old Finklebaum a thousand
dollars or five thousand dollars, for that piece of brass? That's
what gets me!"

Tommy and Sandy looked at each other significantly but made no
immediate reply. In a moment Thede went on.

"'Spose this should be a Little Brass God stolen from some temple
away out in the wilds of India. Suppose a delegation of East
Indians should be sent here to get it. Wouldn't they murder a
score of men if they had to in order to get possession of it?"

"They probably would," was the reply.

After an hour's hard walking, the boys came to the foot of the
ridge of hills and looked upward. Thede pointed to the cavern
where the two bears had been discovered.

"There's where we went in," he explained, "but the cavern where the
fire and the Little Brass God were is right under that one."

"How're we going to get to it?"

"If you want to take your chance on meeting the bears, you can drop
down through the opening from the floor above."

"But isn't there an opening to this lower cavern?"

"Sure there is! That's the one I ran out of! Say," he continued,
"that's the one we saw the man by the fire run out of, too. You
can see the tracks of his moccasins in the snow. He must have left
after the storm ceased. My tracks were filled."

"In we go, then!" cried Tommy, advancing lip the slight slope to
the Up of the cavern.

"Watch out for bears!" cried Thede.

CHAPTER VIII

A TRAPPER'S TREACHERY

When Will, watching at the camp, found that Tommy and Sandy had
disappeared, he had no idea that they would remain more than an
hour or so.

The long night passed, however, and the boys did not return. When
daylight came, Will built up a roaring fire and began preparing
breakfast.

It was his idea at that time that the boys had come together in the
forest about the time the snow began falling, and had sought in
some deserted shack temporary protection from the storm.

"They'll be back here in a short time, hungry as bears!" he thought.

Presently he heard some one advancing through the snow-covered
thicket, and turned in that direction with an expectant smile.

Instead of his chums he saw a half-breed in leather jacket and
leggins and a fur cap approaching. When the fellow reached the
camp he made a quick and rather impertinent inspection of the tents
before approaching the spot where the boy stood awaiting him.

"Good morning!" Will said, not without a challenge in his voice.

"Where ar