When it was originally built, perhaps, the cabin had been made wind-proof in the customary way by filling the chinks between the logs with mud; which, drying in the course of time, would resemble mortar. In numerous places this had fallen away, leaving little gaps, through which the light came, varied according to the size of the opening.
Bob saw that these presented excellent peepholes. By putting an eye to such a crack pretty nearly all the interior of the cabin might be explored, granted that the light remained within.
And again did Bob find occasion to admire the smartness of his chum, while mentally deploring his own lack of the same quality.
Each of the three creepers selected a crack for his field of operations, and quickly put his eye to it.
What Bob saw, his two companions also gazed upon. It did not amount to much, for the lone cabin in the foothills was utterly devoid of anything in the shape of comforts, showing that it had long been deserted.
Two men were in sight. They sat upon a couple of old chairs that had once been built by the pioneer occupying the cabin, and left behind when he departed for regions unknown. There was a slab of wood that served as a table, such as it was; and upon this stood a lantern.
A fire crackled upon the hearth, and some sort of meal seemed to be cooking in a kettle; for the steam was coming out under the lid, and there was also an odor of beans.
Bob did not like the looks of the two men. Perhaps they might be prospectors; but their faces were certainly vicious ones. And judging from their appearance, they had lately been through more or less hard luck. They looked tired and ugly.
Bob immediately came to the conclusion that these must be the men he and his comrades had chased all the way from Cherry Blossom mine. They were talking at intervals, but while the murmur of their voices came to his ear, he could not make out a single word they said. The stream happened to drop several feet in a little waterfall close by; and this created a volume of sound calculated to deaden any ordinary noise.
Bob pulled Frank’s head down close to his mouth, so he could whisper. It was very important, in his eyes at least, that he should start off right. If these two men were only strangers, in whom they had no interest, what folly for him to keep on believing that they were the gold thieves.