"Then Roger began to raise the lead to the surface"
If he expected to see glittering specks of yellow gold, he was sorely disappointed. Nor was there anything he could think represented wealth, not even pieces of some mineral which would account for the great interest Mr. Dudley and Mr. Ranquist showed in their discovery.
With eyes that were a trifle dim from a sense that he had failed, Roger gazed at the waxed end of the weight. Imbedded in the sticky surface the boy saw some white crystals, which glinted and sparkled in the sun. Only some white crystals, that might have been chipped off a light-colored rock. To Roger they meant nothing. Almost idly he brushed them into the palm of his hand and rose to his feet. This, then, was the end of his hopes. The hole in the earth meant nothing, or else had been drilled for some object he could not discover. His golden dream of hidden wealth beneath his uncle's farm, by which the mortgage could be paid, was over now.
He turned away, and was about to throw the white crystals aside, when a sound behind caused him to start. He saw, emerging from the woods, Mr. Ranquist. The engineer appeared much disturbed at the sight of the boy. He stood still a moment, and then came forward rapidly. In his hand he carried a valise, which, as he dropped it on the ground, gave forth a metallic, clanking sound. Mr. Ranquist came close to Roger, who scarcely knew what to do.
"Well," began the man, and his voice was so strange that the boy felt vaguely alarmed, "well—" and he stopped.
"How do you do, Mr. Ranquist?" said the lad, as politely as he knew how.
"Humph! What right—I mean, what are you doing here? Spying on me? If you are, I warn you, boy, you'll be sorry for it. I have been suspicious of you, since the other day when you offered to lead us here. Now," and the engineer spoke sternly, "what do you mean?"
"Why, Mr. Ranquist—I—er—I—"
"No nonsense, now!"
For a moment Roger was somewhat frightened. Then his natural courage came back to him, and he felt a just resentment at the tone and manner of the man.
"Mr. Ranquist," he said. "I have as much right, and more, than you have, on this property. I—"
"What have you in your hand?" interrupted the engineer, looking at the fist which Roger unconsciously had closed over the white crystals. "And what are you doing with that string and weight," as he caught sight of the fishline and sinker. "Answer me!"
Mr. Ranquist darted suddenly at Roger, exclaiming:
"You have been trying to discover the secret of the hole we drilled! Well I'll spoil that game for you, my young friend!"
With a violent spring the engineer was almost upon the boy, but Roger was too quick for him. He leaped to one side, his fist tightly clenched over the crystals, which now seemed of considerable value to him, when he saw what importance Mr. Ranquist attached to the matter. With a cry of astonishment and anger at the threatened attack, but showing no sign of fear, Roger bounded out of the glade and ran through the woods, and down the hill, with Mr. Ranquist crashing through the brush after him. The chase was on.
After the first rush and surprise Roger collected his thoughts, and determined that Mr. Ranquist should not catch him. Or if the man outran him, he resolved he would not give up what he had without a fierce struggle. The excitement of the desperate race urged him on, and he felt he could run a mile or more. He knew he was in a better condition for sprinting than he had been in many months. So when he heard the engineer coming after him, he was almost pleased at the idea of the running contest. He believed he could win.
So he kept on, now stumbling over a low stump or a projecting root, now tripping on a fallen log, or sinking into a soft spot, but never slacking pace. The sounds made by his pursuer came more faintly to him. Presently they died away altogether, and the boy felt he could safely stop. He listened intently, but there came not a noise from the woods behind him. Mr. Ranquist had given up.
"Well," thought Roger, defiantly, "he didn't make me give him these crystals, and he didn't catch me. Now I wonder what I had better do?"
He thought over the situation for a few minutes, while he rested from the chase, and then he decided on a plan.
"I'll bet Mr. Ranquist and Mr. Dudley will do something very soon now," he said to himself. "He thinks I have discovered his secret, and so I have, though I don't know exactly what it is. But as long as he thinks I have found him out, he'll be likely to get possession of Uncle Bert's land. And Uncle Bert will sell it to him because he needs the money so much, and he'll never know there's something valuable hidden under the surface until it is too late. I must hurry to Professor Bailey and see what he says. He ought to be able to tell what these crystals are."
With a heart that beat very hopefully Roger went down the path, and by a roundabout way to the professor's house. He did not want Mr. Kimball to see him. The boy knocked on the door, which was answered by Mrs. Bailey.
"Sorry," she said, in response to Roger's question, "but Professor Bailey is not home. He went away this morning, to be gone several weeks. Can I do anything for you?"
"No," replied Roger, and his heart sank. It would be too late, unless he could soon find out what the white crystals were, for his uncle was not likely to delay in the sale of the land on merely a boy's suspicion. What was he to do? Pondering on this problem, he left the front gate of the professor's house just as a wagon rattled up.