"It doesn't matter to us, though, for the little beast will perish, without a mother to supply it food."

But although Thad never dreamed that such a small thing could have any bearing on their fortunes, it proved to be a fact, as would be shown before a great while.

"Shall we go on, now?" asked Aleck, after they had looked down on the big lean wolf that would never again hunt game in the pa.s.ses and valleys of the Rockies; "I'm anxious to see what lies beyond, you know, Thad."

"Well, I don't blame you a bit, either, Aleck; in fact, to tell the honest truth, I'm feeling somewhat that way myself, even if I haven't got the interest you have in the matter. So let's go right along. Have you loaded up again?"

"I'm just finishing now, Thad," came the reply.

Accordingly, the forward progress was resumed. Thad saw that they were rapidly drawing near what would likely prove to be a chamber of some size; and he antic.i.p.ated that whatever was to be found would greet them here.

Just as he expected, a couple of minutes later they pa.s.sed out from the tunnel which was a continuation of the fissure they had entered, and found themselves in a vaulted chamber. It was of some height, for the dim light of the lantern just reached the roof.

"Oh! what a strange place!" exclaimed Aleck, looking around with something like awe; "and to think that this was that my father saw that time. Do you expect this can be the silver lode, Thad?" and he pointed to the wall, where a broad streak of darkish ore cropped out.

Thad was no miner, but he had been interested in geology at school, and knew a little about the appearance of precious metals in their natural state.

"I don't doubt it one little bit, Aleck," he said, with a quiver to his voice. "And see here, you can tell that some one has pounded off pieces of the ore; why, I can even note where the hammer struck; and on the ground small bits still lie, just as they fell years ago, when your father found his way in here, and made this grand discovery.

Shake hands, Aleck! I want to be the first to congratulate you on finding the hidden mine again. You're a lucky boy, let me tell you.

I'm glad for your sake, Aleck; and for that dear little mother who is thinking of you right now, no doubt."

"Thank you, Thad," replied the other, with a break in his voice, although it was joy that almost overcame him. "And what do I not owe to you, and the chums of the Silver Fox Patrol? For if you hadn't come to my rescue, when that scoundrel of a Kracker had me caged on that horrible little shelf of rock up the cliff, like as not I'd be there still, and ready to tell all to save my life."

"I don't believe that!" cried the scoutmaster, quickly. "I've seen enough of you to know you'd have died before you gave him what belonged only to your mother. And the chances are, you'd have found some way of getting down from there, when it came to the worst."

"Yes, fallen down, most likely, when they had made me so weak I couldn't look over without getting dizzy. But Thad, let's forget all that now, and look around here. How it thrills me just to think that dad found this mine so long ago, and that during these years it's remained hidden from all men; just as if something might be holding it back until I grew old enough to come up here with that chart, to discover it again. Why, I can almost believe that _he_ is here right now, and smiling his approval on my work; for he was a good dad, I tell you."

They prowled around for a long time, examining the walls of the chamber, and following up the wide lode of rich ore, until Thad, inexperienced as he was, could estimate that it must prove to be a very valuable mine, once placed in working condition.

"Here, let's both of us fill our pockets with specimens of the ore,"

the patrol leader remarked, when they began to think of once more seeking the exit, so strangely hidden from the eyes of any possible pa.s.ser by; "like as not you'll want them, to convince some capitalist that you've got the goods, when making arrangements to sell a part of the mine, so as to get the money to work with."

"Yes, that sounds sensible," declared Aleck. "Dad did the same; and if he hadn't those specimens, n.o.body would ever have believed that he'd found anything worth while. And now, do we start back to the fissure in the cliff, Thad?"

"Might as well;" replied the other. "And while we're about it, let's drag out the dead wolves, so as to throw them in some hole where they won't bother any more."

"I wonder if that other cub came back; I'd better make ready to knock it on the head, for it would die anyway, without a mother."

Aleck's voice had a catch in it as he said this, and Thad understood; the boy was thinking of his own mother, and how her prayers for his safety must have been the means of raising up for him such staunch friends as the scouts of the Silver Fox Patrol.

But when they came to the place where the animals lay they saw nothing of the other partly grown wolf. So Thad, having his gun and the lantern to manage, took charge of the offspring, while Aleck tugged at the big she wolf; and in this fashion they drew near the exit.

"Sh!"

It was Thad who uttered this low hiss of warning. His action was prompt in addition, for raising the lantern, he gave one st.u.r.dy puff, causing the flame to vanish.

