“We sure did!” answered Fred proudly, while the others were shaking hands with the new arrival. “A great big black bear! And we got a wildcat, too!” he continued.
While Jeff was preparing supper the boys gave Ruth’s father the particulars of the interview they had overheard at the old cabin on the other side of Big Bear Lake. Of course, the gentleman was tremendously interested and listened to every word with close attention.
“I believe you’ve solved the mystery of that disappearance,” said he, after they had finished. “Now the only thing to do is to get hold of that book of formulas.”
“Don’t you want to catch Mr. Flanders when he tries to buy the book from those rascals?” asked Spouter. “It seems to me a man who would be mean enough to do that ought to be exposed.”
“It’s just possible that Mr. Flanders may be innocent in the matter,” suggested Mr. Stevenson. “The other men may claim that they brought the book of formulas from Germany direct and that they have a right to it. However, it won’t do any harm to listen to what the men have to say when Flanders appears.”
During the evening the boys related what had taken place during their outing at Big Bear Lake and in return Mr. Stevenson told them something of what Ruth and the other girls had been doing, and of how matters were going with himself and Uncle Barney.
“If I can only get hold of that book of formulas I’ll be all right,” said the gentleman. “Otherwise everything will be at sixes and sevens.”
It was an impatient crowd that went to bed that night, and they were equally impatient after breakfast in the morning, all wanting to see how the affair concerning the book of formulas would terminate. It was not until about ten o’clock that they started for the other side of the lake. They landed at the spot where the boys had been two days before and, leaving the boatman behind, followed the same trail leading to the cabin in the woods.
“Now I suppose we had better hide,” said Mr. Stevenson. “If those men catch sight of us they may run away and we may never be able to catch them.”