CHAPTER XVI

A LONELY CABIN

"What hermit?" asked Jerry.

"Why you haven't heard half the story of Lost Lake," went on Johnson. "There's supposed to be a sort of wild man who lives on the shores of the lake, and he murders travelers. At least that's the yarn they tell."

"Was the hermit always there?" asked Ned.

"No, only the last few years," replied Johnson. "He is said to be an old man with white hair. But I don't believe that part. Let me find the lake and the gold, and I won't worry about hermits."

The prospector camped with the travelers that night. They were all up early the next morning, and, at the professor's suggestion the boys gave Johnson plenty of provisions to last him until he could get back to civilization.

"Maybe you would like to go along with us and look for the lake?" suggested Bob.

"No, thank you," replied Johnson. "I'm afraid your chances of finding it are slimmer than mine are. I'll have another try all by myself. I'm much obliged for the help you've given me."

Then, shouldering his pack, he started off down the trail, while the travelers, packing their things in the auto, set forward again.

The boys talked about little save the story of Lost Lake, but the professor was too busy arranging his latest specimens to join in the conversation.

"I'd like to find it and see the wild hermit," said Bob.

"I don't s'pose you'd care anything about the gold," put in Ned.

"Of course I would," replied Bob. "But we've got one gold mine now, what do we want of another?"

"It might be well to have a second in case we lose the first," Jerry ventured. "Nothing like having plenty while you're at it."

"I wouldn't like to be a hermit," went on Bob. "Think of always being hungry."

"Chunky is thinking of misers, I guess," laughed Ned. "There's nothing to prevent a hermit from living off the fat of the land. If it wasn't for being lonesome I'd be a hermit for a while."

"Stop the auto!" called the professor suddenly. "I just saw a fine specimen of a snapping turtle scoot across the road. I must have it. It's worth about twenty dollars to me. Stop the car! I must get out!"

Ned, who was running the auto, shut off the power and the machine came to a stop. Before it had ceased to move Mr. Snodgrass had leaped out and was running back. He began a hurried but careful search over the ground. Then he was seen to spring forward.

"He's got it, I guess," remarked Jerry.

An instant later there came a howl from the scientist, who was hidden from sight by the tall grass.

"Help, boys! Help!"

"What's the matter? Won't he let you catch him?" cried Ned.

"He's caught me!" yelled the professor. "Come quick and bring a knife to cut his head off with!"

The boys piled out of the auto in a hurry, Jerry stopping to grab up a big carving knife from the camp utensils.

When they came up to the professor they hardly knew whether to laugh or not. The turtle, which was a big one, had grabbed the scientist by the thumb, and was clinging so tightly that it was suspended in the air, swaying to and fro. Meanwhile Mr. Snodgrass was dancing about in pain.

"Why don't you take hold of the turtle's shell in the other hand, and you won't feel the weight so much!" called Jerry.

"I can't," replied the professor. "I have a rare specimen of a toad in my other hand, and I don't want to lose it. Oh boys! Hurry up, and pry the turtle's jaws open, but don't hurt him, for he's valuable."

"Can't you put the toad in your pocket?" asked Ned, knowing the scientist had no scruples about loading his garments up with all sorts of things. "Then you would have one hand free."

"I never thought of that," said Mr. Snodgrass. "I can do that, can't I?"

He did so, and, once the toad was secure he took hold of the turtle, which relieved his lacerated thumb from the dragging weight.

"He won't let go!" exclaimed the professor, after a vain attempt to pull the turtle loose. "It is a genuine snapper, and they have a grip like a bull dog. I am glad I found it, in spite of the pain," he added, though just then, the turtle took a fresh hold and the professor squirmed in agony.

"Here; I'll cut its head off," said Jerry, coming forward with the knife.

"No, no!" exclaimed the professor. "It is too valuable to spoil. Just take the point of the blade, and pry the jaws open while I hold it steady."

Jerry tried to do this, but the turtle only seemed to grip the tighter, and the professor's thumb was bitten through nearly to the bone.

