Clarence Young

“ A quick shift in a part of the slide had sent them head over heels into a gully, and then had thrown down on top of them this mixed mass.
For several seconds there was ominous silence, and an onlooker in a place of safety might reasonably have supposed it was all over with the Motor Boys.
But, as if in a daze, Jerry gradually found himself breathing. Then, though there was a strange sense of an oppressive weight, he managed to move and found that he was gradually freeing himself. ”

“ Noddy, despairing of finding the treasure chest of Blue Rock through the help of Dolt Haven, had decided that the information which Bill Cromley had was necessary.
“He knew Bill wouldn’t tell him of his own free will,” said Ned, as the searching party hurried along, “and so he’s going to try to force him.”
[150]
“I can’t imagine Noddy forcing Bill to do anything he doesn’t want to,” replied Bob.
“You don’t know how cruel Noddy can be when he tries,” remarked Jerry. “Anybody who will do what he did to escape going to the front will not hesitate at worse things. ”

“ Can’t some one help me?” were the low-murmured questions that came to the ears of the rescuers, interspersed with groans of pain.
“Yes! Yes! Some one is coming to help you!” cried Ned. “Who are you, anyhow?”
Before he could receive an answer, even had [158] the groaning one been able to answer, Jerry had burst his way through the last fringe of bushes, and, with a cry of surprise mingled with one of rage, he beheld, bound to a tree and partly gagged, the helpless form of Professor Snodgrass.
“I’ve found him! I’ve found him!” shouted Jerry.
“Who—Bill?” demanded Tinny Mallison. ”

“ It’s untrue!” shouted Noddy. “I’ll fix you for it, too! And for trying to run me down just because you have a new car!”
“Drive on, Jerry,” advised Ned, in a low voice.
“There’s a crowd collecting,” added Bob.
Jerry let in the clutch, having shifted to first, and the auto drew away.
Back on the street corner stood Noddy Nixon and his crony.
“They think they’re mighty smart!” murmured Jack.
“Smart! I’ll show ’em!” muttered Noddy. “I’ll get square for all the things the Motor Boys have done to me if it takes ten years! I’ll get square with them, all right!” ”

“ Morning came, with bright sunshine, and the spirits of all revived, especially after some hot coffee and flapjacks, which Bob essayed to make, and with success.
“Well, maybe we’ll catch up with Noddy to-day,” suggested Jerry, as once more they journeyed onward and away from the slide.
“If, in the next two days, we don’t get nearer to him than we have been, we’d better go back to camp and decide on a better-equipped posse,” suggested Tinny. “We haven’t all the things we need for a long chase. And this is the longest way to Blue Rock. ”

“ Thus an alarm could be given by the wakeful one.
“Though, as a matter of fact, if a landslide should start above us and come down, we could hardly get to either side of it in time in the darkness,” Tinny said. “But don’t worry, boys. I think we’re safe.”
In spite of this, however, the lads could not help worrying some, and when it was the turn of Ned, Jerry or Bob to remain awake for a two-hour stretch, each one strained ears and eyes to detect the first sound of danger. ”

“ Rough was the trail followed by the Motor Boys and Mallison; not rough because of the landslide, for the effects of that had not reached thus far, but naturally rough because it was in a wild and mountainous region and little traveled.
“Good thing we didn’t try to bring your new auto here, Tinny,” remarked Jerry, as the horses scrambled over some perilous footing. “You’d have two broken axles, I’m thinking.”
“Very likely. Even an ore wagon wouldn’t be safe here. A horse or a mule is all that can be used. Noddy must have known what was ahead of him when he swapped his wagon for horses.” ”

“ Soon the appetizing aroma of breakfast was wafted through the cave, and it seemed to stir memories in the horses, for one of them whinnied suggestively.
“They’re hungry and thirsty,” said Cromley. “What say I turn them out of the cave? They can get a drink, anyhow. There ought to be any number of puddles of water along the trail.”
“Yes, and maybe they can find a bit of grass,” suggested Tinny. “Go ahead, Bill. We’ve got to treat our animals well, for we must depend on them for taking us back to Leftover. But be sure they don’t stray.” ”

