"Oh! no, we're bound to see the famous Hudson Bay before we leave this section," the other assured him; "but I've been thinking things over, and come to a certain conclusion."
"Let's hear what it is, won't you, Ned?" Jimmy besought him.
"Yes, that is if Francois is through telling us about these parties."
"How about that, Francois?" Ned asked, turning to the voyageur.
"Eet is about all zat is worth knowing, sare. Of course, we haf learn zat zis man who is captaine to ze bunch, he is mooch pig, a giant, and zere is sooch a man I know whose name eet is Sol. Greggs; heem it might be who is conducting zis gang. He is a pad man, a thief who robbed traps many times, and so he gif me zis scar on ze cheek when we fight eet out."
"That sounds just like the kind of a rascal the syndicate would send up here to run things, if they were trying to work a tremendous swindle and expected to keep curious people from investigating," Jack boldly declared.
"But how about you telling what your plans are, Ned?" queried Frank.
"It's only fair you should know," replied the other; "so listen to what my idea is. In the first place, according to the map we have of the country up here, we believe that this supposed-to-be-wonderful mine must lie somewhere to the left of the mouth of this very river. Now it struck me that perhaps we might carry out our plans better if we hid our boats somewhere near by, and took a scout off in that direction."
"That does sound mighty sensible, Ned!" admitted Jack Bosworth, after considering the suggestion for a brief time.
"Suppose we try it," Frank added.