ming along."

"I can't do that without getting dismissed from recitation, and that
isn't possible."

"Well, I will do the job quickly, and I'll have it finished by the time
your class is through reciting."

So they parted, and, with the precious ring in his possession, Hodge
hurried to the room where the microscope was kept, having provided
himself with the necessary materials for making the drawing.

He lost no time in getting to work, and he made rapid progress. As the
drawing developed, he grew excited and enthusiastic, for he plainly saw
it must be a map of some wild bit of country.

"I'll bet the man who can read this correctly and knows where this
country is located, can go straight to a fortune!" muttered the lad.
"But I do not see how it is going to benefit anybody who does not know
what section of the country this map represents."

It was a warm spring day, and Bart had opened a window near the table
at which he was working. A pleasant breeze was stirring.

Although he took care to be quite accurate, it did not take the lad
long to complete the drawing.

He was examining it carefully to make sure he had omitted nothing and
had made no errors, when a strong wind sucked through the building,
swinging open the door of the room.

He rose hastily to close the door, when another breath of wind set the
paper on which he had been drawing fluttering across the table. He
sprang to catch it, but it avoided his fingers and fluttered out of the
window. Thrusting his head forth, he saw it sail away and settle
slowly at the foot of one of the great trees amid which the academy
buildings stood.

Out of the room darted Bart, and down the stairs he bounded. He was
soon outside, and, recovering the paper, which he readily found, he
hastened back.

"Great Scott!" he muttered. "I left that ring under the microscope!"

The thought that he had allowed the ring to escape his sight for a
moment filled him with anxiety.

What if he should not find it where he had left it a few moments before?

A cold sweat started out on his face, and he literally tore up the
stairs and rushed headlong into the experimenting room, the door of
which he had left open.

And then, when he looked for the mysterious ring, he found it had
vanished!

CHAPTER XXXV.

MORE DANGER.

"Gone!"

Bart staggered as if he had been struck a heavy blow, and his face grew
ghastly pale, while his eyes stared at the spot where he had last