The wind had gone down, and when all retired within the shelter not a sound but the merry crackling of the fire broke the stillness around them. In front of the camp was a long stretch of the pond, now thickly covered with snow; in the rear a slope of a mountain, rock-ribbed and covered with cedars and hemlock. To the left was located one of the branches of the river and a hundred yards distant was a second branch.
At first John Barrow had thought to set a guard for the night, but as the spot seemed free from danger for the time being, this was dispensed with, and all went to bed, to sleep soundly until sunrise.
"And now for the treasure hunt!" cried Sam, who was among the first to awaken. "It's just a perfect day, and we ought to accomplish a good deal, if we set to work right after breakfast."
He talked freely, for Jasper Grinder was still asleep — snoring lustily in a corner of the shelter. John Barrow was already outside, boiling coffee, broiling another bear steak, and preparing a pot of beans for cooking. He had likewise set some bread for raising.
"Goin' to give you a breakfast as is a breakfast," said the guide, with a broad smile. "Reckon all of you are ready for it, eh?"
"I am," said Dick. "Phew! but this mountain air does give one a tremendous appetite!"
While Jasper Grinder still slept Dick brought forth the precious map and studied the description, and also the translation of the French text into English, which Randolph Rover had made for them.
"'To find the box of silver and gold, go to where Bear Pond empties into Perch River,'" he read. "Well, we are at this spot, or, at least, at one of the spots. It may mean this branch, and it may mean one of several others."
"We can try one branch after another," put in Sam. "Go on with the description."
"'Ten paces to the west is a large pine tree which was once struck by lightning,'" continued Dick. He looked around. "I don't see any tree like that around here."
"You must remember, my lad, that that writin' was put down years ago," said John Barrow. "More'n likely if the tree was struck an' blasted, it's fallen long ago, and the spring freshets car ried it down the river."
"That's true," said Sam, with a falling look. "But, anyway, we ought to be able to locate the stump."
"Yes, we ought to be able to do that."
"I'm going to locate it now," cried Sam, and stalked off to where the pond emptied into the stream. From this spot he stalked ten paces westward, and of a sudden disappeared from view.
"Help!" he cried.
"Hullo, Sam's disappeared!" cried Dick, and ran toward the spot.
"Look out!" sang out John Barrow. "There may be a nasty hole there!"
Nevertheless, he too went forward, and they soon beheld Sam floundering in snow up to his neck. He had stepped into a hollow between the rocks, and it took him some time to extricate himself from the unpleasant position.
"Oh, my, what a bath!" he exclaimed ruefully, as he tried to get the snow from out of his collar and his coat-sleeves. "I — I didn't think of a pitfall like that!"
"You want to be careful how you journey around here," cautioned John Barrow. "If that hollow had been twice as deep the snow might have smothered you to death."
"I will be careful," answered Sam. "I don't want any more snow down my back and up my coat-sleeves," and he hurried back to the campfire to warm himself.
By this time Tom was outside, and he was followed by Jasper Grinder, and presently all sat down close to the blaze to enjoy the generous breakfast the guide had provided. Tom said that his arm was a little stiff, but that otherwise he felt as well as ever.
CHAPTER XXVIII
TWO FAILURES
What to do with Jasper Grinder was a problem which none of the boys knew how to solve. They were exceedingly sorry that he was among them, but as it would be impossible to send him off alone in that deep snow, they felt that they would have to make the best of the situation.
"I move we make him stay around the camp," suggested Tom. "He can watch our stores, keep the fire furnished with wood, and do some of the cooking."
"He may kick at playing servant girl," said Sam.
"I think Tom is right," put in Dick. "We don't want him along while we are trying to locate the treasure."
"He may slip away with our things — if he finds any trace of Baxter's party," went on Sam. "And we can't afford to lose anything more. One sled-load is enough. We'll be wanting some of those other things before long."
"I don't believe that other party is around here," said John Barrow. "We had better leave the man at the fire. We can keep our eyes open for the enemy — as you call 'em."
So it was arranged, and Dick told the former teacher. Jasper Grinder said but little in return, but asked about the possibility of any more wild beasts coming up.
"I don't want to be left alone to face another couple of bears," he said. "They would do their best to chew me up!"
"We will leave a gun in camp," said Dick. "If you see a bear coming, you can climb a tree and keep him off with the gun. If we hear a shot, we'll come back just as quickly as we can. But, Grinder, I want you to understand that you aren't to play us false," went on the eldest Rover. "If you do we'll have no mercy on you, remember that!"
Half an hour later the boys and their guide set off on their first hunt for the treasure. With great care John Barrow led the way over the rocks and other rough places. He carried a long pole, which he plunged in the snow before him whenever he was afraid there was a hollow ahead. Soon they gained the spot where Dick thought the blasted tree might be located.
The snow was scraped away, first in one direction and then another, until a spot several yards in diameter was cleared. No tree-stump was brought to light, although they found a slight hollow in which were several big roots.
"This might have been the tree once," said John Barrow mediatively. "Years make great changes, you know. The trees fall, rocks and dirt slide down hill, and that makes a big difference in the looks o' things."
"All we can do is to follow the directions on the map," said Dick. "I think we'll be bound to strike the right clew, sooner or later. Let us follow this one and see where it leads to."
"What's the next directions?" questioned Tom.
"'Go due southwest from the pine tree sixty-two paces,'" answered Dick, reading from the translation given him. "Which is southwest, Mr. Barrow?"
"Soon tell ye that," answered the guide, and brought forth his pocket compass. "That way." And he pointed with his arm.
With the compass to guide them they set off, the guide in the lead once more, and Dick counting off the sixty-two paces with great care. The way was up a hillside and over half a dozen rough rocks, and then into a hollow where the snow was up to their waists.
"No use of talking, this is treasure-hunting under difficulties," was Sam's comment. haps we would have done better had we left the hunt till summer time."
"And let Baxter get ahead of us?" put in Tom. "Not much!" He turned to Dick. "What's the next directions on the paper?"
"There ought to be a flat rock here, backed up, by a sharp-pointed one," answered the eldest Rover. "I don't see anything of a sharp-pointed rock, do you?? That flat rock may be under us."
"No sharp-pointed rock within a hundred feet of here," answered Sam, gazing around. He began scraping away the snow. "Dirt under us, too."
"That settles