CHAPTER XXI
TO FLATHEAD BY AIRSHIP AGAIN.
Dr. Byrd said little to the boys that evening. He greeted them quietly,but not severely, as they arrived, looked them over to see that theywere sound and unhurt by exposure, hustled them to the bath and later tosupper, and then sent them to bed.
The boys wondered a little over this. Naturally, they all expected to becalled on the carpet, lectured, and then punished. But the doctor's toneof voice was almost reassuring. He suspected that they had been punishedenough and that if a boy won't think after such an experience, thereisn't much hope for him. He understood the motive that had caused Hal torun away, as well as the sentiments that had moved the other boys toaccompany him.
Next morning, however, Dr. Byrd called the five truants into his office.He asked them to be seated, and then turned to his desk, at which hebusied himself ten or fifteen minutes. At the end of this period Mr.Miles entered and took a seat near the doctor, who now wheeled around inhis chair and gave attention to his callers.
"Well, boys," he said slowly, wiping his glasses with his handkerchief,"what do you think of yourselves? Are you proud of what you have done,or do you agree that such an escapade deserves something of areckoning?" he added as he squinted with one eye through one of thelenses to see if it was clear.
Each of the boys waited for one of the others to answer. As the doctorhad addressed none of them individually, now was a good opportunity forthem to maintain the silence so often urged upon the young in thepresence of older persons.
"I see you're not very proud of what you've done," continued the doctor."And I'm not particularly proud of you either, although you conductedyourselves well after you found yourselves in a bad fix, I understand.Why did you decide to run away, Hal?"
Kenyon hung his head. Then he stole a glance at the aviator, whoreassured him with a kindly look.
"Mr. Miles thought I was a thief, and I couldn't prove I wasn't," Halanswered.
"You found a nugget in the cave, did you?"
"Yes, but I didn't know what it was till I dropped it in the wash room.I hunted for the others in the cave night before last, but couldn't findany more."
"Well, Mr. Miles tells me he has decided that you are honest. Hebelieves your story after being with you and talking with you on themountain. But don't you think you made a mistake by running away?Shouldn't you have remained here and faced the music?"
"Maybe I should," Hal replied dubiously. "But I don't see how I couldhave proved I was innocent."
"Well," concluded the doctor slowly, "I've decided you ought not to bepunished; only I want to give you this advice: Don't ever run away fromunjust suspicion and don't do anything that will make you liable to justsuspicion. As to you other boys, there is no excuse for your runningaway."
"We didn't mean to run away," broke in Pickles. "We were just going aways with Hal and then come back before morning. But we got caught."
"Is that true?" inquired the doctor, addressing the other boys.
"Yes, it is," came the reply in chorus.
"Well!" exclaimed the owner of Lakefarm. "It came near being a prettyserious trap, didn't it? I'll take the matter under advisement anddecide later what I'll do. Meanwhile, there is a more important matterto be looked after. How would you boys like to visit the top of Flatheadagain?"
"In the airship?" inquired Byron eagerly.
"That's the only way to get up there, now that the passage through theroof of the cave is closed."
All the boys were overjoyed at the prospect.
"We are going to visit the cave where you found the dead body of a man,"continued Dr. Byrd. "I have notified the coroner and he has expressedthe desire to have you all present when he takes the body away. It won'tbe necessary, but I've decided to let you go if you wish to. I am goingmyself. I have full confidence in the safety of Mr. Miles' airship."
"When are we going?" Hal inquired.
"As soon as the coroner gets here--half an hour. Now go and get readyfor the trip, if you've decided you want to go."
The five Scouts left the doctor's office and went to their rooms. Theydoffed their class-room clothes and shoes and substituted their coarse,strong mountain-climbing suits and heavy-nailed footgear. Then theyhastened out onto the campus, where they found Mr. Miles getting theairship ready to fly. Most of the other boys of the school were gatheredaround the aeroplane, watching proceedings with interest.
