Resuming their journey, the travelers made only one more stop, that at noon, to get dinner. They had seen no signs of human habitation, and, as the afternoon wore on, and no house or cabin was seen, they began to feel that they might as well prepare to camp out again.
As they were descending a gentle, sloping hill that led down into a small valley, just as the sun was setting, they saw, about a mile ahead a lonely cabin. The sight of smoke coming from the chimney told them there was some one at home.
“I hope whoever lives there can accommodate us,” remarked Chunky. “My appetite’s getting the upper hand of me again.”
“It don’t look large enough to hold us all,” observed Jerry.
“There’s a barn, or some sort of building, in the rear,” remarked Ned. “Some of us can use that if the man or woman lets us.”
A few minutes later the auto came to a stop in front of the cabin, which was indeed a lonely one, not another dwelling, large or small, showing in the whole valley.
“Good evening,” greeted an old man, with snow-white hair falling over his shoulders. He came to the door of the shack, and seemed to regard the coming travelers as a matter of course. “I am glad to see you,” he went on. “You are just in time.”
“Time for what?” asked Mr. Snodgrass.
“For the great final and successful experiment,” proceeded the aged man. “The test is about to begin. Come in and see me make gold from common earth. At last I have found the long-lost secret!”
The eyes of the lonely man glowed with a strange light, and he seemed so excited that the boys did not know what to do.