"Your reasoning is all right, my boy. We will hope the sailboat is all right, too. Come on."
CHAPTER XIV.
THE HERMIT"S POWER.
Around the sh.o.r.e of the cove the two boys went toward the hut. As they approached it Frank placed his hands to his mouth in the form of a horn, and shouted:
"Oh, Gabe! Oh, Mr. Blake!"
His voice came back in a distinct echo from a distant rocky steep, but that was all the answer he received. The rising breeze stirred the open door, seeming to wave it at the boys in derision, but the air of loneliness about the place was oppressive.
"There"s no one about," said Frank.
"Not a soul," agreed Harry.
They reached the cabin and looked in. It had not been occupied for two months, at least.
"Big Gabe is dead or gone," said Merriwell, with sincere regret. "I hoped to find him here."
"Well, let"s see if his boat is all right," came anxiously from Rattleton. "That is what we want to know most."
Leaving their wheels leaning against a tree, they hastened to the spot where the boat lay moored at a short distance from the sh.o.r.e.
"We"ll have to swim to get it," said Frank. "It is plain that other boat in which we saw Belmont and the dwarf was used by Gabe to get from the sh.o.r.e to the sailboat."
Frank stripped off quickly and plunged into the lake, although the water was cold, as he well knew from recent experience.
Out to the boat he swam, came up by her stern, and got in without difficulty, which was a very neat thing to do, as the average boy would have tried to crawl in over the side, with the probable result of upsetting the boat.
"How"s she look, Merry?" called Harry, anxiously.
"O. K.," answered Frank. "There"s some water in her, but it is a small amount, and the sails are well reefed. They may be somewhat rotten, but we"ll be careful of them."
"How are we to get our wheels on board?"
Frank stood up and surveyed the bottom, which he could do with ease, because of the unruffled surface of the cove, as the wind did not touch it there.
"There"s a channel leading up to that large rock," he said. "I"ll bring the boat up there."
"Look out to not get her aground so she can"t be brought off," warned Harry. "That would be a sc.r.a.pe."
"I"ll look out."
Frank did not find it difficult to get up the anchor, and then, with the aid of a long oar, he guided the boat to the rock.
In the meantime, Harry had hastened to bring the bicycles down to the cove, and they were all ready to be taken on board. This was accomplished, and Harry followed them.
"Now away, away," he cried. "We"ll set our course for yonder sh.o.r.e."
"Of course," punned Frank, and Rattleton made a grimace.
"Bad--very bad," he said. "That habit has been the cause of more sudden deaths than anything else of which I know."
Frank laughed, and they pushed the boat from the great rock.
Rattleton set about unfurling the sails and getting them ready for hoisting.
"Are you a sailor, Merry?" he asked, as if struck by a new thought.
"Am I?" cried Frank. "Ha! ha! also ho! ho! Wait a wee, and you shall see what you shall see."
"Then you have been to sea?"
Frank gave the other boy a look of reproach.
"And you had the nerve to do that after saying what you did about the bad pun I made a short time ago!" he cried. "Rattleton, your crust is something awful!"
They made preparations for running up the sail, saw that the tiller was all right and the rudder worked properly, and looked after other things. The bicycles were in the way, but that could not be helped.
Harry aided Frank in setting the sail, and, with the aid of the oar, the boat was worked out to a point where they could feel the breeze.
"By Jove! this is rather jolly," commented Rattleton, as they began to make headway. "With a fair wind, we"ll run over there in a short time, and then--then if we can find that girl!"
"My boy, your face is aglow with rapture at the thought," smiled Frank. "You have been hit a genuine heart blow. Look out that it doesn"t knock you out."
Away they went, making fair speed, although the boat was decidedly crude and c.u.mbersome.
The mountainous region beyond the lake was wild and picturesque, but, fortunately, the boys found a cut that led down to the very sh.o.r.e of the lake.
They reached a spot where they could run up close to the sh.o.r.e, which enabled them to take their bicycles off without trouble.
The boat was made fast, the sails having been reefed once more, and then the lads deliberately mounted their wheels and attempted to ride into the cut.
This was not so difficult as might be thought, for they found what seemed to be an antelope "run" that led from the sh.o.r.e, and they pedaled along that path.
"It was somewhere in this region that we found the retreat of the gang of money makers when I was here before," said Frank.
"What"s that? A gang that made money?"
"Yes."
"I suppose they had some kind of an old hut here-abouts in which they did the work?"
"They had a cave--a most wonderful cave it was said to be. That cave had never been fully explored, and---- By Jove!"