CHAPTER XXI

TWO RIFLE SHOTS

As the boys stepped into the room George arose from a heap of
blankets near a broken bunk and stood regarding them with a
quizzical smile on his face. The boys at once clustered around him
with dozens of questions on their lips.

"What's been doing here?" demanded Tommy.

"You missed the biggest sensation of the excursion!" exclaimed
George.

"Where are the fellows who busted up the furniture?" asked Sandy.

"You ought to know," replied George. "They ran out just before you
entered. It's a wonder you didn't meet them."

"Who are they?" asked Will.

"You remember the two men who came to the window that night?" asked
George. "Well, these were the two men!"

"Did one of 'em have his head in a sling?" asked Tommy.

"Sure he did!" was the reply.

"Why don't you sit down and tell us all about it?" asked Sandy.

"That won't take long," replied George. "They came in here
something like half an hour ago and began mixing up with the
furniture. They searched everything in sight and out of sight, and
were about to take up the floor, I reckon, when they heard you
coming."

"Did they say what they were searching for?" asked Will.

"Not directly," was the reply, "but I know from expressions I heard
that they were searching for the Little Brass God."

"The Little Brass God?" repeated Will. "Why, they've got it now!"

"You bet they have!" Tommy joined in.

"How do you know they have?"

"Because we saw them have it in the cavern!" answered Will. "They
were in that cavern not more than five minutes before we left the
hills. They must have hustled to beat us to the cabin and make a
half hour's search before we arrived."

"I think we've all got a lot of guesses coming," Sandy observed.

"Yes, but what I can't get through my head is why those fellows
should be searching through the cabin for the Little Brass God when
they have it in their possession," Will said.

"You're sure they had it?" asked George.

"I saw them have it in the cavern earlier in the evening," was the
reply. "When we went to try to make them give it up, they vanished
as if they had gone up in the air!"

The boys began straightening things in the cabin, and Sandy busied
himself in the corner where the provisions were stored.

"I'd like to know where that Indian went," Thede said, as he
assisted Sandy in preparing some of the game which had been caught
early the morning before. "He won't go far away,