CHAPTER XXV
THE HIDDEN TREASURE
"Tom! Oh Tom Fairfield!"
"You've found us at last!"
"Oh, we thought you would never come!"
Thus Jack, Bert and Dick greeted their chum--clasping Tom by the hands.He held them off and looked closely at them. There were marks ofsuffering and privation on their faces.
"You've had a hard time," said Tom gently.
"You bet we have!" declared Jack, with conviction. "We are almoststarved, and worried to death."
"And those sneaks, Sam Heller and Nick Johnson, have been standingguard over us, and insulting us," added Bert. "If ever they come backto Elmwood Hall--"
"Don't worry. They won't dare show their faces there after this,"declared Jack.
"But what about them?" asked Tom. "Where are they? I haven't seen asoul. Have they found the treasure and left?"
"I don't believe so," answered Dick. "They were around this morning."
"What about Skeel and the hermit?" asked Tom.
"Oh, they're around too," said Jack. "They're close after that treasure,or think they are. My! but they're hot against you for getting thatplan! It was the only one they had, it seems, and they've been workingin the dark without it. That's why they captured us. They thought they'dget you, too, I guess, and that you'd have the plan. You managed to keepout of their clutches, but they got us."
"By sneaking up!" said Bert bitterly. "Say, that hermit is strongerthan I gave him credit for. He tackled me, and Skeel went for Jack.Then Sam and Nick handled Dick."
"They wouldn't have, only they stunned me with a blow first," declaredthe village lad.
"Anyhow, they got us," went on Jack, "and brought us here. We've beenhere ever since. What happened to you, Tom?"
"Lots of things. I've got my boat back." And Tom told his chums of hisadventures. "We'll soon be out of here," he added. "I have the boathidden, and we'll make a quick run back to camp."
"What about the treasure?" asked Bert.
"I'm willing to let it go," said Tom. "I don't believe there is any.But if there is--"
"Hark!" interrupted Jack. "Someone is coming!"
They all listened. Plainly the noise of someone ascending the stairscould be heard.
"Look out for squalls," murmured Bert.
Tom stooped and picked up the axe he had dropped, thrusting hiselectric light into his pocket. A moment later the old hermit, followedby Professor Skeel, appeared in the secret room, while Sam Heller andhis crony Nick brought up in the background. There was a look of angerand amazement on their faces.
"Ha!" cried the hermit. "He is here! The other one! We have them allnow!"
"Who is here?" asked Mr. Skeel, who had not seen our hero at first.
"I am!" cried the lad who had come to the rescue of his chums.
"Tom Fairfield!" gasped the former Latin instructor. "I--I am--"
"Yes, I'm here, and I'll see that you give an account of yourself!"snapped Tom. "You've been carrying things with too high a hand. You'reat the end of your rope now!"
He faced the conspirators with the hatchet in his hand. Mr. Skeel andthe two sneaking lads shrank back. Not so the old hermit. With a snarlof rage he sprang forward at Tom.
"And so you come!" he cried. "You come after my treasure that I havesought so long! You would rob me! But you shall not. You have thepaper, but I will get it from you! I will yet find my treasure!"
He made a leap for Tom. Instinctively our hero stepped back, and, as hedid so he tripped, and would have fallen had he not leaped to the rear.He came up against a wall with a crash, and his hatchet flew from hishand and also struck the partition. Then something happened that causedthem all to stare in amazement.
There was a grinding noise, a snapping sound, and a portion of thesolid wall slid down and out of sight. A recess was thus opened, andwhen the dust of many years had cleared away they saw in the openingthrough the dim light, a small brass-bound box. For a moment theystared in amazement, and then the old hermit, with a scarcely humancry, leaped forward.
"The treasure! My treasure!" he cried. "I have found it at last! Thetreasure of the old mill! It has given up the secret it held so long!"
He reached into the compartment, drew the box to him, and fell acrossit fainting.
