The Outdoor Chums at Cabin Point Part 22

"A likely story, boy," sneered the other, "which may and may not be believed by the justice of the peace when you are brought before him.

Evidence no stronger than this has hung men before now."

"Whew!" gasped Bluff, startled more than he would have cared to admit upon hearing the vindictive old hermit talk in that strain.

Jerry and Will were both indignant.

"When we first came here," said the former, "we tripped so many times over that loose plank that we raised it up to settle the earth underneath. There was certainly no gold cup lying there then where you just now found it, I give you my word on that, sir!"

"Certainly not," agreed Mr. Dennison, "because at that time it was safe under my roof. But I want you to notice, Mr. Jeems, that they admit knowing of this hole under the loose plank. It made a very good hiding-place for valuable property, as you can see."

"Yes, sir," suddenly spoke up Frank, "and apparently this is not the first time it has been used for that same purpose. When we looked we found this silver coin there, a part of an old yellow envelope, and this fragment of what seems to have once been a baby's shoe."

He picked the several things up as he mentioned them, for they had been lying on a little shelf, where Frank himself had placed them days before. Watching Mr. Dennison's face, Frank saw it turn white as the eyes of the old man were focussed on that poor little remnant of what had once been a baby's shoe.

Involuntarily the old man thrust out his hand, and Frank quickly dropped the article into his palm. He could see that Mr. Dennison was very much affected. Doubtless memories long since buried were once more resurrected by the sight of that reminder of his once happy past.

Frank wondered whether he would relent and decide to let matters drop, or once more demand that the constable take them all to the village, to be held for trial before the justice.

When he saw the man thrust into his pocket the fragment of the tiny shoe, the leather of which was now dried up and hard, and then frown again at them, Frank expected the worst.

"Since you have also tried to deceive me, after robbing my house in this shameless manner," said Mr. Dennison, "I believe I shall be only doing my duty toward the community if I see to it that you are severely punished."

"Do you mean, sir, that you would have us arrested?" asked Frank.

"That is exactly my present intention," affirmed the other, showing that he was still angry, and bent on punis.h.i.+ng those he believed to have wronged him.

"But you have found your cup again, sir; and we still declare on our honor that until you picked it up just now none of us has ever set eyes on it before."

When Frank said this he found the keen orbs of the hermit fastened on his face as though the other would read his very soul through the windows of the boy's eyes; but not once did Frank flinch.

"That is very true, boy," said Mr. Dennison, "but I believe in justice, and that it is the wrong thing to be too lenient with culprits. When young fellows are given to such practices as this they need to be brought up with a round turn. So I mean to have the constable arrest you all!"

To the astonishment of Frank and his three companions, just at that moment there was a new element injected into the game. Some one hurriedly entered the cabin; and somehow Frank breathed a little more freely when he recognized the newcomer as the young man whom they had been able to help while on the way to Cabin Point.

It was Gilbert Dennison, the old hermit's nephew.

"Please wait a minute before you go to such extreme measures, Uncle!"

he exclaimed, as he hurried to the side of the hermit, whose face lost some of its stern expression as he recognized his relative.

"I'm glad to see you again, Nephew," he observed; "and pleased to give over into your keeping the cup you value so highly. I shall insist on your taking it back to town with you when you go. It has already given me one bad scare, and I do not feel able to stand another, with all the troubles I already stagger under."

"But what is this I heard you say about having these boys arrested, Uncle?" continued Gilbert. "Surely you must believe them when they protest their innocence? I have been up at the house, and was told about the cup's disappearance; also that you had come down here with the constable, meaning to have some one taken up for the crime. But I hope you will not think of doing such a thing now."

"I consider it a sacred duty I owe to the community, Nephew," urged the stubborn old hermit. "All the circ.u.mstances point to one of these boys as the culprit, and he should by all means be punished. Why should you interfere with my designs, Gilbert?"

"Let me tell you, Uncle," burst out Gilbert, eagerly. "I owe my life, it may be, to these same boys."

"How is this?" asked his uncle, looking somewhat bewildered. "They did say they had met you while on the way here, but in what fas.h.i.+on could they have done you a favor?"

"In my hurry to catch the train after the vehicle broke down,"

explained Gilbert, "I stumbled in a very dangerous place on the road, lost my footing, and fell over the edge of a precipice. I managed to clutch hold a dozen feet down, but must in the end have let go and fallen to the bottom only for the coming of these boys, who rescued me in a remarkably clever and very unusual way."

Bluff gave a satisfied grunt. After all Gilbert was a pretty decent sort of fellow, he made up his mind; though at the time of the adventure Bluff had thought him rather ungrateful to hurry away so fast, and not half thank them for all the trouble they had taken.

Mr. Dennison apparently had reason to believe anything his nephew said. That was evident from the change that came over his manner. He looked at Frank and his three chums again, shrugged his shoulders, and then went on to remark:

"Of course if that is the case, Nephew, and you are indebted to these boys for helping you out of a bad fix, I have nothing more to say.

Because of that they can go free, for all of me; though I may live to repent my kindness; because no matter how they protest, the fact remains that the cup was found under this floor, and I still firmly believe they secreted it there."

The kind-hearted constable was grinning as he winked at Bluff. It was very evident that the new conditions pleased Mr. Jeems; since he was relieved from executing a most disagreeable duty.

Mr. Dennison told the officer to come outside with him, and Gilbert added that he would join his uncle in a minute.

Left in the company of the four chums Gilbert's first act was to offer Frank his hand. It was done with such a boyish freedom that the other eagerly grasped the outstretched hand, and squeezed it in return.

"Of course it goes without saying," began the college boy, "that I do not believe any one of you could do such a thing as steal my cup.

There's a queer mystery about its being found under this floor, and I intend to discover the truth before long. In the meantime I hope you'll stay here and enjoy yourselves the best way you know how."

"And we'd like to see more of you, if you expect to stay around here longer," spoke up Jerry, impulsively.

"I promise that you shall," a.s.sented Gilbert; "because I, too, am fond of camping, fis.h.i.+ng, and all such things; and I can see how my stay up here might be prolonged indefinitely, if such a jolly set could be found to help kill time."

"Did you win in the golf tournament?" asked Bluff, as though to show that they knew about his ambition in that sport.

"I'm sorry to say that I came in a poor second this time," laughed the other; "and I really believe it was because I didn't have the kind of b.a.l.l.s I'm in the habit of using."

This was the opportunity poor anxious Will had been waiting for.

"We've got your bag safe and sound here, Gilbert!" he exclaimed, springing forward to pick the leather receptacle up, for it, too, had been closely examined by the constable, acting under Mr. Dennison's orders; "and I certainly hope my precious Maine films are in the same condition."

"Make your mind easy on that score, my boy," he was told by the other; "although I was terribly provoked when first I opened the bag and saw them, I understood that the mistake was all mine. So I took good care of your films, though I had a photographer make me a print from the whole bunch. I must say they are some of the most interesting pictures I've ever seen. I wanted Uncle to admire them, for he, too, is devoted to photographic work."

Of course this news caused Will to lose the anxious expression that his chums had noticed on his face at times.

"The bag I left up at the house," continued Gilbert, "but you shall have it in a short time. There's uncle calling me, so I'll have to move along; but you can expect me again before long," and with that he hurried out of the cabin.

CHAPTER XX

GROPING IN THE DARK

"Well, I feel as weak as a sick cat, after meeting with such an adventure as that!" exclaimed Jerry, after he and his three chums once more found themselves alone in the cabin.

"To think of our being accused of being common, every-day thieves!"

grumbled the indignant Bluff. "Why, it just makes my blood fairly boil!"