The boys searched the cabin for two days until not a sliver of the inside remained uninvestigated. Then, after putting up their tents, they began taking the structure down, log by log.
On the third day they found what they sought in the heart of a rotten log. Antoine had hidden it in a secure place. Will had no difficulty in opening the belly of the little image, and there he found the last will of Simon Tupper, bequeathing his entire property to Frederick Tupper.
"That settles the case, boys, so far as we are concerned," Will said, "and I think we"d better be getting back to Chicago in order to straighten things out."
"You talk about getting back to Chicago like we could take the elevated and get there in an hour!" laughed Sandy. "I guess that you forget that we"ve got three hundred miles of wilderness to travel before we reach the railroad station!"
"Well, we"ve got our canoes, haven"t we?" asked Tommy.
"Yes," Will answered, "and if we want to use the canoes, we"ll have to wait until the river opens in the spring. We can get out on the ice all right, I guess."
At the end of two weeks the boys found themselves at a way station on the Canadian Pacific road. After that it did not take them long to reach Chicago. During the trip down they had rather enjoyed the hunting and fishing. Once or twice they had caught sight of a man whom they believed to be the guide the East Indian had secured, but after a time the man disappeared entirely and was seen no more.
Oje accompanied them part of the way and then much to their regret, turned back.
The finding of the will, of course, settled the Tupper estate for good and all, and the boys were well rewarded for what they had done.
"There"s one thing I"d like to know," Will said, as they sat in Mr.
Horton"s office after all the adventures of the trip had been related, "and that is where this second Little Bra.s.s G.o.d came from, and how this East Indian got into the Hudson Bay country in quest of the other Bra.s.s G.o.d about as quick as we did."
"That has all been explained," the attorney replied. "From your description, Antoine is undoubtedly the man who took the Little Bra.s.s G.o.d in which we were interested from the p.a.w.n shop. The evening papers of that day described the burglary of the Tupper home and referred particularly to the taking of the Little Bra.s.s G.o.d from the mantle in the library.
"The newspapers said at that time that the taking of the image would doubtless result in the discovery of the burglar. In this, the newspapers were wrong. The burglar has never been brought to punishment.
"On the other hand, however, the taking of the Bra.s.s G.o.d led to the recovery of two sacred ornaments belonging in a Hindu temple in India. It seems that two prominent Hindus read the article concerning the Little Bra.s.s G.o.d and made inquiries at police headquarters and at all the p.a.w.n shops in the city concerning it.
The idols had been stolen years before and these men considered it their duty to restore them to the temple if in their power to do so.
"They found one of the Little Bra.s.s G.o.ds without difficulty, it having been purchased a few months ago by a dealer in antiques.
They might have known of the wealth contained in the belly of the idol, but it is certain that the dealer in antiques never did. Of course the East Indians learned all that any one knew concerning the destination of the image taken from the p.a.w.nshop, and so one of them, the man who was killed, went north in quest of it.
"So far as Pierre is concerned, it is probable that he was picked up here in Chicago and sent north by Sigsbee. Of course we shall never know the truth of that matter, but it is plain that he is not the man who took the idol from the p.a.w.nbrokers" shop.
"Well, that ends the case so far as we"re concerned," George replied, "and if you"ve got any more Boy Scout excursions in view, Mr. Horton, I wish you"d suggest a hot climate for the next one.
It seems to me like I never would get warm again!"
"What do you think of the people who live up in the Hudson Bay country all the year round?" asked Mr. Horton. "How would you like to wander around there year after year, as Oje does?"
"Say that Oje"s a good Indian!" Tommy exclaimed. "I tried to get him to come on down to Chicago with me, but he said he wouldn"t live here on a bet."
"What are you going to do with the two Little Bra.s.s G.o.ds and all the precious stones?" asked Sandy.
"I would suggest," Mr. Horton replied, "that the two idols be returned to the Hindu still remaining in the city, the companion of the one who was killed, and that the jewels be returned with them."
"That"s a lot of money to give away," Sandy suggested.
"There"s nothing compulsory about it!" laughed Mr. Horton. "If you boys want to run the risk of being chased up by those Hindus until they finally get their hands on the idols, you may do so."
"Not for mine!" exclaimed Thede. "I don"t want any dusky East Indians chasing me up!"
It was finally decided to restore the two little Bra.s.s G.o.ds with the jewels to the Hindu. Later the body of the East Indian was taken from its grave near James Bay and transferred to his own country.
"There"s one little commission I"d like to have you boys undertake," Mr. Horton said, after all the details of the Tupper case had been settled. "There"s quite a bunch of trouble down here in a coal mine that I"d like to have you boys look into."
"Is it good and warm down there?" asked George.
"Suppose you walk down a few thousand feet under ground, some day, and make a note of the temperature!" laughed Tommy.
"Of course we want to go!" replied Will.
After a few days in Chicago, the Boy Scouts were off on their travels again. The story of their adventures will be found in the next volume of this series ent.i.tled.
"Boy Scouts in the Coal Caverns; or, The Light in Tunnel Six."