A MYSTERY, TO START WITH
While Ethan, Phil and X-Ray Tyson seemed to grasp the true significance of this astonishing discovery, Lub as yet had not managed to get it through his head. He was a little dense about some things, although a clever enough scholar when at school.
"The ashes warm, you say, Ethan?" he burst out with. "Now, that's a funny thing. What would make them hold heat that way, when there's not a sign of anybody around?"
"There has been somebody here, and only a short time ago, don't you see?" explained Phil.
"And like as not they heard us cheering when we glimpsed the lake, and cleared out in a big hurry," Ethan went on to say.
"Cleared out?" echoed Lub'. "Well, why should they run from us, tell me? We don't look dangerous, as far as I can see. We wouldn't bother hurting anybody; and didn't Phil say a while back that if we found some fishermen in his shack we'd just shy off, and build one for ourselves?"
"Yes, but these people didn't hear Phil say that; we were half a mile and more away from here at the time," explained X-Ray.
"And they couldn't begin to tell just who was coming," added Phil.
"It might be!" exclaimed Ethan, "that they took us for game wardens. Mebbe now they've been shooting deer out of season, and got cold feet when they knew some people were coming in to the lake."
Phil nodded his head in the affirmative, when he saw that Ethan was looking to find out just how that suggestion struck him.
"I rather think you've struck the right nail on the head there, Ethan," he told the other. "It seems the most reasonable explanation for their clearing out in such a big hurry."
"They tried to put the fire out too, didn't they, Phil?"
It was X-Ray Tyson who asked this. Those keen eyes of his had made another discovery, and he was even then pointing the same out to his chums.
"Yes, I had noticed that some one had certainly thrown water on the fire," said Phil. "You can see where it washed the ashes off this charred piece of wood; and besides, it made little furrows in the ashes."
"That's an old trick in the woods," remarked Ethan, with a superior air; "fact is, no true woodsman would think of breaking camp without first making sure every spark of his fire was put out. Lots of forest fires have come from carelessness in guides leaving red cinders behind them."
"Yes," Phil added, "because often the wind rises, and whirls those same cinders to leeward, where they fall in a bunch of dry leaves, and begin to get their work in. But when people live in cabins they seldom bother wetting the ashes, unless they've got a mighty good reason for wanting to hide the facts."
"And these people did," added Ethan, conclusively.
"Let's look around some," suggested X-Ray.
Two of the others thought this a good idea, for they immediately started a search of the interior of the cabin, their idea being to find some clue that might tell just who the late mysterious inmates were, and why they had fled so hurriedly.
Lub may have been just as curious as his mates; but he was very tired after the long and arduous walk, so that apparently he believed three could cover the field just as thoroughly as four. At any rate he showed no sign of meaning to quit his seat upon the rude stool he had found; but leaning forward, watched operations, at the same time rubbing his shins sympathetically.
"What's this on the peg up here?" exclaimed X-Ray, the very first thing.
"Looks like some sort of a hat to me," remarked Ethan.
"Just what it is; but say, take notice of the size, will you? It's a child's hat, as sure as you live! Why, there must have been a child along with the lot!"
"That's queer!" Lub observed, not wanting to be wholly ignored.
"Game poachers they may have been," muttered Ethan, "but if there was a little chap along, there must have been a family of 'em. See if you could pick up such a thing now as a hair-pin, or any other woman business."
They went to scrutinizing the cracks of the floor more closely than ever. That suggestion on the part of Ethan was worth trying out. Of course the presence of any little article like a hair-pin would show that a woman had been there.
"I don't hear anybody sing out!" remarked X-Ray Tyson, presently; "and on that account it looks like we hadn't discovered anything worth mentioning. What gets me is, however could they have cleaned the old shack out so quick, and never left anything worth mentioning behind 'em?"
"From the time we sighted the cabin, back to when we first whooped, couldn't have been more'n eight minutes, I should think," Lub gravely announced.
"Lots could be done in that time," asserted Phil; "but all the same I am bothered to know why they'd be in such a rattling big hurry. It might be they knew about us being on the way longer than eight minutes."
