DETECTIVE MATTY
Glen managed to get back to the camp without coming under Matt's notice. His animosity had all disappeared. This one act of loyalty on Matt's part wiped out a great load of snubs and grudges. He knew that his connection with the reform school was quite generally known at the camp, for Mr. Newton himself—subsequent to the disclosures of J. Jervice—had seen fit to explain to the scouts that Glen might be considered as staying under his parole, and had further expressed his conviction that the authorities would certainly make the parole permanent in view of all the facts. An explanation made to friendly boys, however, was a vastly different thing from making one to officers who had a chance to earn a reward. He felt, therefore, that Matt had saved him from a real danger.
Chick-chick and Apple were anxiously awaiting his coming that they might complete the map which they were preparing from his recollection of the chart shown by Jervice. Mr. Newton had decided that the information Glen had gained from the robbers' chart was his exclusive property, since it had been obtained by him while in peril of life and limb. But Glen was not disposed to take advantage of this, and with the help of Apple and Chick-chick as chartographers was preparing a chart for the free use of the entire camp.
"We have everything sketched in that you told us," said Apple. "What we want now is to be as nearly sure as possible where the big star was."
"It looked to be about half way down the side of the Mound," said Glen. "Right near it I saw marks for 'Twin Elms' and 'Deep Springs.'"
"We've been looking along Buffalo Creek and we can't find any Twin Elms. There's only one place where two elms are anywhere near together and one of them is a great big elm, and the other a little sapling that isn't more than five years old. That would throw it out altogether as far as locating our cave."
"How about Deep Springs?"
"Well, there's the Ice Box. The Springs must be deep there because it's so cold. We used to swim there last year but it's really too cold for fun. That's just about half way down the Mound, but there's no elms anywhere near."
"How would it be to mark that for 'Deep Springs' and put the mark for 'Twin Elms' just where the two elms you speak about are?"
"An' then put big star between 'em an' everything be over but pickin' up treasure," put in Chick-chick, sarcastically.
"No, it wouldn't do," said Apple. "We don't know that Deep Springs and the Ice Box are the same and we are pretty sure Twin Elms couldn't be the old tree and the sapling. The only thing I know to do is to make the marks just like you saw them and let the scouts figure them out for themselves. If we go putting our own ideas in we will likely spoil the whole thing."
"Great head, this," endorsed Chick-chick, patting the curly head appreciatively.
They took the chart out and nailed it to a tree near the cook shack and in a few moments it was being studied by the entire troop which had just gathered for dinner.
It might well be doubted whether the chart served any purpose of enlightenment, after all. It showed certain local land marks and several crosses were designated at different spots but just what they represented was still a mystery. The principal cross was the one over which Mr. Jervice had placed his thumb, and this inclined the majority to decide to hunt in that direction, but unfortunately it was hard to find "Twin Elms" thereabout, and the "Deep Springs" were only a matter of surmise. It had certainly served the purpose of reviving interest in the treasure hunt and mysterious rumors of a cave in which a robber band had hidden booty did not lessen it.
Will Spencer while pleased at the renewed activity was by no means sure that it would help his search.
"Think we'll have to push on back to our cornfield and do some exploring from the old bed of the lake back to its source, Glen," said he. "Gold is nothing to us. What we want is water."
"Supposing some of these scouts should find all that bullion, you'd think differently," said Glen.
Spencer laughed.
"You're having a good vacation about it," he said. "We'll stay this week out since we're both having such a good time. Next week you push your Uncle Bill and his billy cart back to Ryder's farmhouse and we begin over again."
"Any time you say," agreed Glen. "Here's Goosey looking as if he was excited about something."
"Found the treasure, son?" asked Will.
"Not yet," admitted Goosey. "But I've got an idea."
"When you're looking for treasure look for signs of old water-courses. If you find one, follow it along and see if it leads to a spring."
"What good'll that do?" asked Goosey.
"Twenty dollars' worth," replied Jolly Bill. "Twenty dollars in coin of the realm. This old buried treasure may be in such shape that you can't cash it. My money will be straight goods."
"Guess I'll find the gold the Indians stole," said Goosey. "I've got a scheme, leastways Matty's got one, and he's letting me in on it."
It was not until next day that Goosey, under pressure from Chick-chick, disclosed more of Matty's wonderful scheme.
"You know, Matty's read a lot about detecting things and he knows all about how to do it."
"Yes, we ought to know about that, Goosey. See how he found the bread box."
"Well, he admits he slipped up there. But this time it's different. He says he ain't soft enough to suppose Brick Mason is giving out information to help people find the treasure when—"
"Hold on, Goosey. Thought Matt didn't believe there was any treasure. He believes whole thing fake—Matt does."
"Well, after he talked to the deputy sheriff and found out there was a big reward offered he changed his mind. He says it ain't reasonable the Bankers' Association would offer a reward just for nothing. So then he says, of course Brick Mason's chart is a blind. Brick wants everybody to be wasting their time on a wrong scent while he goes after the real thing."
"Real clever; Matty is. Wish he was as white as Brick."
"Well, Matt's clever, anyway; no gettin' around that. What does he do to get on the right track? He goes an' hunts up the Indian—the one as told us to look for heap rock."
"Bright idea. Of course Indian wouldn't tell Matt anything but truth—he wouldn't."
"No, because Matt gave him two dollars. So Indian told him there was a cave and he wasn't sure about the treasure because he's superstitious and he's too much afraid of the dead men to look. But the cave isn't anywhere near Buffalo Creek. It's on down below."
"You mean below camp?"
