The Pony Rider Boys in the Rockies; Or, The Secret of the Lost Claim

by Frank Gee Patchin

  CHAPTER XVI

  LIVE CUBS CAPTURED

  "Bring torches!" shouted Lige. "Look out for yourselves! There may beanother in the cave. This is an old she bear."

  After the lights had been brought, the boys cautiously approached thedead bear. Lige was down on his knees examining it.

  "I think we shall find something interesting here, before we havefinished," he announced. "Master Tad, as you have strong nerves, youcome along with me. The others can drag the bear out and wait for usoutside. Bring a couple of extra torches, in case we need them."

  "What are you looking for? More bear?" inquired the boy after they hadpenetrated further into the cave.

  "You'll see; that is, if I find what I am looking for. Your cave isturning out better than any of us had any idea it would. Was that somemore fools' gold you picked up back there?"

  "Oh, you saw me, did you? I don't know. It shines, and that's all Iknow about it. Do you know of any place where there is real gold inthis part of the Rockies?"

  "Yes; there are some claims paying fairly well within twenty miles ofhere. The Lost Claim is supposed to be somewhere in this neighborhood,but thus far no one ever has been able to locate it. I've hadsuspicions that Ben Tackers might make a close guess if he wanted todisclose it. But old Ben wouldn't bother with the gold if it wasdumped right down in his pig sty."

  "What's the Lost Claim?"

  "It's quite a long story. I'll tell it to you, briefly, while we areexploring the cave."

  "Then it was a real gold mine?"

  "It surely was, Master Tad. And I guess it is still. Some twenty yearsago a miner who had been born and brought up in the Park Range begandropping down to Denver at more or less irregular intervals, where heexchanged nuggets of pure gold and pay dust for cash. The quality ofthe gold showed that it must come from a rich vein.

  "Naturally, people were curious. But to all their questions, AbFerguson simply said he'd got the gold out of 'the Lost Claim.'"

  "Wonder they didn't follow him. I should think they might have locatedit in that way?" wondered Tad.

  "They did. But they might as well have tried to find the pot of goldthat is said to be at one end or the other of the rainbow. Ab was toomuch of an Indian to be caught that way."

  "What happened to him finally?"

  "Knocked down by a runaway team in Denver, and died three days later."

  "And he didn't tell anyoue where the Claim was?"

  "Not he. They've been looking for it ever since. But no one, so far asI ever heard, has got anywhere near it. There's a bunch of hardcharacters beating up the mountains now, hoping to get rich withoutwork. It's dollars to sandwiches they're hoping to find the LostClaim."

  "You--you don't suppose it was one of them who threw the stone atme, do you?" asked Tad reflectively.

  "I hadn't thought of that. It may be--it may be. H-m-m-m. That's anidea."

  "But why should they wish to harm me? I don't understand it at all."

  "No more do I, unless they found you snooping about, or thought ourparty might be on the same lay they are. You know, fellows of thatkind will stop at nothing. More than one man has been killed onnothing more than an idle suspicion, in these mountains. A lot morewill follow in the same way. But we've been warned, and it will bewell to keep a sharp lookout."

  "If they hadn't thought we were near the Lost Claim, I don't see whythey should have had any suspicions," decided Tad.

  "On general principles--that's all."

  "Did you ever try to find the Lost Claim?"

  "I? Never. What would I do with it, if I had it? I'm like BenTackers--don't need any more money than I've got. More would be toomuch."

  Yet Tad Butler was unable to rid his mind of the idea that somehow hehad stumbled close upon the dead miner's secret. He determined to turnprospector at the very first opportunity.

  "Is this more fools' gold?" he asked, pointing to a thin, yellowstreak that sparkled in the rock at their right.

  "I reckon it is. It has fooled more than one prospector, and drovesome of them crazy. Take my advice and don't get the fever. Nothingbut trouble will follow you if you do. Trouble always does follow thegreed for the yellow metal."

  They had been winding out in the maze of passages, Lige, in themeantime, keeping a sharp lookout for guide marks, now and thengouging a niche in the wall to guide them on their return journey.

  "Watch out," he cautioned. "We are coming to something."

  Sundry soft, muffled growls led them to proceed more carefully, until,finally, Lige directed the lad to raise the torch higher. Lige cockedhis rifle, holding it in readiness for quick action. In this mannerthey crept further into the cave until Tad was suddenly startled by aloud laugh from the guide.

  "What is it?" exclaimed the boy.

  "Just what I thought. Come here."

  At first, Tad could make nothing of what the guide was exhibiting.

  However, after a moment's peering in that direction, the boy observedwhat appeared to be a round ball of fur in one corner of thechamber. "Wha--what is it--bears?" Lige nodded, and, striding overto the heap, he pulled it roughly apart. His act was greeted with aseries of savage snarls and growls.

  "Cubs. Four of them, and beauties, at that. I knew they were in here,somewhere, after I had examined the mother," announced the guidetriumphantly.

  "Bear cubs? You don't mean it!" exclaimed Tad joyously. "And we cantake them with us?"

  "That's exactly what we shall do. There will be one for each of you,and we can crate them up so they can be carried on the burros."

  "One for each of us? Won't the boys go wild when they see them? But,how are we going to get them to camp?"

