I ask you to do."

"I thought you didn't want the letter now!" scoffed Sandy.

"Oh, I'll get it all right whether you write it or not!" answered Cameron. "But if you have anything to say to me, you'd better say it now, because you won't see me again until tomorrow morning. I've just come from the cabin, and the boys there are about wild over your disappearance. I explained that I found your hats not far from a piece of torn and bloody turf, and that seemed to make them feel worse than ever."

"Oh, they're on to you all right!" replied Sandy. "You can't make anything stick with them. They know that you're the outlaw who stole Bert, and they know that you haven't any more right to the cabin than they have. You'll go sticking your nose around that domicile some time and get it knocked off! It's a two to one bet right now that they know that you've caught George and I in some kind of a trap."

"Let him alone," advised George. "What's the use of starting anything? He can make us trouble if he wants to!"

"Run along now," continued Sandy. "We were having a quiet little snooze when you butted in. It's all right this time, but don't you ever do it again. Here's hoping you remain away until morning!"

Cameron was heard to pass through the outer caverns and all was still, about the place. Notwithstanding the assumed lightheartedness of the boys, they realized that they were in a serious situation.

"I'm going to dig this stone out!" declared Sandy shortly after the departure of the miner. "I believe we can move this beautiful door if we go at it right. Come on and help me push."

The boys pushed with all their might, but the stone was firmly blocked on the outside, and could not be moved.

"It's after five o'clock," George said looking at his watch, "and if we do anything tonight, we'll have to do it right away. What time did Tommy say he would be back with the doctor?"

"There was some talk about his being back early in the evening," replied Sandy. "And that gives me an idea!" the boy continued.

"Pass it out!" said George.

"First," Sandy said, hesitatingly, "let me ask a question. Do you know how the boys are going to get in from the coast? What I mean is, have you any idea which way they will take on leaving Katalla?"

"That's all a guess," replied George.

"They may come this way, though," suggested Sandy.

"Yes, if they keep straight to the north until they strike the valley of this little creek and then turn east to the cabin, they'll be apt to pass this way."

"Here's hoping they do," Sandy said fervently.

"I don't see how that will help," George complained. "We're shut up in a hole, and might yell for a thousand years without being heard."

"Just you wait a minute," Sandy advised. "Let me see that searchlight of yours. Have you the red and blue caps with you?"

"They're right at the end," replied George. "Just unscrew that cover and take them out. I thought you knew where to find everything connected with an electric searchlight!"

Sandy unscrewed the false cover at the end of the battery case and brought forth two celluloid caps; one blue, and one red.

"It's been so long since we've used these Boy Scout signals," he add, "that I've almost forgotten which color we use for the dash and which for the dot when we signal in the Morse code."

"The red is the dash," explained. George. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to hoist a signal of distress," laughed Sandy.

"Expect it to show through the rocks?"

"I guess it'll show out of any opening we can look out of!" exclaimed Sandy. "I'm going to put on the red cap and set the light where it'll shine through the two outer caverns. If any of the boys come within sight of it, they'll understand the scrape we're in."

"Great head!" exclaimed George. "The boys will be coming back from Katalla before long, and Will and Ed will naturally be searching for us, so we're pretty sure to have the signal seen and answered before morning!"

"That's our only hope!" replied Sandy. "Unless our Boy Scout signal brings one party or the other, we're likely to starve to death in this rotten old cavern. Let's see how it works," the boy went on, screwing the red celluloid cap firmly over the eye of the electric.

After seeing that everything was in order, he switched to the blue cap. In both cases the light worked perfectly.

"There you are!" he said with a chuckle. "If one of the boys sees the red light, he'll read it for a Morse dash and if he sees the blue light, he'll read it for a Morse dot!"



CHAPTER XVIII

THE ROCKS TUMBLE DOWN

After the departure of George and Sandy from the cabin, Will and Ed decided that the best thing they could do would be to go to bed. They had been without sleep for many hours, and were thoroughly exhausted.

"I am anxious to know what success George and Sandy have in chasing Cameron," Will said, as he disrobed in the dark and tumbled into his bunk, "but I don't see how we can help matters any by sitting up."

No answer came from the bunk occupied by Ed save a prolonged snore, and Will knew that his companion was already in the land of dreams.

When Will awoke it was broad daylight and the sun was high in the heavens. Looking at his watch, he was surprised to see that it was after twelve o'clock. In a moment, he heard Ed stirring in his bunk, and then the boy sat up, rubbing a pair of sleepy eyes.

"That was a corker!" Will exclaimed.

"Have any of the boys returned?" asked Ed.

"Oh, they're back before this, of course," Will answered. "They've probably gone outside in order to give us a chance to sleep!"

"I don't see any indications of their presence," Ed said. "Everything looks exactly as it did when we went to bed last night."

Will, after arranging his head net, and drawing on a pair of gloves, opened the door and cast an anxious glance over the landscape.

"They haven't been out here!" he said. "What do you think it means?"

"It means that they're giving that fat miner along chase!" answered Ed.

"I'm afraid they're in some trouble," replied Will apprehensively.

"Suppose I look for them while you get breakfast," suggested Ed.

"Good idea," replied Will "I'll get pancakes and coffee and eggs for breakfast and then, after we eat, we'll both go out and look for the boys. I'm afraid they've been led into a trap!"

"How about leaving the cabin alone?" asked Ed.

"The cabin can go hang!" answered Will.

Ed returned in half an hour and reported that no trace of the lost lads had been discovered. The boys then ate breakfast and started away.

"Which way did they go?" asked Ed.

"Sandy said they were headed to the west."

"Then to the west we go," Ed exclaimed, darting forward in advance.

The boys searched patiently until five o'clock without discovering any trace of the missing lads. Then, they returned to the cabin and prepared supper. As they came within sight of the cabin they saw a stout figure dodging away into the grove of trees to the east.

"That's that sneak of a Cameron," Will said. "If he keeps shoving his ugly nose into our business, I'll ornament it with lead!"

After supper the boys loaded their pockets with sandwiches and a bottle of cold coffee and set forth again.

"I don't think we went far enough to the west," Will said, as they made their way over the moraine. "You remember the line of hills across the little creek? Well, I have an idea that if the boys have been captured they have been taken there."

"And if Bert has been hidden away anywhere in this vicinity," Ed answered, "he is there, too! In fact," the boy added, "it is my belief that if the miner is responsible for the disappearance of George and Sandy the three boys will be found together somewhere!"

"You are probably right!" Will agreed. "The miner and his gang wouldn't care about watching two separate points."

"I don't think they'd be apt to murder the boys, do you?" asked Ed.

