"Bigger cats on Tacker's mountain," he grunted. "Want to sell it?"
Chunky shook his head.
"Huh!" exclaimed the old man, rising and starting away.
"What's your hurry, sir?" asked the Professor politely.
"Must shut up the pigs. The little red-faced bear over there by the fire might get loose with his club again," and the mountaineer strode from the camp without another word.
Stacy Brown hung his head in chagrin, while the boys laughed heartily at what they considered a most excellent joke on Stacy.
"Chatty old person, isn't he, Mr. Thomas?" grinned Ned.
"Well, not exactly. But he's one of the best hunters on the Park Range. Besides, he is credited with knowing more about what's hidden under these mountains than any other man on them. But Ben doesn't care much for money. He'll set us right about the game when the time comes. If the game is not running he'll stay away and say nothing. However, at the right moment, you'll see old Ben Tackers and his dogs suddenly appearing in camp. It will do you no good to ask him questions. He'll tell me in a word what he has to say, and I shall have to guess the rest."
"And you will know what he means?" asked Tad.
"I reckon," grinned Lige.
"In about the same way he told me to-night that there were some bad men in these parts—prospectors they called themselves—who were trying to locate some sort of a claim——"