CHAPTER II.

MR. LEEDS TELLS A STORY.

Mr. Leeds arrived the next day and, shortly before supper time, Clara met the boys in the parlor of the hotel and insisted that they come over to their cottage and meet him. They were somewhat surprised to find him a man well past fifty, as they had thought of him as much younger. As he rose to greet them they noticed that he was very lame in his right leg and he did not look as though he was in good health.

"These are the boys who pulled me out of the drink," Clara introduced them.

A most engaging smile lighted up the man's face as he held out both hands toward them.

"I feel that I know you already," he said. "Clara has not talked of anything else since I got here and her mother has run her a close second. I--I hardly know where to begin in expressing my feelings to you. You see, she is all we have and--and--"

In spite of himself his voice broke and Bob quickly filled in the gap.

"Please do not try, sir. We both know how you feel and really it was nothing."

"Well, I like that," Clara declared.

Bob's face turned the color of a ripe tomato, according to Jack's statement made later, and he stammered:

"I--I didn't mean it that way, I--I----"

"I suppose you meant that it was nothing unusual for you to save a girl from the briny deep," Clara interrupted.

"Only it wasn't briny," Mrs. Leeds laughed and her laughter, in which they all joined, did much to relieve the situation.

"Maine is a great state, the greatest in the Union."

It was nearly half past eleven o'clock and the boys were sitting with Mr. Leeds on the porch of the latter's cottage. Mrs. Leeds and Clara had retired and the boys had started to take their departure, but Mr. Leeds had begged them to keep him company a while longer and it was he who made the above statement.

"You don't have to tell us that," Jack assured him.

"I suppose not. You see, I was born here, that is, in this state away up north in a little place called Matagamon. There were only about twenty people there then and I don't suppose there are many more now. I don't imagine you ever heard of it."

"Oh, yes, we have, although we've never been there," Jack assured him. "Isn't it on the East Branch of the Penobscot?"

"It sure is. It's been nearly thirty years since I have been there, but there isn't much territory within a radius of fifty miles from the place that I didn't know back in those days. It was pretty wild country then and, for that matter, I guess it is now."

"I'll bet you had lots of adventures," Jack ventured.

"Well, yes, I suppose you would call them that. I owe this game leg to a bear."

"Oh, please tell us about it," Jack said as he paused.

"Well, if it isn't too late and you care to hear it----"

"It's never too late for us to hear a real bear story," Bob laughed, as he hesitated.

"To begin at the beginning, then, I'll have to tell you of an old legend which the old folks used to tell us children when I was very small. It seems that nearly three hundred years ago a small tribe of Indians had their dwelling place up near what is now called Big Machias Lake. By the way, the only big thing about the lake is its name, as it isn't more than a mile long. In fact, it is really nothing more than a widening of the Big Machias River.

"They were called the Tutehonekut'qin Indians and, it was believed that they had made their way overland from the Yukon River in Alaska, as there used to be a tribe of that name there."

"I wonder if they were any relation to King Tut of Egypt," Jack interrupted.

"Maybe," Mr. Leeds laughed. "At any rate, they were not poor relations for, according to the legend, they were possessed of almost fabulous wealth, gold and precious stones, being as common as are iron and glass with us."

"But where did they get them?" Bob asked.

"Well, if there was any truth in it, they must, of course, have brought their wealth with them from far off Alaska. But gold and jewels they had in abundance. But the pride of the tribe was Rippling Water, the daughter of Mato-wopa-geya, chief of the tribe. She must have been a wonderful girl. Straight and supple as a young sapling, with a wealth of raven black hair, she could outrun and out-paddle any of the braves of the tribe, so the legend ran.

"But one day trouble, unbeknown to them, appeared in the person of a young brave from another tribe. He came, he saw and was conquered in so far as the maid was concerned, but, alas, he did not conquer. Rippling Water's heart had, for many moons, been in the keeping of Wawiekumig, a young brave of her own tribe, and she turned a deaf ear to the wooing of the stranger. Unfortunately, the strange brave, being the son of a mighty chief, had always had his own way and, instead of accepting her refusal as a gentleman, he went away vowing revenge. Nor was it long in coming. Before another moon had passed a band of warriors, outnumbering the Tutehonekut'qui many times, fell upon them and wiped them from the face of the earth."