"What shall I do?" wailed Mr. Snodgrass. "I don't want to kill it."

"I have it!" exclaimed Ned. "There's a little puddle of water over there beside the road. Dip the turtle in it, and he'll think he can swim. Then he'll let go."

"Good!" cried the professor as he proceeded to put the plan in operation. "Then I can save him alive."

The scheme worked well. As soon as the turtle felt the water it let go, and started to swim off. But the puddle was too shallow, and the professor, watching his chance, grabbed the reptile again. This time he took care to catch it at the middle of the shell, where the turtle could not reach around and bite.

"I have it, after all," remarked the scientist as he deposited his prize in a box, and proceeded to put some salve and a rag on his thumb. "It's a rare specimen. I'm glad I got it."

"And we're all glad we didn't get it," spoke Jerry with a laugh in which the others joined. But the professor took it good naturedly. He was used to such accidents he said.

Resuming their journey, the travelers made only one more stop, that at noon, to get dinner. They had seen no signs of human habitation, and, as the afternoon wore on, and no house or cabin was seen, they began to feel that they might as well prepare to camp out again.

As they were descending a gentle, sloping hill that led down into a small valley, just as the sun was setting, they saw, about a mile ahead a lonely cabin. The sight of smoke coming from the chimney told them there was some one at home.

"I hope whoever lives there can accommodate us," remarked Chunky. "My appetite's getting the upper hand of me again."

"It don't look large enough to hold us all," observed Jerry.

"There's a barn, or some sort of building, in the rear," remarked Ned. "Some of us can use that if the man or woman lets us."

A few minutes later the auto came to a stop in front of the cabin, which was indeed a lonely one, not another dwelling, large or small, showing in the whole valley.

"Good evening," greeted an old man, with snow-white hair falling over his shoulders. He came to the door of the shack, and seemed to regard the coming travelers as a matter of course. "I am glad to see you," he went on. "You are just in time."

"Time for what?" asked Mr. Snodgrass.

"For the great final and successful experiment," proceeded the aged man. "The test is about to begin. Come in and see me make gold from common earth. At last I have found the long-lost secret!"

The eyes of the lonely man glowed with a strange light, and he seemed so excited that the boys did not know what to do.

"Humor him," advised the professor in a whisper. "He is probably a harmless lunatic. Let him have his way, and pretend to agree with all he says."

"Will you come in?" went on the old man. "I must proceed with my work."

"We'll be glad to," went on the scientist. "That is, if we will not disturb you at your labors."

"My labors are now ended," the man said. "I have worked for twenty years on the secret of making gold from the baser metals. At last I have the correct method. I will be a millionaire in another month. But come in! Come in!"

The boys, obeying Mr. Snodgrass's advice, went in, the scientist following them. They saw that the cabin, though small, was neat and clean. Nearly all of the first of two rooms was occupied by a large, rudely made furnace, while on a table near it stood all sorts of chemical apparatus. On the furnace a pot was boiling furiously.

"Now for the last act in the drama of life," said the aged man. "See, I place in the pot these pieces of brass," and he showed the travelers some chunks of the yellow stuff. He put them in the pot, from which arose a cloud of steam.

"Next I throw in this powder, which I have labored on for years. It is the secret that men would give their lives for."

He threw the powder into the pot, which boiled more furiously than before, and a white cloud of steam arose. Then it died away, and the pot seemed to cool off.

"Now for the gold!" exclaimed the chemist.

He lifted the pot from the furnace, and, holding it with some thick cloths poured the water off into a hole in the ground floor of the cabin. Out toppled the pieces of brass which had been thrown in, but while they had been dull before, they now glittered with the yellow gleam of gold.

"The test! The test!" exclaimed the old man in a voice that trembled with eagerness.

He placed one of the yellow pieces on the table, and put a few drops of gold-testing acid on it. There was a little hissing sound, and then, on the shiny surface of the piece of metal there came a dull black spot. The old man uttered a despairing cry.

"Another failure!" he exclaimed. "It is brass still. I thought it would turn to gold! I must have made a mistake in mixing the powder."