Instantly a yell of laughter went up. Parker and several other occupants of the tent rolled on their bunks in paroxysms of delight. The two scoutmasters, smiling broadly, slipped away. Vedder, jaws agape, stared at Ranny as if unable to believe his hearing.
"An--eel?" he gasped.
"That"s all," grinned Ranny. "You"ve got the whole camp stirred up over a blooming eel instead of a snake."
The fat boy"s teeth came together with a click, and, with face flaming, he flounced over to his bunk. "You fellows put it there!" he accused angrily.
"Oh, never!" chuckled Frank Sanson. "I"ll bet it got fond of you, like the crabs, and climbed up there to make friends. And now they"ve gone and smashed the poor thing all up, and--"
A roar of laughter drowned his words, and Vedder, grabbing up the eel, flung it square at his tormentor. But Frank ducked, and the slimy missile flew past his head to land with a thud on the sand outside. A moment later the sound of taps sent everybody scurrying for his bunk; but for some time after lights were out subdued giggles could be heard from all parts of the camp.
For at least an hour next morning Vedder was very dignified and offish.
But he was too easy-going to maintain a grudge very long, and before dinner he had become his comfortable, smiling self again. It was noticed, however, that during the remainder of his stay in camp he pointedly ignored the entire race of snakes, eels, and kindred reptiles.
The athletic meet was a great success. The scouts were divided, according to weight, into juniors and seniors, and there was keen compet.i.tion in the running, jumping, and swimming events. But great as was the interest excited, it seemed excelled the following afternoon when the crowd set out to resume their hunt for the lost copper-mine. This was both a compet.i.tion and a fascinating mystery, and a good many beside the members of Tent Three had apparently fallen victims to the spell.
When they reached the starting-point and separated, Ranny and his bunch lost no time in heading for the old foundation. A little digging opened up what seemed to have been the main entrance to the building, but, search as they might, they failed to find anything that in the least resembled a road or path or tramway leading to the mine entrance.
Evidently the means by which ore was formerly brought to the smelter had been obliterated by the pa.s.sing years, and it looked as if they would have to proceed from this point more or less at random.
"It can"t be so very far off," said Ranny, as they lined up before him.
"We"d better take the hillside first, and remember to look over every foot of ground. The entrance may have been covered by a fall of rock, so we can"t count on finding it open. Keep about the same distance apart as you were the other day, and whistle if you strike anything promising."
They set off promptly, Dale Tompkins as before being about the middle of the line, with Court Parker on his right. The thick undergrowth and the rocks piled up in confusion made progress necessarily slow and prevented him from seeing very far in any direction. But every now and then the rustling of bushes or the cracking of dead twigs under foot on either side told Dale that he was keeping on the right course.
For over an hour he searched systematically, zigzagging back and forth along his beat and examining the ground carefully. The slope grew steeper, and at length he paused to wipe the perspiration from his forehead. The sound of foot-falls on his right was plainly audible, and through the undergrowth he glimpsed a khaki-clad figure.
"Say, Court," he called, raising his voice slightly, "found anything yet?"
"It"s not Court," came back in Frank Sanson"s familiar tones. "What the d.i.c.kens are you doing so far over, Tommy? Did you change places?"
"Why, no!" Dale"s voice was puzzled; instinctively he moved toward the other boy. "I"ve been keeping right along the way I started," he went on, as they came face to face. "Court was on this side then."
"Sure! He was on my left. I haven"t seen him for half an hour or more, but I kept hearing him every now and then. You don"t suppose he could have strayed over behind you and to the other side?"
"I don"t see how. I"d have heard him, wouldn"t I?"
For a moment or so the two boys stood looking at one another in a puzzled fashion. "It"s funny," Sanson said at length. "He wouldn"t have gone back, either. If he found something, he"d have whistled. Let"s call and see if he"s over the other way."
Tompkins nodded, and together they walked briskly back a few steps. But it was Ranny Phelps who answered their hail, and in a few moments they saw him coming toward them through the brush.
"What"s up?" he asked quickly. "You haven"t found--"
"No; it"s Court," interrupted Tompkins. "He started out between Frank and me, but he must have got mixed up somehow, for we can"t find him.
We thought he might be over your way."
"I haven"t seen him," said Ranny, briefly. He hesitated an instant and then, pursing up his lips, whistled shrilly. "Best way"s to get them all together and straighten things out," he went on. "If he"s off his beat, the chances are that part of the ground isn"t being looked over at all.
This way, fellows."