"No, I don't think they would," Will replied. "Outlaws of the Cameron stamp resort to all sorts of tricks and crimes, but they usually fight shy of murder. I'm afraid, however, that the boys will be starved or beaten up."

It was seven o'clock when the boys finally came to the south bank of the rivulet, in the vicinity of the place where Sandy had encountered the bear. The sun was now well in the west and the south side of the line of cliffs lay in heavy shadows.

"If there's any deviltry going on," Will said, pointing to the summits above, "it's right over there under those peaks!"

"I guess there's plenty of room under the peaks for mischief to be plotted," Ed suggested, "I can see pigeon holes all along the cliff."

"Caves, do you mean?" asked Will.

"Sure," was the reply. "Those cliffs are of volcanic formation, and some of the strata are softer than others, and the water has cut into the heart of the range in many places."

"One would naturally suppose that such openings would be filled with ice in Alaska," Will suggested.

"They may be filled with ice in the winter," answered Ed, "but in the summer time they are hiding places for bears and crooked miners."

The boys advanced to the edge of the stream and Will swept his field glass along the distant slope.

Presently he handed the glass to Ed.

"Tell me what you see," he said.

"I see something that looks like the eye of a wild animal looking out over the valley!" answered the boy. "What can it be?"

"My first idea was that some one had built a fire in a cave," Will answered, "but the more I look at it, the more I suspect that the light comes from an electric."

"Then that must be the boys!" exclaimed Ed excitedly.

"But why don't they come on out?" asked Will, anxiously.

"Perhaps they have found Bert and don't want to leave him!" suggested Ed.

While the boys watched the red light, which seemed to glimmer from the very extremity of the cavern, it turned to blue!

"Now I've got it," cried Will almost dancing up and down in his excitement, "you know what that means, don't you?"

"I can't say that I do!" replied Ed.

"It seems to me that the Portland Boy Scouts are not very well posted," laughed Will. "One of the boys—which one, I don't know, of course—is talking to us in the Morse code!"

"Still I don't understand," said Ed.

"The red light means a dash," Will explained, "and the blue light means the dot. Now we'll see if we can catch what the boy is saying."

"But where does he get the red and blue lights?" asked Ed.

"From red and blue caps screwed over the electric searchlight," was the reply. "All of our electrics are provided with these signal caps."

"There, the light is red again!" cried Ed.

"I'll show how it works," Will said, bringing out his own flashlight and unscrewing the false cover from the loading end.

Directly he had the blue and red caps out, and then the red one was fastened over the eye of the searchlight.

"There, you see!" Will exclaimed turning on the light. "We've got a beautiful red light and that means a Morse dash."

"I see," answered Ed. "And when you turn on the blue, that means a dot. I learned the Morse code, of course, when I was admitted to the Boy Scouts, but I never knew that it was used in that way."

"I wonder if he sees this?" asked Will as he swung the red light back and forth in the growing twilight.

"We'll have to wait and see," replied Ed. "Of course, he'll answer if he knows we're here!"

Swiftly the light changed from red to blue and from blue back to red again. This took place several times and then Will said:

"Now, count!"

"Red," said Ed. "Red again. Red again."

"That's 'O'," exclaimed Will. "I guess we've got him at last!"

"Now there's another red," Ed went on. "Now there's a blue. Then one more red. Oh, this seems to be easy!"

"That's 'K'!" cried Will. "O. K., don't you see? O. K. That means that he knows we're here!"

"Glory be!" shouted Ed. "The boys are all right or they wouldn't be signalling. I hope they've found Bert!"

Will signalled back "O. K.," and then the lads turned back up the rivulet, the idea being to cross over to the north side.

"I want to find out why the boys don't show themselves instead of signalling," Will explained. "There must be some good reason."

After a walk of half a mile upstream the boys found it possible to cross without wading, and then they turned down toward the mouth of the cavern where the lights had been seen.

As they did so, two figures detached themselves from a group of trees which stood not far to the east and followed stealthily along behind them.

If the lads could have heard the conversation carried on at that time between Cameron and Fenton, they would have proceeded on their way with less confidence.

"Just what we've been looking for!" chuckled Cameron.

"We surely have them trapped now!" replied Fenton.

"They'll naturally step into the outer cavern to see why their chums don't walk out, and when they do so, we'll hold them up with our guns until we can build up a barrier which will keep them in."

"One of the boys certainly must understand the code we are so anxious about," Fenton observed. "That's the kid we want. We've certainly got to find out what that message contains! If the people in the east are trying to steal our plans, we certainly ought to know it!"

The boys, however, heard nothing of this talk and passed on down the north side of the creek. As soon as they came opposite the cavern, in sight of the light once more, they stopped and began signalling.

As they did so, Cameron and Fenton came nearer and waited anxiously for the lads to enter the cavern.

"I'd like to know what all that signalling means!" said Cameron.

"Boy Scout signals," replied Fenton.

"You can't read them, can you?" asked the miner.

"Of course not," replied Fenton, "I'm no Boy Scout!"

The boys continued to signal back and forth until the situation was fairly well understood. Will and Ed knew that Bert had been found and that all three were barricaded in the cave.

They were disposed to make their way to the rescue of the boys without further delay, but George advised them to wait until it became darker, as Cameron might return at almost any moment. The news that Bert had regained consciousness was very welcome and, confident of their ability to thwart the plans of the miner, the boys looked forward to quiet hours in the cabin.

Of course the boys had no suspicion that their enemies were close at hand watching every movement. Cameron and Fenton became impatient, after a time, and began advancing slowly toward the boys, who were now not very far from the mouth of the outer cavern.

Something better than an hour passed, and then George signalled from the interior of the cavern that it might be well for the boys to come up and begin the work of removing the rocks which barred their egress.

"Sneak In," George signalled. "Don't show yourself more than you have to. Cameron may be about! It may be that he has seen our signals already!"

Sandy replied that he had not discovered any indications of the presence of the miner, and the two boys advanced to the shelf of rock which faced the opening. It was nine o'clock then.

"What's that strange noise?" asked Will as they moved along the shelf.

"You've got me!" replied Ed, "The ground's tipping!"

There came a deafening crash and the whole face of the cliff fell away! When Will and Ed regained their feet and looked through the dust which was rising over the scene, they saw that there was no longer any cavern in view. The rock on which they stood was sliding down the slope.

"Buried alive!" cried Will with a sob, "Buried alive!"



CHAPTER XIX

VICTIMS OF THE QUAKE

The broad rock upon which the boys stood slid down the declivity for some distance and brought up against a thicket of trees which stood not far from the bank of the creek. The boys were fairly thrown from their feet as the rock struck, but fortunately they were not injured in the least. It was quite dark now, and the dust rising from the disturbed earth made the scene still more dim.

