"Certainly we'll give you that chance, Mr. Stevenson," answered Jack readily. "We are after the two rascals who stole that treasure box. Tell Uncle Barney that we are going to continue the hunt while you are doing your talking. Maybe Mr. Powell would like to go with us."
"Certainly. I don't want to interfere with this affair between these other men," was the quick reply.
Leaving Ruth's father to talk matters over with the old lumberman, the Rover boys and Mr. Powell began the journey down the side of Snowshoe Island. As they proceeded, the boys told the man many of the particulars of how Professor Lemm and Mr. Brown, accompanied by Slugger and Nappy, had come to the island to take possession, and then how the old lumberman had been attacked in the cave and how the precious blue tin box had been stolen.
"That's certainly carrying matters with a high hand," was Mr. Powell's comment. "I sincerely trust the old man gets the box back. If he doesn't, it may cause him a great deal of trouble, especially if those deeds have not been recorded since the old courthouse burnt down. I remember well that that fire caused a great deal of trouble among property owners in this county."
He told the boys that he and his wife and daughter May had been visiting the Stevensons at the time the Rovers' telegram arrived. He had left his wife and daughter to continue the visit, and had accompanied Mr. Stevenson on the trip just for the sake of a little outing.
"This quarrel between old Uncle Barney, as he is called, and the Stevensons is all nonsense," he declared flatly. "It could have been cleared up years ago if the old man would only have listened to reason. But he was much upset by his financial losses, and more upset when his wife died, and he wouldn't listen to a word. Now that he is willing to talk I am sure they can patch it up."
About a mile was covered, and then the Rovers and Mr. Powell found where Slugger and Nappy had gone ashore again at a point where the island was quite low.
"I'll wager they thought they could cross here with ease, and thus save themselves the trouble of going around the south point," said Jack, and in this surmise he was correct.
Once again the trail led into the woods, and now it was fairly straight up to a point where the ground became rougher. Here they found the snow scattered around some rocks, and rightly guessed that one of the youths had had a tumble.
"And I guess the tumble must have hurt some," announced Randy. "Look at those footprints further on, will you? One of the fellows did a lot of limping."