"You seemed to play out all in a minute."

"And that is just what I did do. The pace was too hot for me, and I just about collapsed. Those fellows are good swimmers, no two ways about that."

"Bah! I could have beaten them with ease."

"I'd like to see you do it."

"Do you know I lost six dollars on that race," went on Flapp, after a pause.

"Who won the money"?

"Songbird Powell."

"How did you come to put up such an odd figure, Lew"?

"I bet a dollar even first, and then, when I felt certain you would win, I gave him odds of five to one. I was a chump."

"Well, I did my best--honestly I did," returned Jackson, who hated to have his crony lose.

"I ought to make you pay me back."

"I'd do it if I had the money," said Jackson. He rarely had money in his pocket, spending everything as fast as received.

"Well, that is one more we owe that crowd," observed Flapp with increased bitterness.

When Jackson was dressed he and Flapp took themselves to another part of the camp, and there met Pender, Rockley, and Ben Hurdy.

"Let us take a walk," said Jackson. "I am sick of staying around where the others can stare at me."

"Come with me," put in Pender. "I have found something I want to show you."

"A gold mine, perhaps," said Flapp. "I need one just now. Betting on Jackson nearly cleaned me out."

"It's no gold mine, but it may prove useful to us," answered the other cadet.

The crowd started off, and Pender led the way through the woods and partly around the rocky hill in the center of the island.

"I ran into it quite by accident," he said. "You'd never suspect it was there unless you knew of it."

"Knew of what?" asked Rockley. "What sort of a mystery are you running us into now?"

"Just wait and see."

Pender stepped from the path they had been pursuing and pushed aside some overhanging bushes. Beyond was a small clearing, backed up by a high, rocky wall. In the wall was an opening, blocked up by a heavy door secured by a rusty iron chain that was pa.s.sed through a ring in the rocks.

"Well, this is certainly odd," exclaimed Flapp. "What kind of a place is it"?

"It's a den of some sort," said Hurdy. "Maybe some counterfeiters belong here."

"Bosh, you talk as if you were in a dime novel," came from Jackson.

"More than likely some old hermit lived here. When some men get queer in the head they come to just such a spot as this to end their days.

They hate the sight of other human beings."

"I reckon it is a hermit's den," said Pender. "But if so the hermit left it years ago, for everything inside is covered with dust and cobwebs and mildew."

Pender walked up to the stout wooden door, unfastened the iron chain, and threw the barrier back.

One after the other the boys entered the opening beyond. At first they could see but little, but gradually their eyes became accustomed to the gloom and they made out a rocky chamber about twelve feet wide and running back in irregular shape for a hundred feet or more. At some points the ceiling was so low they had to stoop, while elsewhere it was far above their reach. The flooring was fairly level, with rock in some places and hard dirt in others.

The opening was rudely furnished with a heavy table and a bench, and close to one wall was a box bed, still filled with pine boughs. On a big wooden hook hung a man's coat, so decayed that it began to fall apart when they touched it. The table contained several tin cups and plates, all rust eaten.

"This is certainly a curious find," said Flapp. "How did you happen to hit it, Gus?"

"I was exploring the cliff above when I happened to slip and fall into the bushes just in front of the door. I was shook up but not hurt, and when I got up I saw the door and wondered what it meant. Then I looked inside and after that went back to camp to tell you fellows about it."

"It will make a dandy place for secret meetings," suggested Rockley.

"We can come here and do what we please."

"Just what I thought," said Pender. "We can smuggle no end of good things here from the nearest village and come whenever we have our off time."

"Perhaps we can do more than that," said Flapp, struck with a sudden idea.

"What"? asked the others.

"I'll tell you some other time. It's a great find," continued the tall boy.

In the meantime those left at the camp had surrounded d.i.c.k and were congratulating him on his victory.

"I knew you would win," said Powell, when the excitement was over. "I bet with Lew Flapp on the result. Garling was stakeholder."

"What did you win, Songbird"?

"Six dollars."

"Gracious! You went in pretty deep.'

"Flapp called me a coward when I told him I didn't want to bet, so I had to take him up," went on Songbird. "Had it been anybody else I might have given the money back. But I won't give it back to that bully."

"It's against the rules to bet, Songbird."

"But you are not going to tell on me, are you?"

"You know me better than to ask the question. Just the same, I am sorry you bet," said d.i.c.k.

"I'm going to treat the boys as soon as I get the chance," went on Powell. "Six dollars will buy a whole lot of ice cream and cake, not to mention soda and candy and peanuts." And then he began to hum to himself:

"Peanuts and candy and raspberry ice, Chocolate cake, and all that's nice, Ev'ry student can come if he will, And ev'ry student can eat his fill!"

"I believe you'd sing at a funeral," said d.i.c.k, laughing.