"Did they kill the girl?" Jack asked.

"The legend states that she was the only one left alive and she was dragged away by the stranger. But it also states that she died soon after and that often, on a moonlight night, her spirit has been seen and heard bewailing the fate of her people."

"Did they get the gold and jewels?" Bob asked.

"According to the legend they did not."

"Then what became of it?"

"It was hidden in a cave and to find that cave was my mission when I met the bear. You'll probably think I was very foolish to take any stock in an old legend but, as a matter of fact, I had rather more than that to go on and I was only seventeen. You see, about a year before I had gotten acquainted with an old Indian, who lived all by himself on the shore of Chesuncook Lake. His name was Aquqarenuts, meaning cross feathers, and it happened in this way. I was up there on a hunting trip with my father, late in the fall, and we came upon the old man's cabin purely by accident and found him very sick with pneumonia. We stayed and nursed him and he lived. He was very grateful and it was the following summer while I was staying a few days with him that he told me the legend I have told you. Of course, I had heard it before, but the old Indian declared that he knew it to be true and, needless to say, his words made a deep impression on my mind, especially when he assured me that he was a descendant of Wawiekumig, who, he declared, had escaped the massacre. It was a few months later, during another visit, that he told me of the hidden treasure. It seems that the knowledge of the hiding place had been handed down from one generation to another."

"Had he never looked for it?" Bob asked as he paused.

"He said he had not, explaining that gold would be of no use to him. But he, insomuch as he was the last of his race, offered to take me to the place and help me recover it. You can imagine how eagerly I accepted the offer. It was, he said, in a cave on the shore of Big Machias Lake. There was but one entrance to the cave and that was under water and one had to dive and swim through to get in."

"No wonder it was never found," Jack declared.

"Big Machias Lake is about eighty miles to the north of Chesuncook through the unbroken wilderness and we planned to be gone two weeks. Twenty miles a day through those woods was a good day's work, and he assured me that it would take several days to get the gold-and jewels out.

"For three days everything went well and, when we camped that night, he assured me that we would reach the lake the next day. But when I awoke the following morning, Aquqarenuts was gone. His blanket was there on the ground beside me and, so far as I could see, he had taken nothing with him, not even his rifle. At first I thought nothing of it, supposing that he had merely gone a short distance for some purpose and would soon be back. But when an hour had passed and he had not returned, I began to feel uneasy, and at the end of another hour I started out to look for him. I didn't find him and I never saw him again."

"But what happened?" Bob asked.

"That I never knew. All that day I searched and at night I was about the most worried and tired boy you ever saw. No, I never knew what became of him. Sometimes I have thought that he might have repented telling me about the hidden treasure but, inasmuch as he had already described the place so that I could hardly help finding if, I hardly think it likely. No, I prefer to think that some wild beast killed him and dragged him off to his lair, although I confess it hardly seems possible.

"Well, I debated with myself until long into the night, whether to go on and try to find the place by myself or to give it up and go back. I was well versed in forest lore and did not doubt my ability to find my way back. But finally I determined that I would try to find the lake, seeing that I was so near and there was always the hope that the Indian would come back. So I started early in the morning and was making fairly good time in spite of hard traveling, when, suddenly, after pushing through a dense clump of bushes, I came face to face with an enormous black bear. I know they say that a bear will run from a man, but this one must have been untrained in the way a bear should act when meeting a man for, with a deep roar she charged straight for me. Of course, she may have had a cub somewhere and that would explain her action, but I didn't see any and don't believe there was one. My rifle was strapped to my back and she was almost on me when I got it pointed and pulled the trigger. But she didn't stop and before I had time to fire again she had given me a cuff with her huge paw which sent me flying end over end. But my shot had pierced her heart and the blow was her last effort. As I picked myself up I was conscious of an intense pain in my right hip where the bear had hit me and to my dismay I found that I was unable to bear any weight on it. That it was broken I had little doubt. Imagine my situation. To be sure I was much nearer home than the place from which we had set out, but it was all of forty miles away and probably nearer fifty, and, to the best of my knowledge, there was not a soul any nearer. Fortunately I had food enough to last me for several days, so there was no danger of starving for the present at least. But I had no water, as we did not carry any, depending on brooks and springs for our supply.