The first thing the boys heard when they scrambled to their feet was a faint moan and then a call for help.

"Sandy! George!" called Will.

There was no answer from above, but a faltering voice was heard just at the edge of the thicket, where the rock had crushed into a hemlock of unusual size.

"Help," the voice said. "Help!"

Will threw his searchlight in the direction of the sound and soon saw a writhing figure in the underbrush which had been crushed down by the fall of the rock.

"Who are you?" asked Will.

"Fenton," was the answer.

"Where'd you come from?" asked the boy in amazement.

"For God's sake," exclaimed the writhing man, "don't stop to ask questions now. My leg is smashed under the rock upon which you are standing! It is enough to say that I came here with Cameron!"

"Where is Cameron?" asked Will. Fenton pointed further down the slope.

"He fell over in that direction when a rock struck him," he said.

Will and George made a thorough examination of the slope where the cavern had been before wasting any time on their injured enemies.

They called loudly to George and Sandy but received no answer.

"I'm afraid," Ed said, "that the boys were crushed under the falling rocks! If they were, we ought to leave the men responsible for their death where they are! They are not deserving of human help!"

"And yet," Will replied, "I can't find it in my heart to leave them in such a plight. We ought at least to see if we can get them out of their present cramped quarters."

After much exertion the boys managed to manufacture something like a handspike from one of the broken saplings, and with this they began prying at the heavy rock. It gave, but slowly.

While they worked away, hoping every instant to be able to draw Fenton from under the stone and so lessen his sufferings, they saw the hand of the man they were so unselfishly assisting stealing toward his hip pocket.

"Watch him!" whispered Will. "He means to shoot us as soon as he is released! That shows what kind of a dirty dog he is!"

As the rock was lifted by slow degrees and propped so that its weight was not so heavy upon the unfortunate man the boys saw that his hand was creeping closer to his hip pocket.

When at last the weight was removed, Fenton's first act was to attempt to draw his weapon. Ed kicked it from his hand and then proceeded to tie the fellow's wrists together behind his back.

"You're a dirty sneak," the boy exclaimed, "or you wouldn't try to kill the people who have saved your life! From this time on, you get no assistance from us!"

"I didn't mean anything!" whined Fenton.

"Don't lie about it!" fritted Will. "Where's Cameron?"

"You'll find him lower down!" was the reply.

"I hope he's broken his neck!" Ed cut in.

But Cameron had not broken his neck. Instead, he had broken an arm, and one foot had been badly bruised by a falling stone. He was unconscious when the boys lifted him and laid him in an easier position.

The two men were at once searched for weapons and left for the time being to take care of themselves. There was no fear of their escaping, for one of Fenton's legs had sustained a compound fracture and Cameron's foot was badly injured.

"What next?" asked Will as the two boys stood facing the spot where they believed George, Sandy and Bert to be buried under many tons of rock. "It seems as if we ought to do something for the boys!"

"I'm afraid it's too late!" replied Ed, dejectedly.

"We never can dig under those rocks without help," commented Will, "therefore, I think we'd better be on the watch for Tommy and Frank and the surgeon. They surely ought to be somewhere near the cottage by this time, if not already in it."

"If they've had such blooming bad luck as we have," Ed observed, "they're probably in jail somewhere! I don't think I ever saw anything in a worse mess! The very Old Nick seems to be after us!"

"This," Will observed with a grave smile, "is what we call a quiet little Boy Scout excursion! We have visited the Pictured Socks, the Everglades, the Great Continental Divide, the Hudson Bay country and got trapped in an anthracite mine in Pennsylvania since we started out on our quests for adventure."

"You seem to have found adventure all right!" smiled Ed.

"You bet we have!" replied Will.

The boys made still another inspection of the spot where the cliff had fallen, and thought that they heard a faint call from the inside.

"They are there!" cried Will. "I'm sure they're there, and alive!"

"But they can't live there very long!" suggested Ed. "So we'd better be doing something to get them, out!"

"The first thing to do," Will stated, "is to signal to the other fellows. I'm sure Tommy and Frank must be in with the surgeon before this!"

"There'll be plenty of work for the surgeon, I imagine," Ed added.

"I'm afraid so," Will admitted.

"But how are you going to signal to the cabin?" asked Ed.

"Indian smoke signals!" was the reply.

Almost before the words were out of Will's mouth, Ed was gathering both dry and green branches from the thicket.

"If the boys are at the cabin, or even on their way there," Will continued, "they'll be sure to see the signal, for the night is not so very dark now, and the land where we are is considerably higher than the moraine upon which the cabin is built. We'll have to get a blazing fire of dry wood and then pile on green branches."

"That ought to make a smudge visible ten miles off!" said Ed.

"Not quite so far as that!" smiled Will, "but it's a sure thing the signals ought to be seen as far as the cabin."

"Perhaps this earthquake shook the cabin down," suggested Ed. "I heard a racket over to the south which seemed to indicate that the moraine was being crumpled up like a piece of leather in a blaze."

"It seems to me," Will agreed, "that the earthquake did change the map of Alaska in some particulars. Now, if you've got enough dry wood, we'll start the fire and in five minutes we'll be ready for the green boughs!"

Two roaring fires were soon going on the mountainside, and then both Cameron and Fenton pleaded to be assisted nearer to the circle of warmth. They were both shivering with the cold.

"We ought to give you a swift toss into the blaze!" exclaimed Will. "And we may do it, too," he went on, "if we find that our chums have been brought to their death by your abducting them!"

"We had nothing to do with their being in the cave!" lied Cameron.

"What were you doing in the edge of the thicket?" asked Ed.

"We were watching you and your friends," was the reply. "We thought that you were in quest of our mine!"

"Did you see those red and blue lights?" asked Will.

"Certainly we did," replied Cameron.

"Well, they told the story of what has taken place since the boys left the cabin to follow your footsteps last night, so you may as well save your breath. Lies won't help you any!"

However, the lads managed to bring the two men closer to the fire and then set about piling on more green boughs.

"Now," Will said, as he stood regarding the two columns of smoke with no little satisfaction, "if our friends are within five miles of us, they ought to understand that we are in need of a little friendly assistance."

Time and again the two boys went back to the place where the cavern had been and listened patiently for some further indication that their friends were still alive. Several times they heard the rumbling of a voice but they could not distinguish the words of it.

Finally Will went back to where Cameron lay on the ground by the fire and asked abruptly:

"Is your name Garman, Cameron or Brooks?"

The fellow gave a quick start of surprise but made no answer.

"Is this man Fenton the clerk who stole the machine drawings?" was the next question. "Where are the plans now?"

"I don't know anything about any plans!" declared Cameron.

