Part 25 (1/2)
The boys went in, and presently Mrs. Carmody brought forth a letter written in lead pencil on a half-sheet of note paper. It ran as follows:
”DEAR KATE:
”You remember I tole you about Maurice Harrisons sister, who was married to a seanatour of the government. Well, his son, Roger Morr has come on to look for that lost mine--wants for me to go on a hunt with him to onse--so as it is good money I am going--start to nite in a hour--you git Nell Davis to stay with you her an Ben I wont be gone morn a weak or to. ABE.”
”That's the letter Abe sent me yesterday,” announced Mrs. Carmody. ”You see he says Roger Morr, the son of the senator. If that's you, what does it mean?” and she looked at Roger.
”I'll tell you what it means,” answered Dave. ”It means that somebody else has pretended he is Roger here--an enemy who wants to locate the lost mine first, if he can.”
”O dear! Did you ever hear the like! Who was it, do you suppose?”
”We've got a pretty good idea,” said Roger. ”n.o.body you know. But tell me, where did this letter come from?”
”You mean who brought it?”
”Yes.”
”Billy Lane.”
”Who is he?”
”Oh, a feller around town, who does all sort o' odd jobs.”
”Then you don't know where Mr. Blower was when he sent it?”
”No, I don't. But I guess he wasn't very near, otherwise he would have come here hisself, instead o' writin'--for writin' comes hard to Abe--he never had no chanct for much education. And he would want some o' his clothes.”
The boys read the letter a second time. All were convinced that Link Merwell had gotten ahead of them and had perpetrated the fraud by impersonating Roger.
”It was certainly a bold stroke,” was Phil's comment.
”Yes, and a clever one too, in a way,” replied Dave. ”From our talk in the summer-house Link must have learned that Blower and the late Mr.
Harrison were warm friends, and, that being so, Blower would be willing to do almost anything for Mr. Harrison's nephew. And Link rushed Blower away in a hurry, so that we wouldn't get at him.”
”I wonder if Haskers is with him?” mused Roger.
”I shouldn't wonder. If the mine is found, Link can't claim it, for he would be arrested on sight. But he could let Haskers claim it, and then turn it over to somebody else and thus mix it up, so that you would be out of it,” answered Dave.
”What do you think I had best do next?” asked the senator's son. The unexpected turn of affairs had bewildered him almost as much as it had bewildered Mrs. Carmody.
”I don't see what you can do, Roger, excepting to start on a hunt for the Landslide Mine without Blower.”
”Yes, let us do that!” cried Phil. ”Who knows but that we'll run across Blower and Merwell? And if we do, we can easily prove that Link is a fraud.”
”Well, we'll have to get some sort of a guide,” answered Roger. ”It would be utterly useless for us to start out alone in such a country as this.”
”We might ask Mr. Dillon to recommend somebody,” said Dave. ”He appeared to be a reliable man.”
The boys talked to Mrs. Carmody for a few minutes longer. They were on the point of leaving the house when there came a loud rap on the front door.
”Perhaps Blower has come back!” cried Phil.