“Are you sure it was Tate?” demanded Andy, who had had his back turned to the rider.
“It certainly was,” answered his twin.
“What in the world can that man be doing here?” demanded Jack.
“Don’t ask me!” returned Randy. “I suppose now they’ve let him out of prison he has as much right to roam around as Davenport has.”
“I remember now that Tate did come from the West,” said Jack. “He was a miner before he became an oil man. Perhaps he’s interesting himself in the mines in this vicinity.”
“He couldn’t have anything to do with the Rolling Thunder mine, could he?” questioned Fred.
“I’m sure I don’t know.”
“Let’s go in and ask Mr. Terwilliger if he knows Tate,” suggested Fred, after a pause.
“Never heard of such an individual,” answered the storekeeper when the question had been put to him. “I don’t believe he belongs around here. Anyway, he doesn’t get any mail at this office.”
The boys talked the matter over for several minutes more. But then they were anxious to get at their letters and returned to the store stoop for that purpose. There were long letters from the girls postmarked at Jacksonville, Florida, where the steam yacht on which they were taking their outing had stopped. One letter to Jack was from Ruth, and this, it can well be imagined, the young major read with much interest. Ruth was enjoying herself greatly and trusted that Jack and his cousins were having a good time.
“Hello, here’s news that’s mighty interesting!” cried Randy. “Here is a letter from Phil Franklin, and he says that he and Barry Logan have made half a dozen efforts to bring up the silver trophy from the bottom of the lake. He says that once they had it hooked up and brought it to the top of the water, but before they could grab it the thing slipped from the trawl and sank out of sight again.”
“Oh, what a shame!” murmured his twin. “To almost have it and then lose it again!”
“It’s just like the big fish that gets away,” returned Fred. “But, anyway,” he added, his face brightening, “they must know the exact spot now.”
“They do,” answered his cousin. “Phil writes that as soon as the vase slipped out of sight he and Barry took a piece of fish line, weighted it well, and let it go down to the bottom. Then they tied a bit of board to the top of the line, and on this hoisted a rag on a stick so they could see the board from a distance. He wrote this letter the day after the thing happened and said they were going out again just as soon as it stopped raining.”
“They’ll get it, I’m sure of it!” declared Jack.
“Well, I’ll feel better when that silver trophy is safe in the glass case in the gymnasium,” answered Randy.
All was going well with the folks who were taking the steam yacht trip, and for this the boys were thankful. They had a letter from Sam Rover, and from this learned that he and Jack’s father were exceedingly busy in Wall Street. There was also a letter from Dick Rover, but this was for Tom. When the latter received this communication he read it with great satisfaction.
“Your dad is right on the job,” he said to Jack. “He had been communicating with two other stockholders in the Rolling Thunder mine and has got them to put their proxies in my hands. That means that I can vote for them at any meeting of the stockholders that may be called. Those two men represent a hundred and ten thousand dollars’ worth of stock. And that means that I can get along without Leeds if I have to. All I shall want now is the backing of Mr. Renton and Mr. Parkhurst and then I’ll be ready to put the screws on Garrish.”
The boys told Tom Rover of having seen Tate, and this interested the twins’ father at once.
“You want to keep your eyes open for that rascal,” said Tom. “He used to be in cahoots with Davenport, and he may be yet.”
“We’ll watch out for him, never fear,” answered Jack.
All of the boys were anxious to go farther westward on Sunset Trail and it was finally arranged for them to take an outing to last several days. They went on horseback, carrying such things as they needed with them.
“It’s a pretty wild country, don’t forget that,” said Tom Rover. “But you have been out before and have always been able to take care of yourselves, so I don’t suppose that I should worry. Just the same, remember that I shall be thinking of you,” and he smiled faintly.
“And we’ll be thinking about you, Dad,” said Andy. “I hope by the time we get back you’ll be in a position to tell Garrish where he gets off.”
“I hope so myself, Son.”
“I’ll bet you have a hot time with him when you tell him to clear out,” put in Randy.
“It’s awfully queer you don’t get some sort of word from that Lew Billings,” declared Jack.
“You couldn’t get word very well if he’s dead,” was Fred’s comment.
“Hank Butts gave me an idea yesterday,” said Tom Rover. “He’s got a hunch that Billings was made a prisoner by the Garrish crowd first and that he got away and is now in hiding, probably watching what is being done by that outside company that is taking some of our ore. Of course, Butts may be mistaken, but he’s a rather shrewd old fellow and may have struck the truth.”
As the weather was clear and warm the boys did not deem it necessary to take much in the way of shelter. They carried their sleeping bags and also a dog tent and blankets, and that was all. They took with them a few cooking utensils and a few necessary provisions.
“We know we can get fish and we ought to be able to get some small game,” said Jack. “Anyway, it won’t hurt us to rough it. If we have to starve a bit, why, that may be good for our digestions,” and he smiled faintly.