"What do you fellows expect to do with the plans?" asked Will.

"We haven't got them!" was the surly reply.

"Don't lie about it!" Will advised. "We know that the plans were sent to Fenton's employer and that Fenton stole them."

"How do the plans concern you?" demanded Cameron.

"We don't want the plans because they are alleged to represent a valuable invention," Will replied. "We want them because they are needed in the criminal court of Chicago."

"I suppose you boys planned this costly and dangerous expedition for the purpose of seeing how the plans look!" sneered Fenton.

"That's about the size of it!" replied Will.

"Well, we don't know anything about the plans!" declared Cameron, "and we wouldn't give you any information on the subject if we did!"

"All right," Will replied. "We can tie you up out here and the mosquitos will do the rest!"

Before Will could ask the question which was on his lips, three quick pistol shots came from the south.

"There!" the boy said excitedly, "the signals have brought a response!"

"Friend or foe?" asked Ed.

"That's more than I know!" Will replied.



CHAPTER XX

DOWN IN THE CHASM

When Tommy, Frank, Sam and the doctor started toward the bottom of the chasm in order that they might reach the spot from which the smoke signal was ascending on the other side, they anticipated rough going, but the actuality was much worse than anything which had been expected.

The soil extended only six or eight feet. Passing this they came to a point where the solid glacier had been opened by the earthquake.

The break was uneven, there being little shelves and ledges upon which the feet might rest, but the going was uncertain for all that.

The roaring of the fast-lifting torrent prevented conversation, and the darkness made signalling impossible except when the searchlights were held in position.

It was very cold at the bottom of the break, too, and the boys felt their hands growing numb.

However, they proceeded with good speed until they came to a point where the current had swept the tree trunks far apart and parallel with each other. Here it became necessary for them to take the chance of a long jump. When it came Sam's turn to make the leap, the log upon which he struck rolled under his weight and he went down under the wreckage and rush of water.

Frank and Tommy sprang to his assistance at once, reaching down in the hope of getting hold of his hand, but the swift current carried the boy along until he was beyond their reach.

They saw his head come to the surface and saw him strike out for the floating logs on the north side of the chasm.

Then the bushy top of a tree drifted down upon him and he went under.

The boys stood for a moment as if paralyzed at what had taken place, and then Tommy sprang into the mass of floating boughs and, clinging to one which sustained his weight, called out to Frank to turn his searchlight on the place where he stood.

Frank did as requested, but it showed only a half-frozen and dripping boy clinging to the boughs of a tree which was already beginning to drop down beneath his weight.

The lads had about abandoned all hope of rescue when Sam's head once more appeared above the surface. He was within a short distance of Tommy and the boy, dropping his searchlight, sprang toward him.

He succeeded in getting hold of the boy's arm.

Then Frank, appreciating the situation, dropped in and, while retaining hold of a reasonably firm log on the west side of the chasm, caught the rescuer by the hand. Doctor Pelton, who had been creeping nearer to the point of danger, now seized Frank by the arm and slowly and with great effort the human chain drew the half-drowned boy to the little platform of logs and brush upon which the doctor stood.

Sam lay there for a moment panting and shivering, and then sprang to his feet. The north wall was still to climb.

The slope here was more gradual and all four soon found themselves at the top of the chasm, wet and cold, but on the side where the Boy Scout signal had shown.

"We ought to tell the boys we are coming, hadn't we?" asked Tommy.

He drew his automatic from his pocket as he spoke and pressed the trigger, but there was no explosion.

"Try mine!" advised Doctor Pelton. "I guess I'm the only person who didn't get wet."

As he spoke the doctor fired three quick shots.

"I wonder if they'll answer?" asked Tommy.

"They will if they can," replied Sam. "I don't know your chums, of course, but when a Boy Scout sends up a signal for help and shots are fired, it is only good manners to acknowledge the courtesy."

No answering shots came for a moment, however, for Will and Ed were at that moment some distance away from the place where their automatics had been thrown after having been taken from Cameron and Fenton.

The shots came before long, however, and the party of wet and shivering boys pressed on.

"I'd like to know what the boys are doing so far away from the cabin," Tommy grumbled. "They ought to have sense enough to stay put!"

The party was met just beyond the illumination of the fire by Will and Ed, who greeted their chums with such cordiality that a rather perilous situation was at once suspected.

"What are you boys doing out here in the scenery, anyhow?" demanded Tommy. "You ought to be at home in the cabin with a hot supper ready for us! You always go wrong when I go away!" he added with a grin.

"There's no time to tell long stories now," Will hastened to say. "The thing we've got to do is to pry open that mountain and dig George, Sandy and Bert out."

"Are they dead?" asked Tommy, turning very white.

"There's some one alive in there," replied Will. "We hear something which sounds like the human voice but we can't distinguish any words."

"Earthquake?" asked Tommy.

"Earthquake!" replied Will.

"But how——"

Will cut Frank off with a gesture and pointed to the cliff.

"We've got to get to work!" he said.

Just then a low groan reached the ears of the members of the group and Doctor Pelton sprang toward the place where Cameron and Fenton lay.

Tommy dashed after him and looked down on the two men.

"Where did you get 'em?" he asked.

"We didn't get 'em," was the reply. "The earthquake got 'em."

"Then I'll bet they were trying to do something to Bert!" Tommy declared.

"Right, little man!" replied Will. "But we haven't got time to talk about it now. This, I suppose," he added, turning to the surgeon, "is the doctor you brought from Cordova?"

"That's Doctor Pelton," Tommy answered, "and this," he continued, pointing to Sam, "is Sam White, Bulldog Patrol, Portland, Oregon. He isn't as hungry as he looks to be, for we fed him up good and proper on the way out!"

During this brief introduction, Sam and Ed had been eyeing each other with half concealed grins.

"You boys seem to know each other," Tommy said.

"That's my chum," Sam replied, pointing to Ed. "I saw fit to seek my fortunes in town while he made a break for the mines."

The boys greeted each other warmly and then all turned their attention to that portion of the cliff where the caverns had once stood.

"They're still alive," Frank exclaimed as he reached a little fissure in the rock and bent downward. "I can hear some one talking!"

"Did you say that George and Sandy and Bert were all in there?" asked Tommy, turning to Will. "How did they get in there?"

"They were all in there just before the earthquake," replied Will. "I can't stop now to tell you how it all happened. They were signalling to us when the shock came."

"Signalling, how?" asked Tommy.

"Morse code, red and blue lights!" replied Will. "It's all the work of the miner and his bum friend," Will continued. "The boys were barricaded in the cave when the earthquake stirred things up, and the same convulsion which wrecked the cave injured the two men who were responsible for the condition the boys were in. Now you know all about it that I'm going to tell you until we get the lads out and get back to the cabin!"