“ Jerry said.
“There’s a pretty good mine,” and Tinny pointed out some men at work on a shaft inside of a mountain, boring a hole into the rock and dirt to get at the hidden gold.
“Is yours like that?” asked Ned.
“Rather better, I think,” Tinny said. “I’ve got a slab shack instead of a tent, and try to live in a fashion a bit civilized. Those fellows are just starting in,” and he indicated the tent in which the miners were living while trying for a “strike.”
“This air sure does smell good to me!” exclaimed Cromley, taking a long breath as they rolled past another mining camp. ”

“ We played a rotten trick on Bill, here, and I hope he forgives me. But we’re through! If ever I get back East again I’ll never have any more to do with Noddy Nixon or Jack Pender. They’re crooks, that’s what they are. I thought it was a square game they were playing, even when they kidnaped you,” and he looked at Cromley. “I know better now.”
This settled it, and, leaving the gold well hidden in the cave, they hastened to the place where Noddy and Jack had been caught under the landslide—a different one from that which had revealed the treasure chest. ”

“ I’m not as helpless as all that, even if I have a game leg. I’m spry yet! Where’s the ladder? Is the whole house afire?”
“No, only part of it. I think they’ll save most of it. Here’s the ladder,” and Jerry led the man to the window, for now a cloud of smoke blew into the room, making them both cough and obscuring their vision for a moment.
Mr. Cromley, to give him the name mentioned by the woman, proved that he was no weakling in spite of his age and lameness, and he went down the ladder almost as spryly as did Jerry.
“Oh, Uncle Bill, I’m so glad you’re saved!” cried one of the girls. ”

“ The rumble and roar made a terrifying sound. It was not like thunder, though it was akin to it. Nor was it like the blast of the tempest, though, in a measure, it filled the air with that awful howling. ”

“ Jerry Hopkins for an instant or two was rather sorry he had urged the professor to continue on with him and his companions to Thunder Mountain. At first the scientist had planned to come only as far as Chicago with the boys, to get the benefit of riding in the open air.
But the trip from Cresville did him so much good and he seemed so happy at being back with his young friends and so glad of the chance to collect specimens, that Jerry had said:
“Why not come all the way to Montana with us? We shall be in the open air most of the time. ”

“ Once more good-bys were called, and at last the auto containing the Motor Boys and their scientist friend and Bill Cromley was on the way to Chicago. Of course this was still a long way from Thunder Mountain, but the boys were in no special hurry. The gold mine, they knew, would not run away.
“And that treasure chest has been there so long it must be rusty by this time,” remarked Bob.
“Gold doesn’t rust,” observed Ned.
“And we aren’t at all sure that we can find it,” added Jerry.
“It isn’t going to be easy,” asserted the old miner. “As I told you, many have hunted for it and never found it. ”

“ A bear isn’t a very dainty feeder. He’s too fond of carrion, and that doesn’t make for tasty flesh. I’m just as glad Mr. Grizzly went.”
But it was many months before Bob ceased lamenting the fine chance he had missed of bringing to earth a great grizzly bear—for the bear was an immense one.
“Well, that little excitement will digest our meal,” remarked Ned, when they had returned after going a little way up the mountain in a fruitless attempt to catch another sight of bruin.
“Then let’s go!” suggested Jerry, and again they were on the trail after the kidnapers of Bill Cromley. ”

“ Jerry said.
“What do you mean—not so bad?” asked Ned. “We’ll get drenched when it starts—no umbrellas, no raincoats, nothing.”
“I mean there’ll be less danger from lightning when it starts to rain,” went on the tall lad.
“Jerry is right,” Tinny added, as they moved [211] forward again with lightning playing about them and a continuous mutter of thunder at times muffling their words. “Once the ground and trees are soaking wet, it makes so many more natural paths for the lightning to take. It diffuses itself all over gradually, instead of the tension being relieved in one big gigantic crack. ”