"Who would have called 'em up on the phone, and mentioned the fact?" asked X-Ray, meaning to be humorous.
"Well, one of the lot may have seen us miles back, and put for the cabin by some short-cut we don't know anything about," Phil told him.
"That could be, of course," admitted Ethan, after considering the matter seriously.
"Mebbe we'll never know the truth, which would be too bad," Lub continued; for a mystery was a source of constant anxiety to him; he was so frank and straightforward himself that double dealing seemed foreign to his nature.
"Well, as we didn't come all the way up here just to worry our heads over guessing hard problems, I guess we won't lose any sleep," Ethan went on to say, in his easy-going way.
"I'm wondering what made all these burns on the floor," Phil told them; "and on this table, too. In these days people don't mold bullets like they used to years ago, when the pioneers were settling the wilderness; and yet that's what it looks like to me."
"The place isn't as clean as it might be," Ethan now remarked, "and the first thing we'll have to do in the morning will be to tidy up. I'll make a broom out of twigs, like I've seen poor emigrants do. It answers the purpose pretty well, too."
He was prying around in one of the bunks while saying this, as though he had suspicions; which Lub, who was anxiously watching him, hoped in his heart might turn out to be groundless.
Phil had turned to other things, and was proceeding to undo his pack. This caught Lub's eye, and caused the worried expression on his face to give way to one of pleasure. He knew that such a move meant it was getting time for them to think of supper; and Lub was always ready to do his part toward providing a meal; oh, yes, and in disposing of the same, too.
"Wow! you quit too soon!" suddenly yelped X-Ray, who had continued prowling on hands and knees after Phil and Ethan had stopped searching the floor.
"Found something, have you?" asked the former, without looking up from his job of opening the contents of his pack.
"Is it worth a hair-pin, X-Ray?" chirped Ethan, who had been gathering a handful of timber in a corner where a lot of wood lay in a pile, ready for burning.
"You could buy a thousand with it, I reckon!" was the astonishing declaration of the finder, which remark caused every one to immediately take notice.
The boy with the sharp eyes was holding something up between thumb and forefinger. It shone in the last rays of the setting sun, as they came into the cabin through a small window in the western side.
"Why, what's this mean?" ejaculated Ethan; "looks like you've gone and struck a silver mine, X-Ray! That's a half dollar, ain't it? D'ye mean to say you found it on this same floor?"
"Just what I did, and deep down in a crack, where it must have slid, so nobody noticed it!" exclaimed the other, exultantly. "Now, needn't all get busy looking, because I reckon it's the only coin there is. That's my reward for keeping everlastingly at it. You fellows are ready to give up too easy. Say, did you ever see a brighter half dollar than that? Looks like she just came from the mint, hey?"
"Perhaps it did!" said Phil, solemnly.
When he said that the others all focussed their eyes on Phil's face. They knew he would not have spoken in such a strain unless he had some good reason for saying what he did.
"Explain what you mean, please, Phil; that's a good fellow," urged Lub.
X-Ray was not so dense, for he instantly exclaimed.
"Why, don't you see, Phil reckons that this half-dollar may have been coined right here in this birch bark cabin!"
"Whew! counterfeit, is it?" gasped Ethan, whose breath had almost been taken away with the momentous discovery. "Then I guess I ain't going to bother getting down on my knees, and doing any hunting for bogus money."
The finder apparently did not much fancy having his prize counted so meanly. He immediately proceeded to bite the coin, and then started to ringing it on the hard surface of the oak table that had all the scorched spots on it, mentioned by Phil.
"It tastes good; and listen to the sweet ring, would you, fellows?" X-Ray hastened to say. "If it's a punk fifty-center, then it's the greatest imitation ever was. I'd just like to have a cartload of the same; I think I'd call myself rich."
"If there's any suspicion fixed on the coin," Lub observed, ponderously, just as he had heard his father, the judge, deliver an opinion in court, "I'd rather be excused from carrying it around on my person. The law, you know, does not look upon ignorance as innocence. Better toss that thing as far away as you can in the morning, X-Ray. I'd hate to think of you doing time for having it in your possession."