"They're not dead, anyway," Frank exclaimed "I can hear Sandy's voice!"



CHAPTER XXI

EXPLAINING CORDOVA INCIDENTS

"I've found the door to the hole in the ground!" shouted Tommy, a few moments later, as he sent a great rock rolling down the slope.

The boys rushed to the opening so made and were overjoyed at seeing a light in the cavity thus exposed.

"Your door isn't big enough!" laughed Frank. "A good-sized cat couldn't get through there!"

"What are you boys talking about?" came a voice from the inside.

"Another one of those foolish questions!" laughed Tommy. "We're not talking at all, little man!" he continued. "We're getting our shoes shined! What are you doing in there?"

"We're not in here at all!" replied Sandy. "We're up on the Masonic Temple, watching a Columbia Yacht Club regatta!"

"Aw, cut it out!" advised Will. "Are you boys all safe?"

"Sure we're all safe!" answered Sandy, "George has a grouch because he hasn't anything to eat here, but the rest of us are all right!"

"Where's Bert?" asked Frank.

"In here!" was the answer.

"We brought a surgeon for him," Frank went on.

"He doesn't need a surgeon now!" replied George. "What he needs more than anything else is a cook!"

"We'll give him two cooks!" shouted Tommy.

"Why don't you hurry up and get us out?" demanded Bert, in a weak voice.

"If you remain in there a few weeks," Tommy laughed, "perhaps you'll get so thin you can crawl out of this crack!"

"Well, get to digging!" replied George.

"And for the love of Mike," exclaimed Sandy, "when you get to digging, don't drop any rocks on top of us! We have a little hole here now about four feet square!"

After making a study of the situation and advising with Doctor Pelton as to the proper course to pursue, the boys began prying at a large rock which lay almost on top of the shelf upon which the boys had ridden to the thicket. The rock moved, but grudgingly.

"If you can move that rock," the doctor said, "I think the one just above it will slide down and leave an opening large enough for the boys to pass out of. It ought not to be much trouble to move it!"

Notwithstanding the doctor's predictions, the boys worked at the rock with their home-made handspikes for an hour before it broke loose and rattled down upon the shelf just above the fire.

"Come out of that now," cried Tommy stooping down and looking into the cavern. "Come on out, now!"

Sandy was not long in obeying instructions. George came next and then the two lads turned about and lifted Bert out of his cramped position.

"That pigeon hole we've been occupying is about four inches square!" Sandy declared. "And I'm just about dead for a good long breath of fresh air! I never knew before how good air tasted."

Bert glanced around the circle of faces and smiled amusedly as he saw that his chum was there with the rest.

"Where'd you go, Frank?" he asked.

Frank hastened to the lad's side and bent over him.

"I headed for the cabin," he answered, "and missed it. The Indian smoke signal brought the boys out and they fed me up."

Will now approached the spot where the two boys were talking and pointed to Cameron and Fenton now sitting with their faces illuminated by the blaze. They both scowled at the inspection.

"Which one of those men gave you the clout on the head?" Will asked.

"That fellow with the alfalfas," replied Bert.

"And he stole the code message you were carrying?"

"I don't know!" replied Bert. "I had it when he came into the cabin and began talking with me and I haven't thought of it since. Was it stolen?"

"You bet it was!" replied Frank. "But we've been to Cordova and got a duplicate of it!"

Cameron and Fenton scowled fiercely as they listened to the conversation.

"Have you got the code message with you now?" asked Will.

"Sure I have!" answered Frank.

"Suppose you read it, then."

Frank took an envelope from his pocket, tore off one end, and brought out an ordinary sheet of letter paper bearing the heading of the wireless company. The boys gathered about him eagerly.

"It isn't very much!" Frank said with a laugh. "Say, you two fellows," he added, waving the paper in the direction of Cameron and Fenton, "would, you like to hear this code despatch read?"

"You bet they would," cut in Sandy. "That's all they've been thinking about for the last two days!"

"Well, it's short and sweet and very satisfying!" Frank laughed.

"Aw, read it!" demanded Tommy. "What's the use of making a monkey of yourself? Let's see what it has to say for itself."

Frank bent a searchlight on the paper and read:

"Will Smith, in camp near Katalla, Alaska: The machine plans have been traced to the cabin to which you were directed. Make close examination there before looking elsewhere. Horton."

"What do you know about that, Cameron?" asked Will with a smile. "Are the plans really hidden in our cabin?"

"Your cabin!" sneered Cameron.

"I guess the cabin belongs to us as much as it does to you!" Tommy cut in. "Are the machine plans hidden there?"

"What do you want of the machine plans?" demanded Cameron.

"They don't belong to you!" roared Fenton.

"We have no claim upon them," replied Will. "In fact, we have no use for them at all, except that we want to identify the mark of a human thumb which soiled one of the papers."

"All lies!" shouted Cameron.

"I'm telling you the truth," declared Will.

"Then why didn't you come right to me and say so?" demanded Cameron.

"You didn't give us a chance!" replied Will.

"Are the plans hidden in the cabin?" asked Sandy.

"This is all a faked-up story you are telling me!" Fenton shouted. "Whoever wired you that the plans were in the cabin didn't know what he was talking about! We don't know anything about the plans."

"That doesn't agree with what Cameron just said," Frank laughed.

"Cameron doesn't know anything about the plans, either," raged Fenton.

"Are you the clerk who stole the plans from your employer?" asked Will.

"I tell you that I don't know anything about any plans!" stormed Fenton. "Cameron and I are prospecting this moraine for gold, and we have no interest in any plans whatever!"

"And yet Cameron gave Bert a crack on the coco and stole the code message!" suggested Will.

"He probably thought the message referred to our mining properties!" declared Fenton. "We had a right to suppose it had."

"Then you won't tell us where the plans are?" demanded Will.

"I tell you that I don't know anything about the plans," screamed Fenton. "I never saw the plans."

"All right," Will replied. "We'll leave you fellows out here to think the matter over. By morning you will probably know where the plans are hidden. The mosquitos may be able to convince you."

"A little meditation may refresh his memory," Frank said.

"What have you got to do about it, anyhow?" demanded Cameron. "I don't think you've got any right to butt in here!"

"Who is that freshie?" asked Fenton.

"Frank Disbrow," replied the doctor with a smile. "He's the son of the military officer in charge of the military stations in Alaska."

The boys all turned and regarded Frank curiously.

"So that's why the walls all fell down when you knocked!" exclaimed Tommy. "That's why the federal officer refused to make any arrests. That's why Jamison returned the money and gave us the use of his motor boat. I begin to understand some of the things that took place at Cordova now. Why didn't you tell us something about it before we had all that trouble?"

