CHAPTER XVI
QUEER OPERATIONS
It was a few days after the arrival of the two strangers in town thatRoger and Adrian were walking along the road that led to the village ofTully. There was nothing for them to do about the farm just then, andAdrian thought it would be a good plan to "prospect" a bit, as he calledit, to see if he might come upon a deposit of old bones anywhere. For hehad not forgotten his plan of selling them, or anything else he mighthappen upon, to raise all the money he could.
It was a fine, warm spring day, with the air full of sweet smells fromthe damp earth, with the tender green grass just showing above the brownsoil and tiny leaves bursting from the trees. The two boys hurried on,for they too felt the sap running up in their veins, and they wanted tohop and skip and shout aloud in the very enjoyment of being alive. Asfor Roger, he never felt better in his life, and he knew that even hisshort stay in the country, though it had been during a severe and coldwinter, had been of great benefit to him.
"I'll beat you down to the old button-ball tree," cried Adrian suddenly,pointing to a big sycamore about six hundred feet ahead of them on theroad.
"I'll go you."
"One, two, three," counted Adrian, "Ready!" and the boys were off at theword.
For nearly three quarters of the distance Roger held his own with hiscousin. Then the more sturdy legs of the country boy and his better windtold, and he drew gradually away, though Roger did not give up until thevery end, when Adrian finished five feet in advance.
"You--did--better--than--I thought--you would," panted Adrian, as heflopped down on the grass under the tree to rest.
"I'm picking up," admitted Roger, modestly. "I didn't think I could keepup at all. I never could run as far as this without getting a pain in myside. But it don't seem to bother me a bit now."
"Keep at it, and when you get back home, you'll be able to challenge thebest of 'em," said Adrian, as he jumped up to throw a stone at a tin canin the road, hitting the object with a resounding clang.
The boys resumed their walk, talking on topics of interest to them andkeeping their eyes "peeled," as Adrian expressed it, for old bones, thatthey might know where to locate them when they came another day. Theyhad gone about two miles, rambling slowly along, when, as they turned abend in the road, they caught sight of two men carrying valises,hurrying on, just ahead of them.
"They look like book agents," ventured Adrian.
Roger glanced sharply at the receding figures.
"Why," he exclaimed, "they are the two men who are boarding atCrownheart's hotel, the ones who came in on the stage the other night. Iguess they must be looking over the ground for the new railroad."
"Let's chase after them and see what they do," suggested Adrian, andthen the boys, having some object in their walk, quickened their pace tocatch up to Mr. Dudley and Mr. Ranquist. In a few minutes the menreached an open field on the left side of the road,--a pasture filledwith big stones and bowlders that had fallen from a great ledge of rocktwo hundred feet high or more, which cropped out about seven hundredfeet from the highway, and rose, almost abruptly, from the level of thefield.
"Hold on a minute," cautioned Adrian, as he saw the men stop. "Don't letthem catch us playing 'I spy'; they might not want us to follow them,even though we have a right to go where we please. We'll just wait bythe tree until we see which way they turn."
The boys sat down in the shade of a big maple.
"What's that queer smell," asked Roger suddenly, sniffing the air.
"Sulphur spring," explained Adrian. "This is what they call 'StonyFarm.' Belongs to Jim Eaton, and about all it's good for is to pasturesheep. The sulphur spring comes out of that rocky ledge and runs acrossunder the road. Some folks say the water's healthy, but it tastes toomuch like rotten eggs for me. The cattle won't drink it. But say, thosemen are going in," and he rose to peer at them.
Mr. Dudley could be seen pointing toward the big rocky hill, and heappeared to be urging his companion to advance toward it. The youngerman seemed to be in favor of going farther on before turning off theroad, and he indicated a place about half a mile distant. But in the endthe older man prevailed, and the two, after a cautious glance on allsides, struck into the field and made their way to a path that led up ontop of the out-cropping rock. After waiting until the men had welladvanced, Roger and Adrian took after them.
Proceeding slowly along, the boys saw the men ascend to the top of thebig ledge, and then turn to the left, going back in the direction theyhad come from. On top of the rocks was a sort of path, made by the sheepand cows that used it to pass into the woods during hot days. The menwalked along this, for perhaps a mile, stopping every now and then toexamine the ground closely. Once in a while the younger man would chipoff a bit of rock, which he and his companion would look at carefully.
"I guess they're geologists getting specimens," ventured Roger.
"Maybe," admitted Adrian, who was beginning to lose interest in the mensince they seemed to be doing nothing out of the ordinary. The boysfollowed along in silence, taking care to keep from observation.
Suddenly the two men stopped. The older one set his valise down and tooksomething from it. This he seemed to be fitting together, and when hehad finished he had a long, slender steel rod, which Mr. Ranquist,after carefully selecting a place on the surface, shoved into the soil.He twisted it about and then drew it up, after which he and Mr. Dudleycarefully examined the end that had gone down into the earth.
"I have it!" exclaimed Roger. "They're prospecting for oil, that's whatthey are. They're not railroad surveyors at all."