"Hanged if I do," muttered the other. "I'm all worked up now over it, and mean to get the opinion of Mr. Budge, the cashier of our bank. He can smell a counterfeit as soon as he sets eyes on one. He'll fix all that up, believe me."
"But, Phil," Ethan remarked, just then, "what was that you were saying about all the scorched places on the table? If these people were not molding bullets they may have been using melted metal for another purpose, and one not quite so lawful, eh?"
"It looks a little that way, I must say," Phil admitted.
"Give us something to do prying around while we're up here," suggested X-Ray; "seeing if we can run across their cache where they've gone and hid away their molds, and other stuff."
"Oh! now you're only guessing," Lub told him. "It may be they were game poachers after all, no matter if the coin is a bad one. I'm sorry this had to crop up the first thing, when we aimed to have such a jolly time of it here."
"We'll have that, all right, whether or no," said Phil; "and first of all let's get busy with our duffle. If we're going to live in this shack it's our duty to make it look like home to us. Ethan, suppose you attend to the fire, and the rest of us will take care of the cooking."
"That's the ticket!" Lub ventured; "if I can do anything to help just let me sit here, and peel potatoes, or make the coffee. I'm pretty tired, you know; and besides it seems to me I get in everybody's way when I move around."
"Because you occupy so much room, Lub," X-Ray told him, cheerfully; "but it's all right, and we'll find some use for your hands. How about water; shall I take our collapsible pail and fetch some from the lake?"
Upon being told that some one must go, the spry lad darted out of the door, and reappeared a few minutes later with a brimming pail.
"I want to tell you all that it's going to be a dandy night," he chortled as he set the pail carefully down so that Lub, who was holding the aluminum coffee pot in his hands, could easily reach it; "moon's just coming up over across the lake, and about as full as could be."
"Well, some of the rest of us are hoping to be in the same condition before a great while," Ethan ventured, as he stepped over to the door, and looked out, to immediately add: "I should say it is a glorious sight, with that yellow streak shining across the water, and the little wavelets dancing like silver. Phil, this is the greatest place ever. If you hunted a whole year you couldn't beat it. And we ought to have the time of our lives while we're up at Birch Bark Lodge."
All of them were filled with delight. Being only boys, and with no particular cares weighing heavily on their minds, they refused to see any cloud on the horizon. Everything was as clear and lovely as the sky into which that full moon was climbing so sturdily.
Soon the delightful odors of supper began to pervade the atmosphere. That made it seem more than ever like a real camp. Lub was doing his share of the work like a hero. They had found a place where he could sit at one side of the fire, and here he attended to the coffee, as well as looked after the big saucepan of potatoes and onions that had been placed on the red coals. Lub's round face was about as fiery as the blaze that crackled and danced at the back of the hearth; and he often had to mop his streaming brow; but he stuck heroically at his task to the bitter end.
Then came his reward when they sat around, and every fellow had a heaping pannikin between his knees, or on the small table, flanked by a cup, also of light aluminum, filled with coffee.
Seeing that they were all helped Phil knocked on the table, and held up his cup.
"Before we take our first bite, fellows," he went on to say, solemnly; "I think we ought to drink to the success of our camping trip up here in the Adirondacks proper. Coffee is the only proper liquid to drink that toast in, so up with your cups, every one. Here's to the Mountain Boys, and may they enjoy every minute of their stay at Birch Bark Cabin!"
"Drink it down!" cried X-Ray Tyson, noisily.
With that they took the first swallow of the nectar that Lub had brewed. Never had its like been tasted at home, amidst prosaic surroundings; there was something in the atmosphere of the mountains that made ordinary things assume a different aspect; their hard tramp had aroused their appetites amazingly, and just then those four boys were ready to admit that this was the life worth while.
For the next half-hour they sat there on such stools as they could find, and proceeded to "lick the platter clean;" inasmuch as there was not a particle left when they had finished supper. But even Lub confessed that he had had quite enough.