“I wouldn’t have taken one thousand dollars for them,” said the aviator sadly. “In fact, I regret their loss more than the wreck of the biplane.”
“We’ll make a thorough search for them,” assured the doctor as he left his patient.
This conversation took place shortly before noon. After dinner the boys were instructed to meet in the assembly room. There the doctor retold Mr. Miles’ story in detail and then said:
“I’m going to give you another half holiday, boys—”
“Hooray!” exclaimed Ferdinand Sharer in a loud whisper.
“Hold on, Ferdinand. Shut off your enthusiasm, for this isn’t going to be an occasion of play. You have a very serious duty to perform, and I want you to go about it seriously.”
“We will,” assured several of the boys.
“Yes, I know you intend to be serious,” said the owner of Lakefarm, with a wise shake of his iron-gray locks. “But I want you to be more than serious. I want you to use your wits, too, a little. A treasure has been lost and I want you to go in search of it; and if you don’t find it, I want you to furnish a clew as to what has become of it.”
Dr. Byrd’s Boy Scouts could no longer contain themselves. Most of them just had to give vent to their feelings with loud-whispered “hoorays!” or other characteristic expressions of glee.
“Remember, now,” insisted the master of the school just before he instructed the troop of Scouts to file out; “I want you to use your heads and do some good work. That bag of relics is valuable and must be found. If it isn’t lying on the ground near the place where the aeroplane struck, I want to know why. Mr. Porter will go with you.”