"Oh, I didn't want to mix father up in the combination," Frank replied with a smile. "Besides," he added, "it did look something like piracy."

"It certainly did," observed Doctor Pelton. "If Frank hadn't been a member of the pirate crew, I rather imagine that you boys would be cooling your heels in some Alaska prison about now. Of course, you would have been released in time, but the affair would have made you considerable trouble."

"Who's Bert, then?" demanded Tommy.

"Bert is the son of a prominent federal official at Chicago," replied Frank. "But we've had enough of this," the boy declared modestly. "I didn't do any more than any other boy would have done."

"You undertook that long trip out to the cabin when you didn't have to!" exclaimed Will. "That was good of you!"



CHAPTER XXII

THE PLANS AT LAST

With a parting glance at Cameron and Fenton, the boys, accompanied by the doctor, turned away in the direction of the cabin.

"Wait!" shouted Fenton. "Don't go off and leave us in this plight! We'll starve to death if you do!"

"What about those plans?" demanded Will.

"I'll help you find the plans!" screamed Cameron. "I'll see that you get the plans; if you get us out of this scrape!"

"Keep still!" commanded Fenton.

"I refuse to keep still!" declared Cameron. "I'm not going to be left here to be devoured by insects. Tell me the truth about the plans," he went on, "what do you want of them?"

"We want to introduce the plans in evidence in the criminal court at Chicago," replied Will.

"And that will betray our secret," commented Fenton fiercely. "Those plans are worth millions of dollars to us! They represent the only perfect mining machine ever invented."

"We don't care anything about your mining machine," Will answered.

"Have you noticed anything peculiar about the plans?" Frank asked.

"Nothing except that they are dirty!" was the reply.

"Marked up with thumb prints, for instance?"

"Yes, there are thumb prints," replied Cameron.

"Well, we want the thumb prints," Frank laughed.

"You're a fool if you listen to any such arguments!" screamed Fenton. "Why should these gutter snipes want the papers for the thumb prints?"

"That's what we want them for!" insisted Frank. "Are you going to tell us where the plans are?"

"I'll tell you!" replied Cameron.

Fenton turned his back on his friend and refused to discuss the question further. When the lads started away carrying Cameron on a rude litter, they left his follow conspirator lying by the fire.

"Please bring him along," pleaded Cameron. "He'll die if you leave him there! I can tell you where the plans are, and I'll do so, whether he likes it or not. This has been a misunderstanding all around. We were only trying to protect our interest in the mines which we believed to exist in this neighborhood, and in the plans, which we believed to be very valuable!"

Thus urged, the boys turned back and constructed a second stretcher for Fenton. The journey to the cabin was a long one, but the shelter was reached about daylight. Then Tommy at once began the preparation of breakfast.

"We'll have to get out pretty soon," Will laughed, "because the population of this county seems to be increasing with amazing rapidity. At the present time we have four Beavers, two Foxes, and two Bulldogs besides a very eminent surgeon. In other words," the boy went on, "we have this collection of wild animals in addition to a very eminent surgeon and two men with busted legs. If some one doesn't bring in provisions pretty soon, we'll have to exist on mosquito soup!"

"The mosquitos have been living off us long enough!" Tommy answered. "They ought not to find fault if we begin living off them!"

"I heard you boys talking about thumb prints on a set of plans," Doctor Pelton said, addressing Will. "I'd like to know what it all means."

"The story is soon told," Will answered. "On a night in Chicago not long ago, three men, Spaulding, Hurley and Babcock, worked until nearly daylight on the plans which we came to Alaska to find. They are experts in their line and were examining the plans of an invention which the inventor claimed would revolutionize mining.

"The three men rejected the plans as impractical, and Spaulding and Hurley left for home, leaving Babcock at the office. After the departure of the two men, the company's safe was broken open and robbed of a large sum of money. Naturally the men who had worked in the office during the night were questioned concerning the disappearance of the cash. Spaulding and Hurley replied, truthfully, that they had left Babcock in the office and that the safe was intact at the time of their departure.

"Babcock's reply to this statement was that he had not been at the office that night at all, and that he could furnish a perfect alibi which he proceeded to do. Spaulding and Hurley were arrested and thrown into prison, while Babcock, secure in his fraudulent alibi, was not even suspected until Mr. Horton, a noted criminal lawyer, was retained by the two respondents.

"In discussing the case, Spaulding and Hurley explained how Babcock had participated in the discussion of the plans, and added that if the plans could be found, his thumb marks would be noted on the paper. They said he handled the attached sheets carelessly, and that the marks of both thumbs showed very plainly."

"That will be a perfect defense!" said the doctor.

Cameron and Fenton who had been listening intently to the recital, now both spoke at once:

"Were the plans really rejected by the experts?" they asked.

"They certainly were!" replied Will.

"Then we've been through all this trouble for nothing!" exclaimed Fenton.

"If you two fellows hadn't been engaged in this dirty game," Will said severely, "you would have been mixed up in some other dirty deal, so you're probably no worse off than you would have been in any event."

"If you'll go to the peg driven into the wall near the north window," Cameron remarked, "pull out the peg and run your finger into the augur hole, you'll find the plans rolled into a very small package."

Will rushed to the peg indicated, and the plans were soon in his hands.

"This settles it!" exclaimed Will. "The case is finished!"

"Are the thumb marks there?" asked Frank.

"Plain as the nose on your face!" replied the boy.

"And to think that they have been right under our nose all the time!" exclaimed Tommy. "I shall certainly have to partake of a large meal before I can recover my reason!"

"And to think that, after we came all the way to Alaska, we received the correct tip regarding the hiding place from Chicago by wireless!"

"I know how the people at Chicago came to discover the whereabouts of the plans," shouted Fenton. "There's a sneak of a clerk in the office where I was employed who gave me away. He saw me looking over the plans and betrayed me."

"Perhaps he didn't want to see you make a fool of yourself!" Will suggested. "He probably knew the plans had been rejected."

"I'll settle with him!" declared Fenton.

"If you do," Will replied, "you'll serve a term in an Alaska prison for abduction!"

"Yes," Fenton went on, "he probably wired the truth to Chicago after the search for the plans began in the office! When he saw me looking over the plans, I was obliged to tell him what they represented. I also told him where we were going to hide the plans, and of course, he had to wire that, too!"

"That clerk must be rewarded!" smiled Tommy.

Such a supper as the boys ate that night!

Notwithstanding the dreary predictions of Tommy, there was plenty of provisions in the cabin, and the party feasted on the game which was brought in as an addition to the supply until they returned to civilization.

They were obliged to bridge the chasm in order to reach Katalla, where they found the Jamison motor boat waiting for them.

