CHAPTER XXVI

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

"Where in the world did you come from?" asked Jerry of Tommy.

"How did you get here?" inquired Ned.

"How did you know where to find us?" Bob wanted to know.

But to all these questions Tommy turned a deaf ear. He was so overjoyed at seeing his father, and the hermit was so excited at seeing his son once more, that neither had eyes nor ears for anything or any one except the other.

The crowd looked on curiously, the interest divided between the automobile and the meeting between father and son. Finally, when Mr. Bell and Tommy had, temporarily, exhausted the theme of telling each other how glad they were at being united, the boys had a chance to get a word in edgeways, and Tommy answered a few of their questions.

He told them that he had remained for several days with his friend in Las Cruces, and how a traveling miner had, in a general conversation, mentioned the lake and told of the queer hermit that lived on the shores.

Something in the description of this odd character impressed Tommy with the belief that the hermit might be his father, who had taken that method to escape the gang which wanted him to sign away his rights. Accordingly, the boy had started from Las Cruces and made his way to Deighton, the town where Mr. Bell expected to start in search of his son.

"I got here this morning," said Tommy, "and I found a little work to do to earn some money. I was going to start up the mountain to-morrow and try and find the lake."

"Now you don't have to," said Mr. Bell. "Well, it certainly is a queer world."

The travelers spent the night at the Deighton hotel, and, in the morning, after a good breakfast, assembled to talk over their plans for the future.

"Do you intend to go back to Lost Lake, Mr. Bell?" asked the professor. "If you do, you and your son can ride that far in the automobile, since we are going back in that direction."

"Where are you going after you leave Lost Lake?" asked Mr. Bell.

"To Arizona," answered Jerry. "We have a mine there, and we must go to see how things are getting on."

"That's rather odd," commented the hermit. "I have an interest in some mining property in Arizona, though I don't suppose it is anywhere near yours. But I have made up my mind not to go back to Lost Lake, except to bring away a few things that I left in the cabin. I would also like to provide for poor Kate. After that I think Tommy and I will go to Arizona and try our fortunes over again."

"Then why not go with us?" spoke Jerry. "We have plenty of room in the machine, and we'd be glad of your company."

"I would like to very much," said Mr. Bell, "if I thought I would not bother you."

He was assured that he would be very welcome, and then he consented to go. A new stock of provisions was purchased, together with some ammunition and some other supplies for the auto. Then, amid the cheers of more than half the populace of Deighton, the travelers began their journey toward Lost Lake again.

Mr. Bell had made arrangements with a family in the town to take charge of Kate whom he promised to send to them, for he knew he could depend on the woman to obey him and make the journey alone.

Lost Lake was reached on the second day, for the travelers were delayed by a landslide, and had to camp out one night. They found the camp and the hermit's hut undisturbed.

"I guess none of the gang has been around lately," remarked Jerry.

"I hope we have seen the last of them," put in Mr. Bell. "They certainly caused enough trouble."

A few blasts on the horn brought Kate, and the poor demented woman was overjoyed to see her friends again. She made much of Tommy, who, she said, looked enough like his father to be recognized on the darkest night.

At first the crazy woman objected to being sent to Deighton, but Mr. Bell knew how to reason with her, and after some argument, she consented to go. She started away on the second morning, and, as the travelers learned later, eventually reached the family that had consented to care for her. Under skillful medical treatment Kate partly recovered her reason, and continued to live in Deighton for many years.

"Now," remarked the professor, when they had seen Kate started off on her journey, "I suppose it is time for us to move. So let's get started toward our mine, for I'm sure Nestor must be quite anxious to see us."

"Onward it is, then!" exclaimed Ned. "All aboard, and may we have a safe trip!"

With Ned at the steering wheel the auto was started off. The way was rather rougher than any they had yet traveled over, and for some distance the ascent was steep. But with a new set of batteries and spark plugs, and with everything on the car well adjusted, matters went along smoothly, though no very great speed could be attained.

Mile after mile was covered, the auto mounting higher and higher amid the mountains. There were no signs of human habitation, not even a deserted miner's hut being passed the first two days of the trip.

Of course there was no shelter to be had, and nights were spent in the open. But as the weather was mild, and as it did not rain, this was considered more a pleasure than a hardship.

The third day they began to see signs that told them they were approaching a town. Now and then cabins and huts would be passed, mostly the lonely homes of solitary miners, who were prospecting for gold. Sometimes they would pass quite good sized camps, and about noon of the fourth day they were invited to come in and have a meal, which they were glad to do.

The miners told them the nearest town was Sleighton, seventy-five miles away, and that it was the centre of activity for a large area of country round about.

"And I wouldn't advise you folks to speed that there machine of yours when you strike the village," said one of the miners.

"Why not?" asked Jerry.

"Because the marshal is very strict, and he ain't got no very great hankerin' fer choo-choo wagons."

"We'll look out," promised Jerry. "We are in too much of a hurry to want any delays."

"I wonder if we'll hear anything more of that gang," said Ned as they rode away from the mining camp. "It seems queer that they would drop the thing when they seemed so anxious to capture Mr. Bell."

"We'll hear of them again, and in a way we won't like, I'm afraid," said the former hermit. "We'll have to be on the lookout."