"Spooks," laughed Ham dryly.
"What made that ax fall?" questioned Willis in a voice which betrayed his feeling. They advanced cautiously toward the corner. There was a scamper of tiny feet, and a large gray rat bounded across the floor and dropped out of sight through a long opening between the floor and the wall. In a moment Willis was down on his hands and knees, investigating.
"Well, of all things," he said, as he looked up laughingly at Ham; "we have located our mysterious robber. Here are all of our precious fire starters." Ham stooped to see for himself, and there, under the stove in the corner, was a neat little pile of pine slivers.
"If that rat lived in the city," observed Ham, "he'd be a shoplifter, sure. It's strange he hasn't stolen our food?"
"Ham, I'm going to the mine. Do you want to stay here or go along?" Ham thought a moment, then began to pull on his coat. As he passed the fireplace, he threw on another log, then the two boys stepped out into the morning air. Ham carefully locked the door behind them—he always took that precaution.
"I'd like to know who tried to get into this house, Willis?" he said as they struck the trail following the footprints of the earlier party up the canyon. The sound of hammering still came occasionally from the hill.
"Perhaps it was the same men that passed this morning," replied Willis. "I wonder why they didn't stop and try the door; they must have seen that it was unlocked."
"Perhaps they wanted to pass unnoticed."
"No, that couldn't be, for they were talking loudly as they passed."
"Perhaps they didn't notice the cabin door at all."