Utter darkness surrounded them. Aleck had dropped the leg of the big wolf, and drew back the hammer of his rifle.

"Perhaps it was the other cub, Thad?" he whispered, as softly as the night wind creeps in and out of the trees, caressing each leaf as it pa.s.ses on.

"No, it sounded more like voices!" came the equally low reply.

"Voices! Oh! do you mean men may be near us?" gasped Aleck, a cold chill pa.s.sing over him at the dreadful prospect of losing his long-sought patrimony just after finding it.

"It sounded like that Kracker; listen, and we'll soon know," Thad went on to say; and crouching there, the two boys waited for a repet.i.tion of the suspicious sound.

CHAPTER XXV.

CLOSE TO DISCOVERY.

When the sound of the voice came again even Aleck heard it plainly. Why, it seemed so very near that his first thought was that the men must have found the entrance to the treasure cave, and were pushing along the tunnel at that very moment. But on reflection Aleck realized that this could not be so, for the voice came from somewhere in the open air.

"I jest ain't agoin' any further, an' that's a fact. Might as well rest up right here as keep on. I never was for comin' back, to spy on them ere scouts, but two agin one kerried the day. So here we be, tired in body, hungry, and nigh 'bout ready to drop. I say let's camp, and wait till mornin'."

"That's d.i.c.key Bird," whispered Thad in the ear of his companion.

Aleck had had a load taken from his breast. Although the three men might be so close to the entrance of the mine that they could toss a stone into it, still it seemed only mere accident that brought them here, and not design, or a suspicion as to the truth.

Another voice chimed in now, that of Kracker himself.

"Oh! as for that, I'm about as leg weary as you can be; and ready to rest up a bit. So Waffles, stir around, and gather some tinder to start a blaze. This night air is some cool, too. And say, I'm that hungry I could eat anything 'most. But with only one six-shot gun in the crowd, it's going to be hard lines to provide grub, I reckon."

"Then why'd you turn back, when we was all started for a place where we could git all the eats we wanted, with money to pay for 'em?"

grumbled d.i.c.key Bird.

"Why? Any fool could see that," retorted the big prospector, sternly.

"Here I've been looking for this mine years and years, and it's got to be the one dream of my life to find the same. That boy knows; he's just been waitin' till he growed up big enough to start out. You saw how he acted, and said he'd die before he'd give up what belonged to his mother. That proves he's got the combination, either in his head, or somewhar about his clothes, which we couldn't find."

"Well," said the grumbler, "what good is that same agoin' to do us, now that he's in with that party of scouts, who say they'll stand up for him right along? We ain't got no show, seems to me, Kracker."

"We ain't, hey?" replied the other, disdainfully. "Jest because you can't see anything before your nose, you say they ain't nothing doing.

Let me tell you we never was nearer that same mine than we is now."

Thad felt his companion give a sudden start; he himself was wondering what these strange words of the prospector might mean; though he could not believe that the other could really suspect the presence of that fissure back of the vines.

"As how? Mebbe you wouldn't mind tellin' me, to ease up the pain in my legs; while Waffles, he's astartin' that ere fire?" d.i.c.key Bird went on, skeptically.

"Sure thing," answered the big man who controlled the party of mine seekers. "If that boy does know the secret, he's going to open up while he's got them scouts to back him, ain't he? He'll want to feast his eyes on some of that same rich ore--that goes without saying. All right, let him, say I. We'll try and be close enough at hand to discover whar the pesky entrance lies; and while they're hangin' on up here, it's us to streak it for town and file a claim on that mine by description. First comer gets the persimmon every time. I ain't been in this line of business all my life without learnin' something."

Again did Thad feel his companion move restlessly. It was as though Aleck felt a sudden fear oppress him lest this sly old thief should yet get ahead in entering a claim for the mine.

The flicker of the kindling fire now began to show through the vines at the mouth of the opening. What if these men stayed there until morning, how were the boys to leave? Even when the moon stopped shining upon the face of the cliff, the light of the nearby fire would continue to light it up, so that they would not dare try and creep out. Such a movement, if seen or suspected by the campers, must arouse their curiosity, and lead to an investigation. Then the only thing that could save the mine for Aleck would be a hurried rush to town, in which they might be beaten by the others.

It was not a pleasant thought, although of course, if necessary, the boys could stay there without any great amount of privation. The constant chance of discovery would bother them much more than anything else.