Bob Gibson was the first to hurry up. Then came Trexler, Bennie Rhead, and lastly Vedder, panting with his haste. But Parker was not among them, nor did Ranny"s repeated whistling bring sight or sound of the missing boy. None of the others had seen him since leaving the old foundation, and as they stood there, puzzled and a bit anxious, Tompkins suddenly remembered that for some little time before the meeting with Sanson he had failed to hear the rustlings on his right that had kept him aware of Court"s presence. At the time it had seemed unimportant, but now he made haste to mention it.
"Bennie, you chase back to the smelter and see if he"s there by any chance," ordered Ranny, crisply, when Dale had finished. "The rest of us get in a close line and beat back along Court"s territory. I can"t imagine anything happening to him that Tompkins or Sanson wouldn"t hear or know about--unless, of course, it"s a joke."
His jaw squared in a way that boded ill for the volatile Courtlandt if this should prove to be one of his familiar escapades. But, somehow, Tompkins did not believe that this could be the explanation. Court had been too keenly enthusiastic about the search to delay it by senseless horse-play. Though he, no more than Ranny, could think of any accident which would render the boy unconscious without his making a sound of any sort, Dale took his place in the line with a feeling of distinct uneasiness.
So close together that they could almost touch each other"s outstretched hands, the scouts started down the slope. There was little conversation, for by this time all were more or less worried. Just where they expected to find the missing boy would have been hard to tell, but a rabbit could scarcely have escaped their close scrutiny of bush and rock and th.o.r.n.y tangle.
It was fifteen minutes or so before they came to a giant rock that thrust its lichened bulk up from the forest mold. At least that was what it seemed at first--a single, flat-topped ma.s.s of stone, ten or twelve feet through and about as high. But pa.s.sing close to one side, Tompkins and Sanson discovered that it was split in two pieces, one of which had fallen away from the other just enough to leave a jagged crack, not more than three feet wide, between them. A spreading ma.s.s of laurel screened the opening from any but the closest inspection, and as he pushed this to one side Dale gave a sudden start and stared intently at the ground beneath it.
"Look at that!" he exclaimed, turning to Frank, who was close behind.
The latter pressed forward and glanced over his shoulder. "What? Oh! You mean-- Gee! Didn"t you break it off?"
"No!"
Dale"s heart was beating unevenly as he bent to pick up the tiny broken twig. There were three leaves on it, as fresh and green as those on the parent bush; the broken end showed white and living. He met Sanson"s glance and, dropping the twig, stepped into the jagged crevice. A moment later he gave a smothered cry. At his feet lay a scout hat of brown felt. A few inches beyond yawned a black hole, the leaves and mold and rotten branches about its edges scuffed and torn and freshly broken.
CHAPTER XXV
LOST MINE FOUND
For a long moment the two boys stood motionless, staring wide-eyed and dismayed at the gaping hole before them. Then Dale came to himself with a sudden stiffening of the muscles.
"Get Ranny!" he snapped over his shoulder. And even as the words pa.s.sed his lips he was conscious of a thrill of thankfulness that the older fellow was here to depend upon. A second later he was stretched out on the ground, his head thrust over the hole.
"Court!" he called loudly. "Court--are you down there?"
For an instant there was no sound. Then his words beat back on him in a queer, sardonic kind of echo that sent a shiver flickering down his spine. He called again, but still there was no reply. Staring down, he tried to penetrate the darkness, but his straining sight could make out nothing but black void. A vivid picture of the mine-shaft he had once seen in Pennsylvania flashed into his mind and turned him cold. Then a step sounded behind him, and lifting his head, he looked into Ranny"s set face.
"Does he answer?"
"No."
"Let me get there."
Scrambling to his feet, Dale flattened out against the rock and Ranny took his place. Two or three times the latter shouted Parker"s name, but only the echo answered. Then he stood up, and, squeezing past Tompkins, pressed through the crowd of boys gathered about the entrance to the crevice. His face was a little pale, but his jaw was square and he held a scout whistle in one hand. A moment later three long shrill blasts resounded through the woods.
It was the scout danger-signal--a call for help. The boys stood motionless, listening intently for an answer. Presently it came, two short blasts, rather faint and far off, from over the top of the hill.
"That"s Mr. Reed, I guess," said Ranny. "I hope he"ll bring that coil of rope along. But of course he will. He"s not the kind to forget any--"
The words died on his lips; his eyes widened in startled surprise.
The others, following the direction of his bewildered gaze, gasped and stared. Bennie Rhead, returned from a fruitless trip to the old foundation, cried out sharply, an undercurrent of fright in his voice.
Around the corner of the great rock Court Parker had stepped quietly into view. He was bareheaded and dirt-streaked, but his face nevertheless wore a broad grin, and after the first shock of surprise had pa.s.sed, Bob Gibson started forward angrily.