“ We’ll take a look in the morning.”
“I don’t believe it will do you any good,” stated Tinny. “You know my opinion about that treasure chest—it’s a dream—a wild tale like lots of others going the rounds. Still, don’t let me hold you back—try to get it if you can.”
“Can’t do anything until morning,” observed Jerry. “The storm’s worse than ever outside. Ned, you stumbled into the right place when you found this cave.”
“It’s better than the abandoned mine cabin would have been,” added Tinny. “We have shelter for the horses here, and there’s no danger from lightning.” ”

“ The puncture having been repaired, Andy hastened back in the small car he had so unceremoniously borrowed to go to the fire.
“See you later,” he called. “Watch out for Noddy—bad egg—Jack Pender, too—don’t tell Bachman I had a puncture—what he doesn’t know won’t hurt him—anyhow, it’s mended—maybe there’ll be another fire this afternoon—give me a ride in your new car, Bob—see you later—good-by—whoop!”
“Thank goodness, he’s gone!” murmured Jerry, as he and his chums entered the big machine, having said good-by to those whom they had helped. ”

“ Then the boys saw what it was—a rather large-sized toad desperately hopping along, as if it knew Professor Snodgrass was after it, as, indeed, the little bald-headed man was.
Into the bushes Uriah Snodgrass disappeared, for thither the toad had hopped, and the boys could not help smiling, in which silent merriment Tinny and Cromley joined.
Out came the former Boxwood Hall instructor a few seconds later, holding in his hand the frightened toad. To the boys it was only a toad, but [100] to the scientist it meant a great deal, and he was proud of his prize. ”

“ Look! They’re coming right at us! We’d better get some clubs, stones, or something.”
“How would it be to run?” asked Bob. “If they don’t want us here we’d better get out!”
“No, don’t do that,” advised Professor Snodgrass. “The minute you turn your backs they’ll spring, and a mountain lion can cover a good bit of ground in a leap. Keep facing them!”
“But for how long?” asked Jerry nervously. “They’re coming nearer all the while! Say, they’re ugly beasts!”
“Get out your jackknife and open the biggest blade,” advised Ned, in a low voice. “It’s our only chance!” ”

“ It’s a new one to me. Where I thought we could get shelter is at the old cabin less than a mile from here. But this will do very well—better in fact. There’s no danger from lightning in here.”
As he spoke there was another flash, like the terrifying ones that had snapped about before the rain came, and a great crash of thunder reverberated down the mountain slopes.
“It’s doing its best to get at us, though,” remarked Jerry, as he slid out of the rain-soaked saddle, an example followed by the others.
“It can’t get in here,” chuckled Ned. “Say, isn’t this a great place, though? ”

“ Bill Cromley. “I never got a chance at it, but some lucky fellows did, and they took out a whole chest full of gold. But, no—I won’t call them lucky,” he added, with a shake of his head.
“Why not?” inquired Ned.
“Because of what happened to ’em,” and Bill Cromley shook his head dolefully.
“What happened?” demanded Jerry.
“The worst that could happen to anybody. They lost their lives, and the gold, too. The miners had about cleaned out the mine—taken a fortune in gold from it. They packed it in a chest and set out for the East, putting the chest of gold on a stage coach. ”

“ Of course any [50] one has a right to search for that treasure chest that wants to—it’s abandoned, so to speak.”
“Then we have as good a right to it as anybody else, haven’t we?” asked Bob.
“You certainly have,” asserted the miner. “I guess I must have said it was a case of findings is keepings to this Noddy Nixon or he wouldn’t have asked me to pilot him and that Jack Pender to Thunder Mountain.”
“Hum! Thunder Mountain,” mused Ned. “That’s where we’re going to help Tinny Mallison prospect his mine. I don’t just fancy Noddy Nixon being even in the same county with us.” ”

“ Jerry and his chums, as they looked through the hay, saw Dolt Haven rouse up from the rear after Jack had shaken him.
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“What’s matter?” mumbled Dolt sleepily. Evidently he had been up most of the night before.
“Wake up, Haven, and give Jack a hand at putting on the chains,” snapped out Noddy. “It’s raining cats and dogs and the roads will be a sea of mud soon. It’ll be as bad for the Motor Boys as for us, all the same. Jinks! I hope we can beat them at this game. They didn’t get away as they thought they did, though. I wonder where they are now?” ”