The older man seemed scarcely less excited than Mr. Ranquist. He wet his forefinger, touched the end of the rod with it, and then brought his finger to his tongue. He appeared to be tasting some substance. In a moment Mr. Ranquist followed his example, and then the look of triumph came on Mr. Dudley's face, as it had on the countenance of the younger engineer. Roger, forgetting his role of detective, raised himself up, trying to get a sight of the mysterious substance. In the gleam of the sun, on the point of the rod which Mr. Ranquist held, the boy beheld, rather faintly, however, the glitter of something white and sparkling, something that looked like the white crystals of snow.
Mr. Ranquist quickly whittled out a little stake from a tree branch and drove it into the small hole in the earth, whence he had drawn the rod. This done the men carefully packed their tools in the valise and started away. Roger watched them until they were out of sight. Then he hurried to the spot. He pulled up the stake, expecting to see something to disclose the mystery and reward him for his investigation. But there was nothing to indicate what the men had found that pleased them so.
Roger was greatly disappointed. But he comforted himself with the reflection that, at least, he was on the track of the mystery. He thought quickly and realized that some older head than his must take up the problem now. Yet whom could he tell? Mr. Kimball, he reasoned, would hardly be in a position to give an expert opinion as to what was under the earth. Then, too, he did not want to raise false hopes for his uncle that might be shattered after investigation. He could not imagine what it was the men had found, that they regarded as of such value. They evidently expected to find it, which added to the complications. How did they know at about that spot something was hidden under the surface? Clearly it must be some mineral substance Roger thought, but what? It didn't seem to be gold, unless it was in some peculiar form. Whatever it was, would it be worth the trouble that might be necessary before it could be come upon and dug out, unless some one, who knew just what they were searching after, did the work? And it was evident that the two men did possess this knowledge, which was so needful.
Roger was in a dilemma, but he resolved to discover a way out, if possible. Carefully marking the location of the stake, that he might find it again, he started home. He came into the vineyard just as his cousin was clearing up the last of the brush.
"Well," said Adrian, "I thought maybe you had gone to the house."
"No," answered Roger, "I was just walking in the woods for my health," and he smiled a little.
For certain reasons he did not want even Adrian to know what he had seen.
"We'll take a long walk to-morrow," said Adrian, breaking into a merry whistle. "But something tells me it is nearly supper-time. I'm as hungry as a bear. Hi, Jack!" he called to the dog, and all three started for home, Roger in a sort of day-dream over what he had discovered.