THE MAP VANISHES.
While Cap’n Wiley had been relating this yarn Merriwell seemed utterly unconscious of his presence. Having produced his field glasses from the case at his side, he was surveying the impregnable valley. Suddenly he started slightly and touched Bart’s arm.
“Look yonder, Hodge,” he said, in a low tone. “Away up at the far end of the valley where the timber is, I can see smoke rising there.”
“So can I!” exclaimed Hodge. “What does it mean?”
“There is but one thing it can mean, and that is——”
“There’s some one in the valley.”
“Sure, sure,” agreed Cap’n Wiley. “Somebody has found a passage into that harbor.”
“Do you suppose,” asked Hodge, in consternation, “that there are other parties searching for that mine?”
“It’s not unlikely.”
“But you were the only one told of its existence by Benson Clark.”