While we were watering the
bronks, I looked up and saw a man's face at an upstairs window. It was
the face of this professor of yours."

"Great Scott!" gulped Clancy, staring.

"At McGurvin's?" demanded Merry, no less excited.

"Yes, at McGurvin's. I
asked Mac what the professor was doing in his house, and he answered
that what I didn't know wouldn't bother me. It was none of my put-in,
and so I let it go at that, There's something else to it, too. Tell what
you found out in Gold Hill, Aaron, two days ago."

Merry and Clancy turned their eyes on Lloyd.

"I was there fer the ranch mail," began Lloyd, "an' Nick Porter was
crookin' his elbow a-plenty. And talking a heap, too. In front of the
Red Light he had a feller in flashy clothes with a sandy mustache, and
the two was goin' it some in the gab line. I was leanin' against the
front of the Red Light, at the time, a-readin' a letter, an' I couldn't
help hear a little of what them two said. 'Sam'll put down a hole an'
blow out a bag o' samples,' says Porter, 'an' bring 'em round about to
Mac's. Turkeyfoot'll take the perfesser on from Mac's to the old camp
the mornin' after Sam gits through. Arter loadin' up with the
perfesser's plunder, he'll bring him back to Mac's, an' Mac'll hold him.
Then you, Heppner, can go out to Mac's Tuesday arternoon an' make yer
play.' That's all," finished Lloyd.

"Aaron didn't remember all that until after I'd seen the professor at
the window," interpolated Blunt. "Then, as we were riding on, he let it
out."

"Blazes!" exclaimed Clancy. "There's a scheme on to rob Borrodaile of
that claim of his!"

"Looks thataway," said Lloyd passively.

"Who is this Sam that was to get the bag of samples and take it to
McGurvin's by a roundabout way?" queried Merriwell.

"No sabe."

"He's the fellow that had the leaky bag and dropped this trail of ore!
Who's Turkeyfoot?"

"Feller that lives out o' Gold Hill a ways. Does freightin'."

"The way I size it up," said Frank, "the professor hired this Turkeyfoot
to came to Happenchance with him and get the goods he had left there.
They halted at McGurvin's place long enough to give Sam time to do his
blasting and make off with the samples. Then the professor and
Turkeyfoot went to the claim, got the professor's goods, and went back
to McGurvin's; and there, fellows, the professor is being held until
this man in flashy clothes comes out and does something to beat
Borrodaile out of the claim."

"