  "I'll show you."

  Taking a strip of rawhide from his pocket, Lige fashioned a collarabout the neck of each cub, leaving a leash four or five feet long tolead the animal by. However, this was not accomplished withoutvigorous protest on the part of the cubs. Tad was highly amused attheir efforts to cuff their captor with their little paws, which theywielded with more or less skill. Yet, they were too young to be ableto make any great resistance, and the guide did not give the slightestattention to their attempts to drive them away.

  "There," he announced, having secured the little animals. "We eachwill lead two. Don't be afraid to pull, if they hold back. They'llcome along all right when they begin to choke."

  With their prizes in tow Tad and the guide retraced their steps to thecave entrance.

  At first, looks of amazement greeted them as they emerged with theirstrange captives.

  "Know what they are?" grinned Tad, proudly hauling his cubs up forinspection.

  The boys shook their heads.

  "Bear cubs. There's one for each of us."

  "Whoop!" shouted the boys in chorus.

  "Now, we'll have a regular menagerie," exclaimed Ned. "If we couldcatch a live bob-cat to go with them, wouldn't that be great?"

  "Will they bite?" asked Chunky, apprehensively edging away from one ofthe animals that was playfully tugging at his leggin.

  "Not yet," answered the guide. "And you can tame them so they won'thurt you at all. They make good pets if one begins when they areyoung."

  The next half hour was spent in skinning the big mother bear, whichproceeding the boys watched with keen interest. Some of the meat theytook back to camp with them to cook for supper.

  They found old Ben Tackers there awaiting them.

  "Hullo, Ben," greeted the guide. "How's everything?"

  "Tol'ble," grunted the old mountaineer.

  "Are the dogs ready?"

  Ben nodded.

  "Start morning," he said.

  "Good," shouted the boys.

  "We couldn't imagine where you had been keeping yourself all thetime," added the Professor. "Lige went over to your cabin last nightand found it locked."

  "Been away, Ben?" asked Lige.

  "Over to Eagle Pass. Miners steal old Ben's hogs--one
, two ofthem. Sheriff come by-and-bye and chase bunch out. Old Ben kill them,but Sheriff do better. Big fight when Sheriff comes."

  The boys laughed at his quaint way of expressing himself, but notcatching the full import of his words.

  Lige, on the other hand, eyed him questioningly; and, when Ben finallyleft the camp in his usual abrupt fashion, the guide rose and followedhim. When Lige Thomas returned, his face wore an expression ofseriousness that amounted almost to anxiety.

  The boys were excitedly discussing their plans for the morrow. It hadbeen decided that the Professor should remain in camp with Jose, as,owing to the presence of the miners in the vicinity, it was notthought wise to leave the camp entirely alone. The four boys, withLige Thomas, were to make the trip, from which, in case they found thegame running, they might not return in twenty-four hours.

  Tad had been thinking deeply. After a little while he rose and walkedover to Professor Zepplin's tent.

  "May I come in?" he asked.

  "Certainly, walk right in, Tad. What is on your mind?"

  "This," answered the lad, laying on the Professor's table the chunksof mineral that he had picked up.

  "What's this? Ah, I see. More of the iron pyrites. The metal hasdriven many a poor fellow mad with anticipations of fabulous wealth,"smiled the German.

  "Are you sure it is fools' gold, Professor?"

  "Reasonably so. But you may leave it here, if you wish, and I willexamine it at my leisure. Where did you find the second piece?"

  "In the cave. There is a streak of what appears to be the same stuff,extending around one entire chamber there. If it was gold insteadof----"

  "Pyrites," supplied the Professor.

  "Yes. It would make a man very rich, would it not?" asked Tad rising.

  "Undoubtedly," smiled the Professor, bowing the boy out courteously.

  Professor Zepplin, from the opening of his tent, watched Tad until thelatter had joined his companions, after which he pulled the flap shut,quickly seating himself in front of his camp table.

  Having done so, he proceeded to examine the two pieces of metal undera magnifying glass. Then with his geologist's hammer he broke off bitsof the metal, through all of which sparkled the bright yellowparticles.

  The German got out his field kit, from which he selected severalbottles with glass stoppers, arranging these on the table in front ofhim. This done, he pulverized a small quantity of the rock, withshort, quick raps of the hammer, placing the powder thus made on aplate.

  "One part nitric acid, two parts hydrochloric acid," he muttered,pouring the desired quantities from the bottles.

  These preparations having been made, the Professor's next move was toapply a blowpipe to some of the metal from the pulverized ore, thusforming a small yellow button. This he dissolved in the aqua regia,formed by the combination of the two acids, and applied the usualchemical tests.

  As he did so, Professor Zepplin's eyes glowed with a strange light.

  He sprang up, peered cautiously from behind the tent flap, thensettled himself once more to his experiments.

  Again he went through a similar process with the powder made fromstill another chunk of the ore. The same result followed.

  "Gold! Gold! Rich yellow gold!" breathed the scientist.

  He sat with head bowed, breathing heavily, his fascinated gaze fixed onthe shining metal.

  "Can it be possible!" he murmured.

  The loud laughter of the boys off by the camp fire was borne to hisears. But Professor Zepplin did not seem to hear the sounds. He waslost in deep thought.