They also found the wheelsman, Boswell, waiting for them there, he having made the trip from Cordova in a tug. At the request of Jamison, who had been released after the departure of the boys, he had made the journey in order to take possession of the motor boat.

When, after many delightful trips about the Gulf of Alaska, the Boy Scouts all turned their faces homeward, the wheelsman was left in charge of the boat. They afterwards learned that Jamison never claimed the craft, and that Boswell retained undisputed possession of it.

Doctor Pelton saw that Cameron and Fenton were well cared for on their arrival at Katalla, and a handsome present was sent to the federal officer by Frank Disbrow.

Frank and Bert accompanied the Boy Scouts to Chicago and later on became very warm friends. The two members of the Fox patrol, Sam White and Ed Hannon, traveled with the boys as far as Portland.

When the boys reached Chicago, Babcock was arrested and the unmistakable thumb prints secured the immediate release of Hurley and Spaulding.

"There's one thing we've forgotten," Tommy said as the boys landed in Chicago, one autumn morning.

"What's that?" asked Will.

"We neglected to bring back that bear hide!"

"I should think you'd want that bear hide!" laughed Frank.

"I should think you'd be ashamed to look the bear in the face!" declared Sandy.

The boys received the promised reward for the discovery of the plans and once more settled down in Chicago to take up their studies.

THE END.



BLACK ART IN CINCINNATI

Mr. Quinsey of Cincinnati was not an Apollo; neither had he ever assumed a name other than his own. He had never conducted a scheme to defraud by use of the mails; nor had he ever robbed a post-office or shot any body; yet his character is so interesting that I cannot, in justice to myself, omit a passing notice.

Quinsey was known as a mesmerist, a ventriloquist, an illusionist, a prestidigitator and a master of the Black Art, and occasionally in "pleasing sorcery that charms the sense" he would entertain audiences at church fairs, picnics and the like for simple fees, while he found much pleasure amusing friends gratuitously at their homes, at his home and sometimes at his place of business.

One evening, at a little entertainment given by himself in neighboring Glendale, after he had knocked the spots off of several decks of cards; after he had taken half a dozen watches that belonged to people in the audience from the janitor's pocket; after he had received communications from departed spirits; after he had removed the head from a beautiful woman and had made the removed head talk; after he had paralyzed four men and a woman on the stage and had allowed the committee to stick pins in them, and after the curtain had dropped, one of the awe-stricken auditors, who had been instrumental in introducing Mr. Quinsey in Glendale, asked the wonderful magician why he did not follow this business in preference to any other?

The professor smiled blandly and appeared silent, but a voice that seemed to come from the bakery underneath the hall, was heard to remark in a deep melodious tone: "He has something better."

Quinsey was superintendent of what was known as the night set in the registry division of the Cincinnati post-office, and his hours of labor were from 10:30 P. M. to 7 A. M. In this set were employed six or seven clerks who worked under the superintendant's direction, and who performed practically the same kind of work that he did. It was their duty to properly record all registered matter that arrived in Cincinnati between 4 P. M. and midnight from the various railroad lines centering there, rebill it and pouch it in the through registry pouches to be dispatched in the morning.

There were something like thirty bills to make out, and the same number of pouches to properly close and send out. When the mails were running heavy the clerks never had a minute to spare, but when they were light, as they frequently were one or two nights each week, there was some opportunity for sociability and innocent amusement.

On these occasions Quinsey would sometimes tell the boys how easy it was for people to be mistaken; how much quicker was the hand than the eye; how it was that frequently things were not what they appeared; how easy it was to deceive the keenest intellect by doing something different than your actions would indicate, and how figures and objects are materialized and made to do their master's bidding.

Sometimes he would illuminate his ideas by a few practical illustrations, and after the young men had seen him shake any number of big silver dollars, a wheelbarrow full of handkerchiefs, and a lot of lanterns from a common gesture, and, in transfixed amazement, had beheld ordinary registered letters vanish before their eyes, without being able to tell where they went, they longed for the nights to come when the work was light. Quinsey was immense!

About this time, while in Chicago, Kidder came to me for conference with an armful of documentary evidence of skillful depredations. Here were the envelopes in which registered letters had from time to time been mailed at offices in Southern Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, and West Virginia, addressed to offices in all portions of the great Northwest, and which had been rifled of large portions of their contents. Everyone of the letters had passed through the Chicago post-office, where they had been handled during the night time. At first glance one would say it surely indicated trouble in Chicago.

But why, if the thief was in Chicago, did he confine himself to operations on the letters from this particular section, when he could probably have access to those from any other as well. A few minutes later when we discovered that everyone of the letters referred to had also passed through the Cincinnati office, and in every instance had been dispatched from that office in the morning in through pouches to Chicago, Kidder adjusted his eye-glasses, and offered as a reward, for the capture of the villain, a claim near that beautiful miniature salt-water sea, known as Devil's Lake in Dakota.

On the following morning when I tapped Herrick on the shoulder in Cincinnati, and asked who wrote the Chicago registry bills at night that were dispatched in the morning, he answered, "Quinsey," and seemed so amused at my question that he asked why I wanted to know.

"For the reason that I think whoever is doing it is too inquisitive."

"Well, if its Quinsey, I am afraid we'll have our hands full to catch him, for he's just a little bit the slickest man in America. He does all the seemingly impossible things ever heard of, and he does them right before your eyes, too. Quinsey is absolutely marvelous. Why, one night I was in the registry room looking around when, suddenly, I discovered my watch was gone. I had looked to see what time it was when I entered. Well, a little later somebody found it in the Boston pouch, with a tag on it marked: 'Covington.'"

"Yes," said Salmon, who was listening, "and I understand he charms birds, too; while somebody told me a few days ago that at cards he was so expert that nobody would sit in with him; that when it came his deal he could hold anything he wanted; that the high cards, figuratively speaking, would come to him in carriages; and remain till after the show-down."

The next day I went to Lexington, Ky., and while there I wrote a letter to Mr. Abram Hayden, of Aberdeen, Dakota, on one of the letter-head sheets of Mills, Jackson & Johnson, which read as follows:

"Dear friend Abe:

Jim Turner was in from East Hickman half an hour ago and left the enclosed $200 for me to send to you, and he said you would know how to use it. He has just sold a car-load of mules to Springer, of Cincinnati, but he said he believed there was more profit in loaning money at 20 per cent. in Dakota, than there was in raising mules in Kentucky at present prices.

Say, Abe, when are you coming back after Mary? I heard Min. Stevens and some of the girls in her set say it was considered a sure thing. Hope it is; for of all the real fine blue-grass girls around these parts I think Mary is the——well never mind, old boy, if I wasn't married I'd try and prevent her going to Dakota. You better hurry up.