"It was not a cheerful situation, but I did not lose heart. I found that the only way in which I could move was to hitch along on my left side and even so every movement caused me intense pain. But I remembered crossing a small brook about a mile back and I was resolved to reach it, if possible. I suppose I was an hour making a hundred yards. Remember, I had to drag my pack along with me and it was by no means a light one.

"That journey has always been a nightmare to me, but I am not going to worry you with the details. It was nearly dark when finally I reached the brook and never since have I tasted anything as good as that water. As you can imagine, I was very tired and, in spite of the throbbing pain in my hip, I fell asleep there by the side of the stream and it was broad daylight when I awoke.

"I knew that I was in a serious position. To reach home in my condition was plainly out of the question. It had taken me the better part of a day to cover a mile and at that rate it would take a month or more to reach home, and long before that my supply of food would run out. Now my only hope seemed to be to remain where I was, by the side of the brook, and trust that some hunter would find me while I was still alive. Fortunately I had a good supply of ammunition for my rifle and I decided that I would fire a shot at intervals of two hours.

"The pain in my hip had now subsided to a dull ache, although every movement still gave me intense pain, so I kept as still as possible, moving only when I was obliged to. Well, it must be getting late, so I'll have to cut my story short. I was there a week before two hunters, from my own town, found me. They were three days getting me home and it was another day before we could get a doctor. He set my hip and, under the circumstances, I guess he did as good a job as was possible, but I never walked straight again."

"And you never went back to look for the cave?" Bob asked.

"No, it was a long time before I could walk at all, but I told another fellow about it and he found it, the cave, I mean, but there was no gold there."

"And did the Indian ever turn up?" Jack asked.

"No. It has always been a mystery what became of him."

Just then a clock in the cabin struck one and the boys started up with an exclamation of surprise.

"Gracious, I didn't know it was so late," Bob said. "Thanks for the story. Come on, Jack, we must beat it."

"Just a minute," Mr. Leeds said, as they were about to start off. "When I said that Maine was the greatest state in the Union, of course, I was not referring to its size."

"I know there are other states larger," Bob acknowledged somewhat grudgingly. "I suppose Texas is quite a lot bigger."

"Well, slightly," Mr. Leeds laughed. "In fact, few people this way have any idea as to its size. Perhaps you will appreciate it when I tell you that eight states of the size of Maine could be very comfortably placed in Texas."

"Great guns, do you mean that?" Jack exploded.

"Figure it out for yourself," Mr. Leeds laughed. "Maine has 33,040 square miles of territory and Texas has 265,896."

"Some state," Jack gasped.

"Were you ever in the state?" Bob asked.

"Many times. In fact, I own a fairly large cattle ranch out there."

"What's its name?" Bob asked.

"We call it the Lazy S."

"That's rather a funny name," Jack suggested.

"Many ranches out that way have queer names," Mr. Leeds told them.

"This one takes its name from a small river which runs through it. You see, it is curved in the shape of an S and the country is so flat there that there is but a very slight current; in fact, it is only about a half a mile an hour."

"I'd sure like to see it, the ranch, I mean," Jack declared.

"I don't see why you can't," Mr. Leeds told him.

"Texas is a long way from here," Bob sighed as they again said good night.

When, five minutes later, Bob snapped on the light in their room, he looked at Jack and Jack looked at him.

"Well?"

"Of course," Jack replied.

"Of course what?"

"Of course we're going to Texas."

"Who said so?"

"You did."

"I never mentioned it."

"Not in words, perhaps, but you looked at me, didn't you?"

"I guess you're a mind reader, all right," Bob laughed. "To tell the truth, I was wondering how you felt about it."

"Well, you know now, I reckon," Jack grinned.

"It would be wonderful," Bob mused. "I've always had a longing to see a real sure enough ranch."

"Same here. Any reason why we shouldn't go?"

"I don't know of any, that is, unless father objects and I don't know why he should."

"Well, he'll be back to-morrow and we can ask him," Jack declared as he turned out the light and tumbled in to bed.