Of course the five returned truants were the objects of much interestand questioning when they appeared. The other boys all knew in a generalway what had happened to their runaway associates, and they were nowhungry for details. But the arrival of the coroner and the announcementthat the boy explorers of Flathead were about to make another tripthrough the air added a new excitement and so much confusion that therewas little opportunity for anybody to gain any information.
Coroner Huffman and Pickles made the first trip with Mr. Miles to thetop of the mountain. This official, who lived in Jimtown, was a greathunter. He had held one and another political office for fifteen yearsand celebrated each election by going off into the mountains to shootbig game. On this occasion, he had his rifle with him, hoping to get ashot at the mountain lion that Kenyon and his companions had seen theday before.
While the first trip was being made, Hal, Frank, Byron, and Ferdinandwere surrounded by their eager schoolmates and plied with numerousquestions. Then the doctor, in order to simplify matters, askedeverybody to keep still and suggested that Hal tell the story frombeginning to end.
So Kenyon told the story of their adventure in detail. Before he hadfinished, the aeroplane returned and started on another trip, withByron, Frank, and Ferdinand as passengers. The aviator had decided that,since the airship was built to carry three men including the operator,it ought to carry one man and three boys at once. The experiment provedthat he was right.
By the time Mr. Miles returned for the doctor and Hal, the latter hadsatisfied the curiosity of his schoolmates. Some of them begged forpermission to make the trip also, but Dr. Byrd said that since it wouldbe impossible to take all, he must limit his permission to those whomthe coroner had asked to be present at the removal of the body from themountain-top cave.
Finally, the entire party of eight men and boys was conveyed to theFlathead plateau. The landing place chosen this time was a level andcomparatively smooth spot west of the patch of timber and east of thepool.
Hal, with the permission of Dr. Byrd, had brought with him the riflethat had been found in the cave. He, too, hoped to see the mountain lionagain and get a shot at it. As they approached the landing place heexamined closely the ruins of the homes of the cliff dwellers, wherethey had seen the panther on the day before, but it was no longer there.
"Wasn't that a funny place for cliff dwellers to build their homes?" Halinquired as they were descending to the plateau.
"Yes, it is," replied the doctor. "I can't account for their going up sohigh, unless there was unusual need of defense against some of theirwar-like neighbors."
"How do you suppose they got up here?" asked the boy.
"The same way you did probably--behind the waterfall. I imagine theywere afraid to trust that secret passage alone to protect them againsttheir enemies, so they made their homes high up in these cliffs as asecond precaution."
"Let's go up in some of those caves before we go back," Hal proposed.
"I am planning to make as thorough an exploration of this plateau aspossible to-day," the doctor replied. "But first we must investigate thedeath of this man whose body you found."
The other members of the party were awaiting the arrival of the lastairship-load of passengers, as the coroner desired the presence of allthe original witnesses when he removed the body. After all had beenlanded on the top of the mountain, no further delay was necessary, andthey proceeded directly to the cave in the passage through the longridge.
Two lanterns had been brought along, and with the aid of th
ese thecoroner made a careful inspection of the cave. He asked numerousquestions in order to determine if the boys had destroyed or disarrangedany clews that might lead to a clearing up of the mystery surroundingthis strange life and death on the mountain top. Meanwhile, not anarticle of the contents of the cave was moved until the carefulexamination was finished. Mr. Huffman even caused Hal to lean his gunagainst the wall as nearly as it had been found as possible.
Then he and the doctor picked up the body and carried it out to the opento give it a thorough examination. There seemed to be no doubt that hehad been slain by a wild beast. The body was badly mangled, particularlythe upper part and the head. The clothes about the chest were ripped inshreds, indicating the savage nature of the slayer. But the clothingproved to be of good quality, indicating that their owner had not been atramp.
"I bet he was a robber hiding from the police," Hal declared as thecoroner began to search the dead man's pockets.
The next instant the official drew forth several envelopes and pieces ofpaper and began to examine them. Suddenly Dr. Byrd, who was watchingthis inspection closely, leaned forward and snatched an envelope fromthe coroner's hand.
"Great heavens!" he exclaimed. "This is Maxwell, the instructor whostole my most valuable gems."