"Yes, down in the woods somewhere around Vinegar Creek. You know Buffalo Creek gets pretty rapid after it passes the Ice Box. Runs down with lots of force into Vinegar Creek. It's quite a gully down there and for five dollars more the Indian's willing to show Matt the exact place."
"Worth that much to Matty?"
"Worth it! You ain't talkin' sense. Matt doesn't need money so awful bad, but there's just two things he'd like better than anything else in the world. One is to find the treasure and so kill that everlastin' joke about the bread box. T'other's to catch the bank robbers an' so show that he's the smartest boy in camp."
"That five dollars won't get him to it—it won't."
"Well, Matt's lucky this time, as it happens. He isn't going to have to pay the Indian the five. He's found a better way. Last night he went down to kinder look things over an' he found a couple o' men camping. First off he hoped they were the robbers but they're pretty nice men and they're engineers. Matt wouldn't have told them anything but when he found they were surveyin' Vinegar Creek and goin' on up to Buffalo next he could see right off that they had good chances of runnin' right into the cave, so he gets ahead of 'em by tellin' all about it and making 'em promise equal shares if they found anything."
"Clever Matty!" exclaimed Chick-chick.
"Yes, he's clever, Matty is. No good paying any five dollars to any Indian when he's got as good a thing as that. These engineers want to see our camp so Matty's to bring 'em up this afternoon while everybody's at the swim. He doesn't want the crowd around to be pestering 'em with questions."
When this information was carried to Jolly Bill he was more disturbed than he cared to acknowledge. He had a very well defined feeling that his scheme to restore Buffalo Lake had become common property and that these engineers were competitors. He felt some safety in the fact that he held options on the land; yet he had a strong desire to see this surveying corps and talk with the men about their work.
Thus it happened that Glen was in camp when the surveyors came—he stayed at Spencer's request to engineer the billy-cart. The engineers were young fellows, not overly clean; perhaps it was not to be expected in following such work. They were genial enough to the few people who were in camp. At first they did not seem inclined to pay much attention to Spencer, but after he had asked them one or two questions they began to take notice.
"Where are you running your levels for the Vinegar Creek survey?" asked Spencer.
"Running what?" said one.
"Oh, levels," said the other. "We haven't got to that yet."
"Find it rather hard to carry your lines through all that brush, don't you?"
"We will if we have to do it."
"What elevation do you work from?"
"We ain't quite decided. You see, we only just made camp. Mebbe we'll work up here first."
"You'll have to see Mr. Newton about that," said Spencer.
"We'll see him," said the spokesman. "We're going to look along up this creek a piece, now."
"Think perhaps you'll start your survey at an obtuse angle or an angle of sixty degrees, which?" asked Spencer gravely.
"Sixty degrees," replied the man, as if glad to get off so easily.
"Now, I'm quite sure they're no engineers," said Spencer to Glen as the two men followed Matt along the bank of Buffalo Creek. "I rather thought they weren't from the start, which is why I asked such foolish questions. Well, that relieves my anxiety about competition."
"What do you reckon they are?" asked Glen.
"Two farmer boys who want to work Matt for something, I suppose. We ought to warn him to be on guard, but really I think a few lessons will do Matt lots of good."
"He did me a good turn yesterday," said Glen. "I'd like to put him next."
"You can try it," agreed Will. "But Matt is one of the class of people who would rather be fooled than warned."
Glen ran along after the trio. The noise of his approach caught Matt's ear and he turned with a look of disgust on his face.
"You aren't in on this," he exclaimed angrily. "These two men are my friends and our business is private."
"I just wanted to tell you something, Burton," said Glen. "I'll go back as soon as I've said it."
"Fire away," instructed Matt. "The quicker you get rid of it and go the way you came, the better."
"Come over here and I'll tell you."
"These men are my friends, I tell you. Whatever you have to say to me they can hear."
"They're not scouts," objected Glen.
"You're not much of a one," retorted Matt.
The words Glen had for Matt were not to be bawled into the ears of strangers, so he left the foolish boy to follow his own tactics. It was not too late for the swim and Glen was glad to have at least a few minutes of his favorite sport.
He was dressing when some one tapped him on the shoulder and he looked up into the comical face of Chick-chick.
"Hey, Brick. Found something, I have," he announced.
"What is it?" asked Glen.
"Hssh! Not so loud! Don't want whole camp to know. It's secret. Footprints on sands of time."
"You're talking nonsense," said Glen.
"No nonsense about it. It's wheelprints 'stead o' footprints, that's all. Come an' see. I was chasin' butterfly down near Vinegar Creek an' I ran on it by accident, I did."
The two boys managed to slip away from the crowd and Chick-chick mysteriously led the way down the road in the direction of the heavy woods that marked the location of Vinegar Creek.
"While back I heard a car chuggin' along. Funny for car be down here, don't ye know. Then there's somethin' 'bout an engine's voice—every engine got voice of its own and you 'member it after you get 'quainted. Seemed to me I knew that voice. Looked at car an' didn't look like anything ever seen. Car all stripped off—nothing much left but chassis. Then I came down to road an' looked at tracks. Wait bit. Soon be there, we will."
He led on for another hundred yards until they reached a point where an old woods trail struck out into the highway. Here Chick-chick paused.
"Look at this, Brick," he said. "Ever see tire-tracks look like that, did you?"
Glen looked at the tracks. They were exactly like those he had smoothed away when concealing the departure of the J. Jervice car at the ford.
"Verdict of Jury 'Guilty as charged'!" exclaimed Chick-chick, looking into his eyes. "Come on, Brick, let's follow 'long this old cow-path till we see our beloved car once more."