"Perhaps they're after gold," suggested Adrian, all excited at the verythought. "Cracky! If there should be gold in Cardiff, wouldn't it begreat? If there was only a little on dad's land, he wouldn't have toworry about that mortgage."
Adrian had started forward, forgetting the caution he previously used toprevent the men from observing him, and as he did so he dislodged a bigstone, which crashed down the hillside with a clatter and bang. At thesound both men looked up suddenly and saw the startled and surprisedboys. Mr. Dudley made a quick motion of closing the valise and seemedabout to hurry on. But with a hasty gesture Mr. Ranquist detained himand spoke a few hurried words to his companion. Then, turning, the youngengineer came slowly toward the boys, who did not know whether to go orstay.
"Live around here?" asked Mr. Ranquist, as he drew near Roger andAdrian.
"'Bout two miles--over to Cardiff," answered Adrian.
"Oh, yes. Um. Nice day, isn't it? Are you hunting?" the man asked,suddenly.
"Nope," from Adrian.
"Fishing?"
"Nope."
"What, then?"
"Prospecting."
"Prospecting?"
"Yep."
"What after?"
"Old bones."
"Old bones? Are you joking, my lad?"
"No, sir, not a bit. We're looking for old bones. They'll bring half acent a pound, you know," and there was not the trace of a smile onAdrian's face.
"Oh, I see. Of course. Old bones. Humph! Well," and Mr. Ranquist did notseem to know whether to smile or frown. "Well, my friend and I were notexactly looking for old bones. Old stones are more in our line. You seewe came out here on a visit and thought we'd take a walk out this way.We've found a fine lot of old stones," and Mr. Ranquist motioned rathervaguely toward his companion. "What are you boys after, anyhow?" hefinished, suddenly.
"Nothing in particular," put in Roger, and at the sound of his voice,Mr. Ranquist turned quickly.
"Oh, it's our friend of the post-office," he exclaimed. "I remember younow. How are you?"
"Pretty well," replied Roger.
"Hum. Glad to hear it," responded Mr. Ranquist. "You're from New York,aren't you? Well, so are we, Mr. Dudley and I. Came here to sort ofrest up and look around. Nice place, isn't it?"
"I think so," from Roger.
"Yes. Um. Well, Mr. Dudley and I had nothing to do so we sauntered outhere."
; "Is the railroad going through this place?" asked Adrian. "We heard youwere railroad surveyors," he went on.
Mr. Ranquist glanced quickly at the two boys and seemed to be weighingsomething in his mind. Advancing toward Adrian, he said:
"Now you two young men appear to be smart and bright. If I tell yousomething can you keep it secret?"
"Yes, sir," chorused the two boys.
"Well, then, we are getting ready to lay out a line through here. But wedon't want people to know it yet, because if they did they'd ask a gooddeal more for their land, which we might need, than it would be worth tous. We're willing, or that is the men who are putting the line through,are ready to pay a good price for the property, but not too much. So wecame out here, without letting any one know, to look the ground over andsee how it lays. Then if we like it we'll make an offer. But we don'twant it talked about until we're ready to have it, that a railroad islikely to come through the valley. Do you understand?"
The boys nodded gravely.
"Now," went on Mr. Ranquist, "I like your looks, and as we need twobright, smart boys who know this part of the country well, we mightlike to engage you. How would you consider such a proposition?"
Adrian and Roger were silent a moment, thinking. They were wondering ifthey could properly accept the offer.
"It won't interfere with anything else you have to do," continued Mr.Ranquist. "We shall want you only once in a while to guide us aroundthese parts. What do you say?"
"How much?" asked Adrian, always practical.
"Five dollars each," said Mr. Ranquist, quickly.
"For which we're to show you around when you want us and say nothingabout a railroad line coming through," stipulated the boy.
"Exactly. I don't mind you telling your folks, but no one else."
"It's a go, if Roger agrees."
"Oh, I'll agree fast enough," put in Roger.
"Then here's your money," said Mr. Ranquist, as if he feared the boysmight change their minds. He drew some bills from his pocket, strippedoff two crisp bank notes, and passed five dollars each to Roger andAdrian. The boys took the cash as if they had been used to that sort ofthing all their lives.
"Now," said Mr. Ranquist, "I guess we won't need you to-day, for as amatter of fact we're going back to the hotel. But can you come with usthe day after to-morrow? We want to travel along this ridge, back intothe hills, and we don't want to run the chance of getting lost. So canyou meet us at the Cardiff Inn right after dinner?"
"I guess so," answered Adrian. "Yes, sir, we'll be there," and he slylynudged Roger, warning him to make no answer.
Then the boys turned to go back down the hill, leaving Mr. Dudley andMr. Ranquist to follow when they pleased. As Roger was about to go awayhe fancied he heard the older man remonstrating with Mr. Ranquist.
"We need those boys," he thought he heard the younger man say. "They'llcome in handy, and I had to hire them. They were altogether toosuspicious and knowing, and now I have thrown them off the track."
At which expression Roger wondered somewhat, and all the way home he wasbusy thinking of the mysterious operations of the new arrivals inCardiff.
The White Crystals: Being an Account of the Adventures of Two Boys Page 16