had tempted them to come to the Adirondacks.

"I want to ask you a question or two, Obed," he began, "but first of all
I ought to tell you what brings us here."

Accordingly, Max proceeded to explain how the school had be closed for
two or more weeks in early October, and what a singular thing came about
to tempt them into taking an outing. He was watching the woods boy at
the time he first mentioned Mrs. Hopewell, and spoke the name of Roland
Chase; but if the other gave any unusual signs of interest, Max failed
to catch the same. Still, Obed was listening with all his might, and it
seemed as though the unusual story of the inheritance that was to be
given to the said Roland in case he made good, interested him.

Max in this manner explained just why he and his three chums had
accepted the generous offer of the elderly lady, so deeply concerned
over the welfare of her nephew Boland, that she was ready to spend
almost any reasonable sum in order to at least learn that the poor boy
was alive, and in fairly decent health.

They had been told to assure him, in case they ever managed to locate
the elusive Roland, that he should not worry because of not being able
to comply with the absurd conditions of Uncle Jerry's ridiculous will;
because she had enough of this world's goods for both, and she meant to
leave it all to him, Roland; so she begged him to come back to her, and
live his own life again, even though he had spent the last penny of his
two-thousand-dollar legacy, and was as poor as Job's turkey.

All this made an interesting story, and must have amused the woods boy
more or less, because Max knew how to put considerable pathos in it.
Obed sat there shading his eyes with his hand to keep the glow of the
fire from dazzling him. Occasionally he would interrupt to ask some
natural question, which made Max think he was taking a fair amount of
interest in the account.

"What I wanted to ask you," concluded Max, "was whether you'd ever
happened to run across this same Roland Chase in the mountains. We heard
about a fellow answering his description who was seen in company with a
dissipated guide named Shanks. I thought perhaps you might help us out,
Obed."

Obed looked him straight in the face.

"So far as I knows on, Max," he went on to say, seriously, "I ain't
never met any feller like yuh say face to face. About that man Shanks, I
know he's said to be a tough un. I saw him some months back down at
Sawyer's For