"Thoughts like that just come to her. It's what you might call inspiration, or intuition," laughed Shirley.

"Why give it such a big name," returned Bet. "I simply had a hunch, and it worked out."

"Just like that!" exclaimed Joy, as she tried to dance on the lame foot, snapping her fingers in time to the step.

"What's the next thing on the program, Bet?" asked Bob Evans. "Have you a bulletin board with the adventures scheduled?"

"I wish you'd stop teasing me. It isn't my fault if I'm always getting into the middle of a problem."

"Whose is it, Bet?" laughed her father.

"Yours, I think, Dad. You brought me up." She slid an arm around her father's neck. "And are you very much disappointed in me?"

"Fishing for compliments?" Colonel Baxter pinched her rosy cheek.

"No, I only want a little appreciation," she replied.

At that moment Billy Patten poked his head into the corridor.

"The old man at the tunnel. He says for the girls to come quick."

"Something important has happened!" insisted Kit. "Hurry up, let's go!"

Colonel Baxter hurried to his horse and followed after the girls. His mind was not, for the moment, on possible treasure, he was overwhelmed by the magnitude of the hills, their rugged outlines and the blazing sun that beat down upon them.

When they reached the summit, the girls spurred their horses across the flat.

What they saw was an excited little old man, waving his arms and dancing about a huge box.

As the girls approached, he cried.

"Come quickly. It's a bra.s.s-bound chest. It's the treasure!"

Tommy Sharpe pried the rusty lock, and as the cover was swung back, the girls gave a gasp of astonishment and dismay.

The chest was empty!

CHAPTER XIX

_A BRa.s.s BOUND CHEST_

At the sight of the empty chest, Professor Gillette opened his mouth to speak, but no words came. His face was white and drawn. And the girls were no less moved than he. All their hopes had been dashed to the ground.

Tears came to Bet's eyes. Angry tears! Why was it that they always had so many disappointments? Why couldn't the treasure have reposed in that chest ready for them? Why couldn't things have gone smoothly just for once?

"What a silly thing to do! To bury an empty chest!" Bet said in a protesting voice.

"But that's the trouble. Maybe it wasn't always empty. Maybe it was once full of gold and jewels," sighed the professor wearily. He had planned on this treasure more than he realized at first. He thought of Alicia, his patient daughter, whose hope of recovery depended on his summer's work.

"Then what happened to it?" demanded Bet.

"Someone has been ahead of us, that's all. There must have been treasure in that chest," repeated the old man.

"I think you are right," interrupted Colonel Baxter. "But don't be discouraged! Unless I'm very badly mistaken, that chest will be worth a small fortune in itself. Look at those bra.s.s straps across the corners. The carving is unusual and beautiful."

"I don't see anything beautiful about it, at all," snapped Bet. "If it had been filled with treasure, then I could admire it."

Colonel Baxter laughed. But the girls at that moment could see nothing to be happy about. Their faces were serious and troubled. It was not alone for themselves that they had wanted the treasure. They had planned on being able to help the professor, to make it possible for Alicia to go to the famous specialist and be cured.

"Guard the chest well," continued Colonel Baxter. "It's valuable!"

"But there is no bullion or jewels!" Enid expressed her disappointment with a frown.

"And no doubloons or louis d'or!" said Kit. "And I did want to see one."

But Shirley laughed. "Come on, girls, what's the use of fretting over a treasure that didn't exist. Let's be satisfied with the old chest and call it a summer. For the rest of the time we'll complete our study of rope throwing and bronco busting."

"Yes, we can do that--but where's the romance?" sighed Bet. "The treasure had all the romance of the old days in the west. I did want it to come true."

"Why, Bet Baxter!" exclaimed Kit Patten. "You say you've had no romance! What do you call it when you stand off a couple of western bad men, and recapture the tunnel all by yourself?"

"Did you do that, Bet?" asked her father, turning on his daughter with a frown.

"Please don't think I intended to keep it from you, Dad. I was waiting until we went back to Lynnwood," Bet answered penitently.

Her father laughed. "Oh, Bet, girl, when will you learn to be cautious? And when are you going to grow up and be ladylike?"

"Not yet, Dad. There will be time enough to grow up when I get to be thirty. Until then, I want to be just a girl and have lots of fun and adventure."

"You seem to be getting your wish, as you always do," Enid said as she tried to pat Bet's tousled locks into place.

"I didn't get my wish this time. Far from it. I wished for heaps of treasure, and I get nothing but a bra.s.s-bound chest."

Tommy Sharpe was gazing at the mud-crusted box with interest and suddenly burst out; "Say, Judge, if Kie Wicks gets an idea that the chest is worth more than a dollar and a half, he'll try to take it away from the girls. Don't you think we'd better take it back to the ranch?"

"You're right, Tommy. It may not be what we planned for, but just the same, the professor and the girls put up a fight for it and it belongs to them."

"And I love it, Dad!" exclaimed Enid, examining the carving on the box.

"Well, what are we going to do now?" asked the business-like Shirley.

"Will we abandon the tunnel and claims and let Kie Wicks have them?"

"No!" cried Bet decidedly. "I won't let him have anything! Not even the worthless old tunnel."

"That's the way I feel about it," said the professor. "Kie didn't treat me fairly and I don't wish him to be near my camp. On the other hand, we shouldn't be a burden to Judge Breckenridge, who has supplied men to guard the tunnel and help do the digging."