"How did you know my house differed from any other one; have you been in here before this?"

Evidently the discreet old housekeeper had decided not to tell of the former visit of the boys, and it was Frank himself who had given the secret away. He determined not to evade the issue, but continue to be frank with the irate gentleman.

"Yes, sir," he said, steadily. "I wandered up this way yesterday, and saw the house. It was because I was so enthusiastic in my description that Will here wanted to come and get a picture of it."

"So as to tell every one, I suppose, that it is the secluded home of the eccentric old hermit, as I believe they call me in the towns where my men trade," the other continued with a half sneer. "But what are you boys doing up in this section of the country? It is the first time for a long while that I have seen a stranger about here."

"We are camping, sir, on the lake sh.o.r.e, and having a good time for a few weeks, fishing, taking pictures, and all that. In our home town of Centerville they call us the Outdoor Chums, because we love to camp out."

"On the lake sh.o.r.e, you say?" repeated the other, looking keenly at Frank. "Tell me, is your camp anywhere near Cabin Point?"

"Yes, we've gone to work, Mr. Dennison, and fixed the old cabin all up; and it's there we're staying," Frank told him.

"I wonder--" began the other, frowning, "if you had anything to do with startling me last night, when I was taking a walk down to the lake, as I sometimes do when the spirit moves me. Do you know anything about that frightful blinding flash that gave me such a shock I had to hurry home?"

"I am afraid we are to blame for that, sir, though I give you my word of honor we had no idea any human being would spring the trap. You see, my chum here is devoted to getting flashlight pictures of wild animals and birds in their native haunts. To do that he has to place his camera at night, and with a bait coax the little creature to set the trap off. And it happened, sir, that you ran across the cord connected with the trigger of the flashlight gun."

"Is this the truth you are telling me, boy?" demanded the puzzled hermit.

"Will, do you happen to have that proof with you?" called out Frank.

Upon hearing this, the other hastened up, though there was a satisfied smirk on his face, as though he had accomplished something daring.

As Frank believed he had heard a soft click just before this, he could give a pretty good guess as to what the other had been up to.

Upon the proof being produced Frank stepped forward and held it out to the old gentleman, who took it eagerly. He even smiled faintly as he saw himself in the act of falling, and with all the elements of sudden surprise and alarm connected with his action.

"At least this satisfies me that you had no intention of giving me such a bad fright. I can forgive you in part, because I, too, am interested in photography, which is indeed my only recreation nowadays besides reading. But you must not come here again. I do not allow intruders, and if you had chanced to be seen by one of my men the consequences might have been unpleasant for you."

"Then we will go away at once, sir," said Frank; "though we'll always be glad we met you, Mr. Dennison."

The recluse frowned again as though he remembered that he had a reason for not wishing to hold intercourse with others. And seeing he did not mean to continue the conversation any further Frank nodded to Will, after which they walked away.

When they looked back a minute later Mr. Dennison was still standing there as though in a deep study. Somehow he interested Frank very much indeed, for the boy realized that there must be some very good reason for his shunning his kind.

They had almost reached the hole in the fence, when, just as had happened on the preceding day, there came that strange cry. Will thought it might be the screech of a peac.o.c.k, though he could not remember having seen such a fowl strutting about the lawn.

"It may be what you say," admitted Frank, "but when you hear a queer sound under such conditions as these it seems different from anything you ever ran up against. Bluff thought it was a dog chained up; you say a peac.o.c.k; and for my part I hardly know what to believe."

"Anyhow, Frank, I got him all right," chuckled Will.

"Meaning the old hermit, of course," said the other. "I thought I heard your shutter click. It will be worth something to say you took his picture as well as that you got one of his peculiarly built house, which I reckon few people have ever so much as seen."

"But after all's said and done, Frank, old Aaron isn't just the kind of man I always thought a real hermit must be. Why, he's a gentleman, and not a bit careless of his appearance, the way most of them are described to be. He dotes on books, they say. And oh, Frank! did you hear him admit he was fond of dabbling in amateur photography himself?"

"Yes, that was what he said, Will."

"I wish I could make a good impression on old Aaron, then, because like as not he'd have some dandy pictures to show. He's got rafts of money, you know, and must have traveled a heap in his time."