"Help him!" cried Tom. "The shock has been too much for him! Get water,somebody!"
"Get him out of there," advised Jack. "The air is foul, and that mayhave caused him to faint." Indeed a damp, unpleasant, musty odorfilled the room from the secret hiding place of the box.
Dick and Bert dragged the old hermit from the box, and, making a pillowfrom some bags, they laid him out on the floor, while Tom forcedthrough his lips some of the water left for the boy prisoners.
"Where am I? What happened? Is my treasure safe?" the old man murmuredas he opened his eyes.
"Yes, it's safe," said Tom, soothingly. The hermit's tone was verydifferent now. He seemed to have lost his vindictive spirit. "It'ssafe," went on Tom, "unless--" He thought of Mr. Skeel and the twolads, but they had slipped away. They evidently realized that, as thehermit had the box, the game was up. "It's surely safe--if there's anytreasure in the box," added our hero with conviction, now that he sawthat the conspirators had vanished.
They gave the old man some more water, and soon he was himself again,but his wild manner had gone. It seemed to vanish with the finding ofthe box.
"There it is," he murmured, as he sat beside it. "The box I have soughtso long. I knew it was somewhere in the mill, or about it, but I nevercould find it, though I hunted everywhere. When I had the plan I wassure I would be successful, but we lost it. Now it doesn't matter. Oh,I shall live in peace and happiness now!"
"Maybe we'd better open the box," suggested Tom. "It may be empty."
"Oh, don't say that!" cried the old man in agony. "It can't be empty.The treasure must be in it."
And it was, as they saw when Tom forced the case open with the hatchet.Not a very great treasure to be sure, but amounting to some thousandsof dollars.
It consisted of English gold pieces, some ancient gold and silverdishes, more valuable as antiques and relics than for the metal inthem. There was also considerable jewelry that would fetch good sumsfor the same reason. And there were also Bank of England notes in alarge sum, as good as the day they were issued. It was a treasureindeed to the old man, and would keep him in comfort the rest of hislife.
"Jove! but this is a great find!" exclaimed Jack. "And to think it cameabout by accident! You are all to the good, Tom."
"I wonder what has become of Skeel and those lads?" asked Bert.
"They're far enough off now," said Tom. "But shall we help you downwith your box?" he asked of the hermit.
"No, I had rather stay here. I have lived here for many years, exceptwhen I was off in the woods looking for the treasure. I am sorry I wasso harsh to you, but I thought you were trying to rob me."
"We intended giving you the treasure if we found it," said Tom, gently."Of course you did not mean it, but you have treated my friends verybadly."
"It was that scoundrel Skeel," murmured the old man. "He urged me to doit. I am sorry I ever trusted him."
And then he told his story. It was substantially the same as Tom hadheard from his father. Years before, fearing an attack by the Indians,the early settlers of Wilden had put their wealth into the box andfled. The box was hidden in the old mill, which had been built with thesecret rooms and passages as a hiding place, and one of defense againstthe savages.
But the fleeing settlers never returned, though the story of theirhidden treasure survived for many years. Mr. Wallace was a directdescendent of one of them, and he preserved faith in the old legend,and hunted for the treasure until his mind became affected.
Then came the advent of Tom and his chums. It was merely a coincidencethat Mr. Skeel went camping in the vicinity of the old mill, as didalso Sam and Nick. The bullies fell in with their former teacher. Thelatter had heard the story of the treasure i
n the mill, for it wascommon gossip, and, being of a grasping nature, he determined to havea try for it. He enlisted the aid of Sam and Nick, and, in some way,managed to become friendly with the old hermit.
The latter had, in searching among some old papers of his ancestors,found the original plan of the mill. It showed many things, but notwhere the treasure was, though if he had carefully measured the realand apparent thickness of the walls he might have come upon the boxitself, as he did the secret staircase.
