"Muky is the best fellow on earth."
"And Maballa is just as good," said the girl loyally.
The boy held out his hand.
"Let's shake on that, Minnetaki! I'll handle Mukoki, you take care of Maballa. What a picnic this next trip will be!"
"And there'll be lots and lots of adventures, won't there?" asked the girl a little anxiously.
"Plenty of them." Rod became immediately serious. "This will be the most important of all our trips, Minnetaki, that is, if John Ball lives. I haven't told the others, but I believe that great cavern holds something for us besides gold!"
The smile left the girl's face. Her eyes were soft and eager.
"You believe that—Dolores—"
"I don't know what to believe. But—we'll find something there!"
For an hour Rod and Minnetaki talked of John Ball and of the strange things he said in his delirium. Then the girl rejoined Mrs. Drew and the princess mother, while Rod went in search of Mukoki and Wabigoon. That night the big event happened. George Newsome, the factor, gave a reluctant consent which meant that Wabi's sister and Maballa would accompany the adventurers on their next journey into the untraveled solitudes of Hudson Bay.