CHAPTER XVIII
LOST LAKE FOUND
"Let me past! I'll catch him!" cried Bob.
"Wait a minute! Maybe that's him coming back?" replied Jerry.
Sure enough the next instant the auto, which had been lost to sight byreason of a turn in the road, came into view.
Straight up the highway it came, the figure of the Indian, wrapped inhis blanket, with his headdress of feathers, an altogether brilliantfigure, seated at the wheel; a strange enough combination as any onewill admit.
The red man acted as though he had been used to running autos all hislife. He sat straight as an arrow, his hands grasping the wheel, whichwas sending the car straight for the boys.
"He's just doing this to taunt us!" exclaimed Jerry. "I have a goodnotion to take a shot at one of the tires with my revolver and scare himinto stopping."
"Don't do it! You might kill him," said Ned, "and you wouldn't want todo that. But what does he mean by stealing the car, and then bringing itback?"
A few seconds later the auto drew up in front of the boys, who had cometo a halt. With an ease that bespoke long experience the Indian broughtthe machine to a stop, and then, while the lads looked on, so full ofwonder at the whole occurrence that they did not know what to say, thered man grunted:
"Heap fine wagon. Ugh! Indian like um, he buy um! How much?"
"Look here!" burst out Jerry, so angry that he hardly took note of whatthe red man had said. "Do you know you are a--"
Then a strange thing happened. Wrapping his blankets closely about him,and drawing himself up to his full height of over six feet, the Indiansaid calmly:
"I really beg your pardon for the unwarranted liberty I took with yourcar, but when I saw it standing out here, so far from civilization,I could not resist the temptation to take a ride. I trust you willoverlook it."
For a moment the boys were speechless, for the Indian they had supposedone from the half-wild plain tribes, and whose every appearanceindicated that, had spoken in English as cultured as that of a collegeprofessor.
"What--why--when--where?" stammered Jerry, and the Indian burst into alaugh.
"I see I must explain," he said. "I am not what I seem."
"Aren't you an Indian?" asked Ned.
"A full blooded one, and the chief of a tribe," spoke the red man. "ButI am not the half dime library sort.
"You see," he went on, "I have just come back from the school atCarlisle, where I am taking a post graduate course. I felt a suddenlonging to don the dress of my ancestors, and roam the broad fields. Idid so, starting from my home on the reservation this morning. I camealong and saw the auto. As I said, the temptation was too strong toresist. I got in and took a little spin, as you saw. I am sorry if Icaused you annoyance, or made you fear your machine had been stolen."
The eyes of the Indian twinkled and, beneath the paint on his face, theboys could see a smile coming.
"But how in the world did you learn to run a car?" asked Jerry.
"Easy enough," was the answer. "I acted as chauffeur for several monthsthis vacation to earn money enough to continue my studies. I got to bequite an expert. That is a fine car you have."
"Well I'm stumped!" exclaimed Bob.
"How do you like my pony?" asked the red man. "I think we made a sortof unfair exchange, though, in spite of the fact that the animal isvaluable. Now let me apologize once more, and then I will take my animaland go home."
"You are welcome to the ride," said Jerry. "We were so surprised atfirst that we took you for a thief."
"I don't blame you," spoke the Indian. "The sight of a red man in anautomobile is enough to make any one wonder. Well, heap big chief,Whistling Wind in the Pine, must go."
"Is that your name?" asked Ned.
"It's my Indian one," was the answer, "but at the school I am known asPaul Rader. Now let me bid you good day, and a pleasant journey."
Then, before they could ask him to take a ride with them, the boys sawthe Indian leap on his pony, from which Bob had dismounted, and rideaway at a smart gallop, his blanket flying out behind him in the wind.
"Well, that's the limit!" exclaimed Ned. "To think of a wild-civilizedIndian playing a trick like that."
"I certainly thought he was as wild as they come," put in Bob. "I wasafraid it was all up with us."
Then the professor appeared and they told him the story.
"I wish I had met him," said the professor.
"What for; did you know him?" asked Jerry.
"No, but he would probably be able to tell me where to get some finespecimens," remarked the scientist.
In a short time they were all in the auto again, and were bowling alongover the table land, the machine humming in a way that told that thecylinders were working well. They camped for supper, and then, as it wasa fine moon light night they determined to continue on slowly, as theywanted to make up for lost time.
The moon rose early, a big silver disk shining among the trees, when theautoists started on their night journey.
"This is great!" exclaimed Bob, who seemed to have forgotten his desirefor a bed under shelter. "Wouldn't it be fun to have a lot of Indianschase us now?"
"It might if they were tame ones," put in Jerry, who was steering, "butexcuse me from any wild ones."
The road soon began a gentle ascent, and the auto ran more slowly up thehill. The road, too, became narrower, winding in and out. The trees,which had been scattering, were thicker, and the travelers could seethey were getting well up among the mountains.
"How late are you going to travel?" asked Bob of Jerry.
"Until nearly midnight," was the answer. "The moon begins to go downthen and it will not be very safe. But I think we ought to cover as biga distance as possible while we can. We have had delays enough."
The only noise, besides the puffing of the machine, were the cries ofowls, the chirping of crickets and katy-dids, with, now and then, thehowl of a wolf or fox. In spite of the number in the party, there wasa feeling of loneliness about being so far from civilization among thewilds of the mountain region.
Up and up went the car, until the ascent became so steep that Jerry wasobliged to run on the low gear. This made progress slow, and, because ofthe uneven road, so risky, that it seemed unwise to proceed further thatnight.
"I'll slow up when we get to the top of this hill," said Jerry, "andwe'll go into camp."
But he reckoned without knowing what sort of a hill it was, nor did hecalculate on the auto failing to stop as soon as he expected. For thatwas what happened. Reaching the summit of the slope Jerry shut off thepower.
But something went wrong with the mechanism. The auto continued on,slowly to be sure, but with enough momentum to send it over the brow ofthe hill. Then it plunged down on the other side, gathering speed everyminute.
"Is she running away?" asked Ned. "Seems so to me."
"She's not behaving as well as she should," replied Jerry, "but I haveher under control. The brake is working all right," which fact he soonascertained.
Faster and faster, however, in spite of the brake, did the auto plungedown the slope. Jerry kept his head, however, and was working to bringthe machine to a halt. All at once Bob, looking up, saw where the roadmade a sudden turn to the left.
"Look out for that!" he cried, pointing.
Jerry tried to make the turn, but the steering wheel suddenly became alittle stiff, so that, instead of the car being turned to the left, andaround the bend, it kept straight on.
There was a crackling of brush and tree branches, and the big machineleft the road and began plowing up the side of a slope, around the loweredge of which the road wound.
"Duck!" cried Ned, as a tree branch hit him in the face.
They all did so, and the next instant the big machine crashed throughsome briars, bending down several saplings in its journey. Then, havingexhausted the momentum, the auto came to a stop, at the summit of thelittle slope, and Jerry jammed on the brakes to hold it there, the bandthis time gripping the
axle firmly.
"Look! Oh look!" cried Ned, pointing ahead and down below them.
There, in a sort of basin formed by high hills, lay a body of water,sparkling and beautiful in the moonlight, the shadows of tall blackmountains reflected in its calm surface.
"It's Lost Lake!" exclaimed Jerry, softly. "Boys! We have found LostLake! I am sure of it!"
For a few seconds no one spoke after that, for they were all lost inwonder at the beauty and strangeness of the sight. It was so quiet thatit seemed almost as if it was but a picture painted by a master's hand.
Suddenly Bob, who was staring intently at the upper end of the lake,grasped Ned by the arm.
"See," he whispered. "What's that? That thing in white?"