Professor Skeel, representing that he was an expert in such matters,managed to get possession of the plan, only to lose it. Suspecting thatTom and his chums had it, he planned their capture, and did get allbut our hero. This was after Sam and Nick had taken away the motorboatand hidden it. Then, when they had it, they were so careless that itfloated away and Tom recovered it.
Of course the existence of the secret staircase, and the hidden room,where the boy prisoners were kept, was known to the hermit, whorevealed them to the professor and the two cronies. After Jack, Dickand Bert were locked up, the vain hunt for the treasure went on, butwithout success until Tom, accidentally hitting the secret spring,revealed it.
There were two ways of getting on the hidden stairway. One was frominside the mill, the door being cleverly concealed. The other way wasthrough the outside tunnel, by which Tom came, but this had not beenused by the hermit in years, and he had piled stones at the egress. Butthe voices of Tom's chums, traveling through an old flue, and down thetunnel, had revealed it to our hero.
"Well, I don't know as we have anything more to stay here for,"remarked Tom, a little later, when they had made the old hermitcomfortable, and had ascertained that he had food enough to last him."We might as well get back to camp."
"Oh, boys!" began the aged man, "I--I must ask your forgiveness forwhat I have done. But I--I think I was not--not exactly myself attimes. I did so want that treasure! And now I have it--thanks to you. Isuppose I should share it with you, and if you think--"
"Not a bit of it!" interrupted Tom heartily. "We have all the moneythat is good for us, I guess. You need it more than we do. I hope itwill keep you in comfort."
"It will," said the old hermit. "I don't want much, now that I have mytreasure."
They left him, promising to see him again, and soon they had departedfrom the old mill. Before they left Tom found out how the secret doorworked, leading from the second floor to the hidden staircase. Part ofthe wall was counter-poised with weights, and worked easily, once theright spring was touched.
The motorboat was found just where Tom had hidden it, and soon he andhis chums were speeding back to their camp. They looked for Mr. Skeel,and Sam and Nick, but saw nothing of them. Nor, in fact, did they meetthem for some time after that.
"And now for a good meal!" cried Dick, when the crowd was back at thetents. "I guess it's your turn to cook, Tom."
"I guess so," laughed our hero. "I'll soon have some grub for you."
"We're nearly starved," added Dick. "Nothing much to eat in the oldmill."
"Yes, it was almost as bad as when we went on a strike in ElmwoodHall," said Bert. "Get busy, Tom."
And, at the meal, and beside the cheerful glow of the campfire, theylived over again the adventures through which they had passed in thestrenuous weeks they had spent in camp.
"And there really was a treasure, after all," said Bert. "I hardlybelieved it."
"I don't know whether I did or not," said Tom, "but I made up my mindI'd prove it, one way or the other."
"And you did," commented Jack, with a laugh. "You generally do what youset out to, Tom."
"Even to getting a meal up for a hungry crowd," put in Dick.
"And as good a one as I could myself," spoke Bert, passing his platefor more fried chicken.
"And now we'll enjoy camp life, without worrying about hiddentreasure," said Tom. "Ho! for good times from now on!"
And they had them. They learned later, that the old hermit sold theplate and jewels, and wisely converted his treasure into cash, which heput in the bank. It was sufficient for his simple needs for many years.A distant relative induced him to leave the mill and live with him, andthe old man passed the rest of his years in peace.
"Well, I wonder what we'll do this fall?" asked Jack one day about aweek later, as they were out on Lake Woonset in the motorboat.
"Go back to school, of course," said Tom with a laugh, "and have somemore fun." What our hero and his chums did will be told of in the nextvolume of this series, to be entitled, "Tom Fairfield's Pluck and Luck;Or, Working to Clear His Name."
"Well, this is certainly great!" declared Jack that night, as theystood on the shores of the lake, and watched the moon rise over thetrees. "It's been the best vacation I ever knew."
"Same here!" chorused Bert and Dick.
"Yes, it was lively enough," agreed Tom. And as they turned into theircots we will take leave of them.
THE END