“We shan’t starve as long as we have got our beans and bacon,” answered Fred. “We’ll get along. We’ve done it before, and we can do it again.”
From Cal Corning they obtained directions regarding the best points to visit along Sunset Trail.
“That lake you fished in was Dogberry Lake,” said their host. “About ten miles farther on is Gansen Lake. I know you’ll like it up there. The fishing is good, and you ought to be able to stir up something in the way of game.”
Once on the road, the boys felt in high spirits and for the time being the trouble at the Rolling Thunder mine was forgotten. Swinging his cap high in the air, Andy led the way with Fred close behind him and Jack and Randy following.
“I’ll tell you what—this is the life!” sang out Andy gayly. “I feel as if I could keep riding right along to the Pacific Ocean.”
“Sounds good,” answered Fred. “But I think your horse will have something to say about that. You’d better take it a bit slow climbing these hills.”
The two Corning sisters had put up a lunch for the boys, and this was partaken of shortly after noon, when they reached a high spot on the trail. Here was a precipice, and standing on its brink they could look down into a stony valley six or seven hundred feet deep.
“Gee, this is a jumping-off place, I’ll say!” remarked Andy.
“It would be a bad spot for a runaway,” returned Jack.
Back of the precipice was some brushwood, as well as a number of tall trees, and here the boys proceeded to make themselves at home. They had sandwiches, cake, and some fruit, and that being so did not deem it necessary to start a fire for the purpose of making anything hot to drink. They had passed a spring in coming up to the precipice, and obtained a bucket of cool, clear water.
“This region is certainly a lonely one,” said Jack while they were eating. “Just think—we’ve been traveling for better than three hours and haven’t met a soul!”
“It would be a great place for a stage hold-up,” returned Randy. “The bandits could get away with almost anything out here.”
“We don’t want any hold-up,” put in Fred. “All we want to do is to enjoy ourselves,” and he leaned back contentedly against a tree while munching a chicken sandwich.
A little later found the boys again on the way, and by three o’clock in the afternoon they came in sight of Gansen Lake. The lake was supplied from a mountain torrent and the torrent contained a waterfall ten or twelve feet in height and half that in width.
“Here is certainly an ideal place for camping out!” exclaimed Jack. “To my mind, it could not be better.”
“It’s all to the mustard!” sang out Andy. “Let’s unload right here and call it a day.”
“That lake looks mighty inviting to me,” declared Fred. “I’ll say a swim wouldn’t go bad.”
“Now you’ve said something!” burst out Randy. “Let’s get settled as soon as we can and then go swimming.”
The idea of getting into the lake after the long and somewhat warm ride appealed to all the lads, and in less than quarter of an hour they had their horses unloaded and properly tethered and then hurried down to a point along the lake shore where the water looked particularly inviting.
“I don’t suppose there can be anything dangerous in this lake,” said Jack.
“Nothing more dangerous than a few sharks and whales,” answered Andy, with a grin. “What did you expect to find here—leviathans?”
“There might be some water snakes,” put in Fred. “However, I’m not going to worry about that. I’m going to have a swim,” and without further words he proceeded to disrobe and the others did likewise.
At first the mountain water seemed exceedingly cold. But soon the boys got used to it, and then they proceeded to have as much fun as possible. They dived and raced, and Andy and his brother indulged in all manner of horseplay. Near the shore they found the lake quite shallow, but farther out they were unable to touch bottom.
“These lakes are very deceiving,” said Jack. “Sometimes they lie right in between steep mountains and the bottom is hundreds of feet down.”
“We ought to be careful about diving too deep,” cautioned Randy. “There might be some outlet to this lake at the bottom. And if so, a fellow might be sucked down and be unable to come up again.”
“Let’s get up another race,” suggested Andy, after they had gotten through splashing water in each other’s faces.
“See that rock over yonder?” returned Fred. “Let’s race to that and back. Come on! Everybody ready?”
“All ready!”
“Then go!”
Away the boys started side by side, laughing and shouting merrily. Soon Randy pulled slightly to the front, with Jack close behind him.
“Hi, you fellows, wait for me!” spluttered Fred, who was last.
“The fellow who wins can cook supper for us!” sang out Jack.
“Nothing doing!” yelled back Randy. “The loser can cook supper and wash the dishes too.”
He came in ahead, the others following closely in a bunch. Then, somewhat out of breath, the four boys crawled out on some flat rocks to rest before swimming back to where they had left their clothing.
“My gracious!” suddenly exclaimed Andy, and leaped to his feet in astonishment. “Look there, will you?”
He pointed across the water to a spot midway between where they had left their clothing and their camping outfit.
“Wolves!” breathed Jack. “Three of them! What do you know about that!”