Frank laughed at hearing this.

"Now I wouldn't be surprised," he remarked, "if you tried to get thick with our hermit before we shut up shop at Cabin Point!"

"I own I'd like to, though I don't think I'll have much of a chance, Frank, because you see he's shut down on us, and forbidden us to ever look in on him after this. Now what do you reckon ails the man, and why should he act in that way? He must have just soured on the world for some reason or other."

They pa.s.sed outside, and allowed the loose board to fall back into its place again. Unless one were looking for a break in the fence it would be possible to pa.s.s by without noticing anything wrong there.

"But now since he knows some of us were in his grounds twice,"

lamented Will, "old Aaron may give his men orders to search all around till they find the break. If they had any sense at all they could follow our tracks and come to it. But, Frank, how about taking a swing around on the way home?"

"You spoke of that before, Will, and as we have plenty of time I don't know any reason we shouldn't make something of a circuit. I'm as curious as you can be to see something of the country."

"Likely none of us will ever be up this way again," remarked Will, "and so we'd better make the most of our opportunities. Besides, there's no telling what cracker-jack chances we may strike for pictures. I'm always on the lookout for anything like that, you remember."

Frank of course knew next to nothing about the lay of the ground, but he could give a pretty good guess, for he had kept his eyes about him all of the time. Accordingly he laid out the course they would take.

"Unless we strike something tougher than we figure on," he explained to Will, "we ought to make the round and be back in camp long before sundown."

"What if the other fellows do arrive before us," remarked the photographer of the expedition, "they can start in to get supper if they're half starving. I just feel like making hay while the sun shines. This seems to be one of my lucky days, because I've already snapped off some pictures that ought to be worth while. When we start to talking about hermits and such things we'll have something to show for it."

Starting off, they were speedily in the heart of what seemed to be a dense wood. Will expressed himself as well pleased with the surroundings, and soon discovered some remarkable sights that called for the use of his camera.

They pushed on for more than an hour, and by that time had covered considerable distance. When Frank hinted that perhaps they had better turn back Will begged him not to give up just then.

"You see we've still plenty of time to make the cabin long before dark," he urged, "and I'm sure we'll find it worth our while to keep on the way we're going. It seems to me the country keeps getting rougher the further we push ahead. Already I'm just tickled to death with what I've seen."

"It's a fact that we've run across as wild a section as I've ever met with," admitted Frank. "I never would have believed there could be such a primitive stretch of land within a hundred miles of Centerville. Right now you can look around in every direction, and there isn't a sign to show that you're not out at the foot of the Rockies, just as we found it at the time we had our big hunt."

"At that time, you know, Frank, I hadn't caught on to this wild animal photography business. What wonderful pictures I could have taken then if only I'd known the racket. It keeps growing on me all the while, too. Right now I expect I get more of a thrill when I'm snapping off the picture of a bull moose bellowing his defiance to the guide's call, than you would with your rifle at your shoulder ready for a shot."

"I reckon you do, Will, for I can understand what you feel. I really believe that if you hadn't gone in for the game I'd have picked it up myself. But one photographic crank in the party is enough; some of us have to stick to the gun in order to supply the meat for the camp when the season is on."

Frank had been persuaded by Will's logic, and he continued to push on, though constantly keeping track of conditions. He did not wish to have to confess sooner or later that he was lost, which would not be so impossible a thing to happen in that dense wood.

It was while they were making their way along in this fashion toward the middle of the afternoon, that, without the slightest warning, there came a loud and angry crash of thunder; and looking up in a startled way they saw inky black clouds gathering overhead.

CHAPTER XII

CAUGHT IN THE STORM

"Why Frank! What does this mean?" exclaimed the astonished Will, as he stared first at his chum, and then up past the lofty tops of the forest trees to where those inky thunder-caps were thrusting their ugly noses into sight.

"Simply that we've been caught napping for once," replied the other, with an expression of mingled amus.e.m.e.nt and disgust on his face; for such a thing did not happen very often in the experience of a wide-awake fellow like Frank Langdon.

"It's going to storm like fun," continued Will, with growing apprehension.