The wooden shutter, which had been repaired as well as possible, even when closed left a slight gap, and through this hole it was possible for one outside to survey the whole interior of the cabin.

A single figure sat in the most comfortable chair the cabin boasted.

The lantern had been lighted, and hung so that its rays illuminated the interior of the place fairly well.

None of the boys had the slightest difficulty in recognizing the person they were looking at through the window. It was Gilbert Dennison.

Somehow or other it seemed that none of the chums had once considered Gilbert when trying to guess who could be in the cabin. When they now discovered him sitting there, and apparently waiting for them to come in, a great load seemed to be lifted from their hearts.

At least poor anxious Will was heard to give a long sigh of relief.

His worst fears were dissipated when instead of some messenger from Centerville he discovered Gilbert Dennison sitting there, watching and waiting.

Frank was also well pleased at the discovery. At the same time there flashed into his mind a conviction that it must be something beyond the ordinary desire to visit them that had brought Gilbert there.

None of the boys paid quite as much attention to secrecy as before. It was different now, since they knew a friend occupied their cabin, and not a party of dusty tramps, who had been making free with their supplies.

Apparently the sound of their footsteps must have reached the ears of the one inside, for as Frank pushed back the door he found Gilbert on his feet. Also, he seemed to be crouching there as much in the shadows as possible; and really his whole att.i.tude struck Frank as astonishing.

As Frank and then Bluff, Jerry and Will pushed into the cabin Gilbert looked at first a little surprised and disappointed; but he instantly raised his hand to indicate silence, and at the same time pressed a finger on his lips.

These mysterious actions astonished the four chums. They stared as though they found it difficult to believe their eyes.

"Gee whiz! what next?" Bluff was muttering, as though things were happening so rapidly that almost any sort of surprise could be expected.

Frank pushed forward.

"Glad to see you here, but what's up, Gilbert?" he asked.

"Please speak in a whisper when you have to talk, Frank," replied the other.

"All right," said Frank, doing as he was told, "but please explain what it all means, for we've got a wounded man outside, who had his leg broken by a tree he was dropping, and we wish to bring him in here to make him easy."

"It'll all be over in a short time, I should think," continued Gilbert; "for he ought to be here any minute now."

"Who do you mean?" asked Bluff, like most boys caring naught for grammatical rules when far away from the school room.

"My uncle!" replied Gilbert.

"But why under the sun is Mr. Dennison coming down here to the cabin, and at midnight, too?" asked Jerry.

"That's just it," replied the visitor at the cabin. "I've known for some time that Uncle Aaron is a sleep-walker, you see."

Frank had already grasped the meaning of the situation, but Bluff was still groping in the dark. He proved this by asking:

"But what would your old uncle wander down here for in his sleep, Gilbert, when it must be all of half a mile anyway, and over a crooked trail?"

"I'll tell you what I think," replied the other, in a very low tone.

"You see, he understands that I set great store on that gold cup I won, and which I brought up here with me when I came. He had it on his mind after I went away, being afraid some one would steal it."

"Oh! now I get what you mean," whispered Bluff. "In his sleep he took a notion to try to hide the thing where no one would find it. And since he used that cavity under the floor to keep his savings in long years ago, somehow he just wandered down here the one night we were all away, and put the cup there."

"Yes, and knew nothing about it when he came to search the cabin later on," explained Gilbert. "But keep still, everybody, for I really think I saw him coming out there in the open before the door. Please don't say a word, but just watch!"

CHAPTER XXV

CONCLUSION

It was an exciting time when Gilbert and the four chums stood there as silent as ghosts, and waited for the arrival of the sleep-walker.

Perhaps a dozen seconds had pa.s.sed when there was a rustle and a sigh at the open door. Then a figure stalked in.

They could see that it was Aaron Dennison.

Mr. Dennison walked straight over to where that loose plank lay. He did not show the slightest sign of hesitancy, but stooping down placed some object on the floor, after which he began to raise the plank as though familiar with its working.

No wonder the boys stared, and Bluff chuckled softly, when they saw the object so carefully deposited on the floor by the man who walked in his sleep.

It was the golden cup, won in the amateur golf tournament by Gilbert Dennison!

They watched him lift the plank, and then quickly place the cup in the hole underneath; after this he gently lowered the board, patted it affectionately, and arose to his feet as if to go.

Frank was more than satisfied. The mystery had been explained in a fashion that left not a shred of doubt behind.

At the same time Frank found himself wondering what Gilbert would do next. To convince Mr. Dennison that he himself was wholly to blame, it would seem to be the proper thing to awaken him before he quitted the cabin, and show him the cup nestling under the plank.

Frank dimly remembered reading that it was not a wise thing to arouse a sleep-walker suddenly; he understood that the sudden shock had a tendency to affect the brain. Apparently Gilbert did not know this, for he stepped forward and reaching out caught hold of the old man's arm, shaking it as he called:

"Wake up, Uncle Aaron, wake up!"

They saw the sleeper give a tremendous start. Then he stared first at Gilbert, and then around him as though dazed.

"It's I, Uncle, and you've been up to your old tricks again, walking in your sleep," the young fellow told him. "Yes, no wonder you look as if you could hardly believe your eyes; for you've wandered down to the old cabin on the Point And, Uncle, what do you think we saw you doing?"

As he said this Gilbert in turn suddenly stooped, and managing to get the loose plank up he pushed it aside. When he picked up the golden cup and held it before the eyes of the old gentleman, Bluff could hardly keep from bursting into laughter, the look of astonishment on Mr. Dennison's face was so ludicrous.

"Did I bring that cup here, and stow it away again in that hole, Gilbert?" he demanded.

"You certainly did, Uncle," he was told.

"Then it stands to reason that I must have been guilty on that other occasion, too, Nephew?" faltered the old hermit.

"Of course you were, Uncle. Don't you see, you worried over having the cup there on your hands; and in your sleep you must have dreamed about the old place here under the floor where you once used to hide things.

And down you came all the way. It happened that the boys were all away on that night after the storm; isn't it so, fellows?"

"Yes," replied Frank, "Will here and I were caught up in the woods, and slept under a shelf of rock, while Bluff and Jerry stayed at the village, where they met the constable, Mr. Jeems. So the cabin was not occupied at all that night."