“Can you describe the fellow?” asked Ned, a quick suspicion coming to his mind.
“Of course I can,” was the reply, and the remainder of the answer gave an accurate word photograph of one Albert Lemon.
Ned was thinking fast. How had Lemon reached the eastern side of the divide so quickly. He, himself, had traveled swiftly from San Francisco, leaving soon after his exit from the bachelor apartment where the strange and not entirely satisfactory interview had taken place. He had left the man who claimed to be Albert Lemon half dazed and weakened from the effects of opium—still weary from a long and exhausting journey, as shown by his clothing, and yet the fellow had beaten him out in the race to the mountains.
Why? Certainly not to take charge of the body of his unfortunate friend, for the grave was not there, but in a little hollow away to the north and near the lake. His business seemed to lie with the outlaws who had, apparently, committed the crime. Why? Had the man been killed as the result of a conspiracy between the two interests?
This point was worth looking into, for the motive for the deed might also prove to be the motive for other crimes—among them the burning of forests.
CHAPTER X.—CHASING THE MILKY WAY.
While the boys were exchanging experiences with Ernest Whipple, talking over Boy Scout matters and arranging for a sleeping place for the stranger, Ned was busy with his aeroplane. It had not suffered in the least from the heat and wind, and there was plenty of gasoline on hand for a journey which he was thinking of taking.
“Where are we goin’ to-night?” Jimmie asked, finally, strolling over to the spot where the great bird lay.
“As the wind is right,” Ned laughed, “I thought I’d take a sail over the divide and see what the alleged foresters are up to.”
“All right,” the boy said, “just wait until I get a big blanket to wrap up in and I’ll go with you.”