"We'll try out our scheme," Lanky declared later on, as they continued to walk along; "and then if it fails to bring results, why, to-morrow we can skirmish over in the region they've been combing day after day."
The morning passed, and so far the boys had not run across a single thing to give them encouragement.
"We don't seem to be getting anywhere," observed Frank.
"Let's swing more to the left, along this dip in the mountain," suggested Lanky. "Then we'll be gradually getting back to camp, and at the same time nearing the region where dad and his gang are working.
"It's mighty wild and leery looking over in that quarter," observed Frank. "Looks to me as though Nature had tried to turn things upside down many a time, in days long passed. Been landslides, too, that have changed the whole face of the country, carrying acres of trees and rocks down the mountain."
"That's one reason," observed the other eagerly, "I want to hunt there for the Lost Mountain which, you know, we decided was only a big mound. Remember, we figured it out from certain marks on the map that they stood for landslides? Let's go, Frank."
"A snack first, for I'm hungry, and then we're off," came the reply.
"All right. I've never yet declined to eat," laughed Lanky.
The boys found that the going became more difficult as one hour, and then two hours crept past. Still Lanky seemed to be growing more and more confident.
"Let me tell you, Frank!" he said later on. "Right now I firmly believe we're a whole lot closer to Lost Mountain than dad has ever been in three days' search. Why, any one of the several big humps we've run across might turn out to be the seat of Kinney's find."