roused himself to take a pot of soup from the fire. The
movement seemed to stir John Ball into life, and Rod was at his side
again, holding a cup of water to his lips. After a little he helped
the old man to sit up, and a spoonful at a time the warm soup was fed
to him.

Through the whole of that day he returned to consciousness only for
brief intervals, lapsing back into a death-like sleep after each
awakening. During one of these periods of unconsciousness Wabi cut
short the tangled beard and hair, and for the first time they saw
in all its emaciation the thin, ghastly face of the man who, half a
century before, had drawn the map that led them to the gold. There was
little change in his condition during the night that followed, except
that now and then he muttered incoherently, and at these times Rod
always caught in his ravings the name that he had heard in the cavern.
The next day there was no change. And there was still none on the
third. Even Mukoki, who had tried every expedient of wilderness craft
in nursing, gave up in despair. So far as they could see John Ball had
no fever. Yet three-quarters of the time he lay as if dead. Nothing
but soup could be forced between his lips.

On the second day Wabi revisited the subterranean world beyond the
cataract. When he came back he had discovered the secret of the
treasure in the pool. The gold came from the cavern. The soft sand
through which they had followed the strange light was rich in dust and
nuggets. During the floods of spring water came into the cavern from
somewhere, and flowing for a brief space out through the mouth of the
cave brought with it the precious burden of treasure-laden sand which
was dumped into the pool. The constant wash of the cataract had caused
most of the sand to overflow into the running stream, but the heavier
gold-dust and nuggets remained in the trap into which they had fallen.

But the joy that came of this discovery was subdued by thoughts of
John Ball. The gold meant everything to Rod, the realization of his
hopes and ambitions; and he knew that it meant everything to his
mother, and to all those who belonged to Mukoki and Wabigoon. But the
gold could wait. They had already accumulated a small fortune, and
they could return for the rest a little later. At present they must do
something for John Ball, the man to whom they were indebted for all
that they had found, and to whom the treasure really belonged. On the
third day Rod laid