Jim just stuck his head in the door and told me to tell you if you couldn't get a gilt edge loan at 20, not to let it go less than 18. Jim is a cuss.

I suppose your brother wrote you what happened up at Gil. Harper's recently.

If the cyclones haven't got you by the time this reaches Aberdeen, write.

Very truly, your friend,

FRANK N. MILLS."

This letter I registered at Lexington and at night, about 11 o'clock, when I had followed it into the Cincinnati post-office, Herrick and Salmon were in the money-order division on a step-ladder, peering through a glass transom into the registry division. As soon as possible I joined them, and patiently we waited for Quinsey to turn a trick.

It was exactly two A. M. when he commenced on the Chicago bill. He reached the letter from Lexington at precisely 2:45. It was fat and tempting. Herrick was on the top of the ladder at that instant, and he sent a peculiar thrill of surprise through me when he turned and whispered:

"Hush, hush, he has picked it up."

"Now he's feeling of it."

"He's looking at the back of the of the R. P. E. (the outside envelope) to see how well it's sealed."

"He's laid it down and placed a book over it; somebody is moving around."

"It's quiet now and he's looking at the back again."

"Hush, don't move, he's carefully feeling again."

"It's under the blotter now; somebody at the other table got up to get a drink. There's no one at his table but himself."

"Hush now, he's making a close examination to see how well its sealed."

"Hush now, for God's sake don't move; he's trying to open it with his knife."

"Hush, hush, hush, he'll have it opened in an instant."

"Its open now, and he's looking at the letter envelope very closely."

"There, d——n it, some fellow has moved again and he's shoved it under the blotter."

"Hush, hush, don't stir; he's feeling of the letter again."

"Hush, don't breathe, he's trying to raise the flap of the envelope; it comes up hard; don't move."

"There, there, there, he's got it up."

"Hush, he's got the money out and is reading the letter."

"He's smiling as he reads."

"We must open the door and rush, in now."

"Come, be quick and be quiet; you know he's chain lightning."

"The door's unlocked; now, all together, go!"

An instant later there was a flutter, and all was over. The great conjurer had at last performed an illusion that was not optical—an act not mentioned on the bill.

Applause. Curtain. Prison.



BOYS' COPYRIGHTED BOOKS

Printed from large, clear type on a superior quality of paper, embellished with original illustrations by eminent artists, and bound in a superior quality of binders' cloth, ornamented with illustrated covers, stamped in colors from, unique and appropriate dies, each book wrapped in a glazed paper wrapper printed in colors.

BOY SCOUT SERIES By G. HARVEY RALPHSON, of the Black Bear Patrol.

1.—Boy Scouts in Mexico; or, On Guard with Uncle Sam.

2.—Boy Scouts in the Canal Zone; or, The Plot Against Uncle Sam.

3.—Boy Scouts in the Philippines; or, The Key to the Treaty Box.

4.—Boy Scouts in the Northwest; or, Fighting Forest Fires.

5.—Boy Scouts in a Motor Boat; or, Adventures on the Columbia River.

6.—Boy Scouts in an Airship; or, The Warning from the Sky.

7.—Boy Scouts in a Submarine; or, Searching an Ocean Floor.

8.—Boy Scouts on Motorcycles; or, With the Flying Squadron.

9.—Boy Scouts Beyond the Artic Circle; or, The Lost Expedition.

10.—Boy Scout Camera Club; or, Confessions of a Photograph.

11.—Boy Scout Electricians; or, The Hidden Dynamo.

12.—Boy Scouts in California; or, The Flag on the Cliff.

13.—Boy Scouts on Hudson Bay; or, The Disappearing Fleet.

14.—Boy Scouts in Death Valley; or, The City in the Sky.

15.—Boy Scouts on the Open Plains; or, The Round-up not Ordered.

16.—Boy Scouts in Southern Waters; or, the Spanish Treasure Chest.

17.—Boy Scouts in Belgium; or, Under Fire in Flanders.

18.—Boy Scouts in the North Sea; or, the Mystery of U-13.

19.—Boy Scout Verdun Attack.

20.—Boy Scouts with the Cossacks; or, Poland Recaptured.

THE MOTORCYCLE CHUMS SERIES By Andrew Carey Lincoln

1.—Motorcycle Chums in the Land of the Sky; or, Thrilling Adventures on the Carolina Border.

2.—Motorcycle Chums in New England; or, The Mount Holyoke Adventure.

3.—Motorcycle Chums on the Sante Fe Trail; or, The Key to the Treaty Box.

4.—Motorcycle Chums in Yellowstone Park; or, Lending a Helping Hand.

5.—Motorcycle Chums in the Adirondacks; or, The Search for the Lost Pacemaker.

6.—Motorcycle Chums Storm Bound; or, The Strange Adventures of a Road Chase.

List Price $1.00 Each



Rider Agents WANTED



Boys and young men everywhere are making good money taking orders for "Ranger" bicycles and bicycle tires. You are privileged to select the particular style of Ranger bicycle you prefer; Motorbike model, "Arch-Frame," "Superbe," "Scout," "Special," "Racer," etc. While you ride and enjoy it in your spare time hours —after school or work, evenings and holidays —your admiring friends can be easily induced to place their orders through you.

Factory to Rider Every purchaser of a Ranger bicycle (on our factory-direct-to-the-rider sales plan) gets a high-grade fully guaranteed model direct from the factory at wholesale prices, and is privileged to ride it for 30 days before final acceptance. If not satisfied it may be returned at our expense and no charge is made for the use of machine during trial.

Delivered to You FREE

We prepay the delivery charges on every Ranger from our factory in Chicago to your town and pay the return charges to Chicago if you decide not to keep it.

Choice of 44 Styles Colors and Sizes in the Ranger line

Easy Payments if desired, at a small advance over our special Factory-to-Rider cash prices.

Parts For All Bicycles

In the Ranger catalog you will find illustrated bicycle cranks, cups, cones, sprockets and a complete Universal Repair Hanger and Repair Front Forks designed to fit any and every bicycle ever manufactured in America. Complete instructions are given so that any boy can intelligently order the parts wanted. You will also find repair parts for all the standard makes of hubs and coaster-brakes and all the latest equipment and novelties.

Tires at Factory Prices Share with us our savings in Trainload Tire Contracts and in the Samson, Record and Hedgethorn Tires get the best Tire values in America at Wholesale Factory Prices.

Send No Money But write us TODAY for the Big Ranger Book and particulars of our 30 Day Free Trial Plan, wholesale prices and terms.

MEAD CYCLE COMPANY Dept. D210 CHICAGO, U.S.A.

THE END