CHAPTER II
THE LITTLE BRASS GOD
After a time George and Sandy heard some one running through theundergrowth, and the next instant Will and Tommy burst into view.It was evident that they had been running, for they were pantingand their clothing was disarranged and torn in places.
The two boys hastened out to meet their chums with question marksin their eyes. Will and Tommy offered no explanation until thetents had been reached, then Tommy burst into a low chuckle.
"Can you beat it?" he asked.
"What are you talking about?" demanded George.
"What did you see out there?" asked Sandy.
"We didn't see a thing!" declared Tommy.
"You're wrong there!" Will cut in. "We saw the flash of a gun!"
"Some one shoot at you?" questioned George.
"Perhaps not," Will replied, "but I heard a bullet whizzing past myear! That's not a very warm welcome to this blooming country, Itake it."
"What's it all about?" asked Sandy impatiently.
"That's the answer!" Tommy declared. "That's all we know about itourselves. We hear a paddle splash in the water; we go out to seewhat's doing, and we get a chunk of lead plugged at us. That's theanswer so far as I know. Now, how about this fish?"
"Right as a book!" cried Sandy. "I've been taking care of thisfish while you've been out there facing some boy with an air gun."
"Yes," laughed Tommy, "if you want to find boys with air guns, comeout here about three hundred miles north of nowhere!"
The incident did not seem to affect the appetites of the boys, forthey attacked the fish industriously. When the meal was finishedand the dishes cleared away; Will turned to his chums with a soberlook on his face. When he spoke it was with suppressed excitement."Do you boys know exactly why we are in the Hudson Bay country?" heasked, "How much did Mr. Horton tell you?"
"Nothing at all!" Tommy replied.
"He just told us to come with you!" George cut in.
"When I tried to cross-examine him," laughed Sandy, "he said he wasafraid we wouldn't go if he told us what sort of a game we weremixing in."
"Well," Will went on in a moment, "he told me to tell you after wegot into camp on Moose river."
"Go on and tell us, then," chuckled Tommy.
"I don't believe it's any great mystery!" Sandy interrupted.
"We came here," Will said, speaking seriously, "to find the LittleBrass God. Odd sort of a quest, that, eh?"
"What's the Little Brass God?" demanded Sandy.
"Did you think it was a load of hay?" asked Tommy. "The LittleBrass God is the Little Brass God. Didn't you know that?"
"What does any one want of a Little Brass God?" asked George.
"The Little Brass God," Will explained, "is believed to bevaluable, chiefly for what is contained in his belly."
"So this is a stuffed god?" cried Tommy.
"Has he eaten something he can't digest?" cut in Sandy.
"That just explains it!" Will exclaimed. "He has eaten somethinghe can't assimilate, and we've been sent up here to relieve him ofit!"
"How did the Little Brass God ever get into the Hudson Baycountry?" asked Tommy. "I should think he'd know better."
"I reckon the Little Brass God had nothing to say regarding hisjourney," replied Will. "Two months ago the house of Mr. FrederickTupper, on Drexel Boulevard, Chicago, was burglarized. Besidestaking considerable money and silver plate, the thief also carriedaway the Little Brass God."
"I don't think any thief in his right mind would do that!" declaredSandy. "What could he do with a Little Brass God? He couldn'tpawn it, or sell it, or trade it, without its being traced back tohim!"
"Well, he took it just the same!" Will replied.
"How much is he worth?" asked George.
"Not more than five dollars."
"Then he isn't one of those East India Little Brass Gods with hislegs crossed, and his arms folded, and a grin on his face?"
"His legs are crossed, his arms are folded, and there is a grin onhis face!" replied Will with a smile. "But he's certainly not oneof the population of a Hindu temple."
"He's just a common Little Brass God, probably made in Newark, NewJersey," suggested George. "What do they want him for?"
"They want to search him!" replied Will.
"Aw, come on, tell us all about it!" urged Tommy.
"Well," Will explained with a smile, "the tummy of the Little BrassGod IS supposed to contain the last will and testament of SimonTupper, father of Frederick Tupper."
"Gee!" exclaimed Tommy. "Can't he get the property until he getsthe will? Then we'll have to find it, I guess!"
"No, he can't get the property unless the will is found."
"Who stole the Little Brass God, and also the will?" asked George.
"Did he know he was stealing the will when he stole the LittleBrass God?" asked Sandy without giving Will an opportunity to replyto the previous question. "How'd he know the will was there?"
"We don't know whether he knew about the will or not," answered theboy. "In fact, we don't know whether the document is still in thetummy of the Little Brass God. That's what we've got to find out."
"You didn't tell me who stole the Little Brass God and the will,"insisted George.
"I said it was a burglar!"
"But was it a burglar--a real, genuine burglar?"
"Yes, loosen up!" shouted Tommy. "Did he go there just to burgle,or did he go there to get that will?"
"That's another thing we've got to find out!" Will answered. "It'sjust this way," the boy continued. "We've been sent up here tofind this Little Brass God. When we find it, we'll know whetherthe man who stole it was a common thief, or whether he was sent byinterested parties to do the job. No living person can open theLittle Brass God without first learning the way to do it. In fact,the only way the toy can be opened by one unfamiliar with thesecret is to break it open with an axe! And that would hardly bedone, as the little fellow is rather a cute plaything."
"And so, if the will is there, a burglar stole it. And if the willis not there, some one interested in the disposition of theproperty walked away with it! Is that it?"
"That's the way we figure it out!" Will answered. "And in themeantime," he continued, "an older will is being offered forprobate. If the Little Brass God fails to disclose the last will,the property will go to a young man who was intensely hated anddespised by the man who built up the fortune. Simon Tupper willturn over in his grave if Howard Sigsbee, his nephew, has thehandling of that money."
"I can't see how that's going to get Simon anything!" grinned Tommy.
"Now," George asked, "why do they think the Little Brass God wasbrought into the Hudson Bay country?"
"We have traced it to an antique shop on lower State street," Willanswered. "From there to the shabby parlor of a fourth rateboarding house on Dearborn avenue, from there into the possessionof a French Canadian who hunts and fishes in the Moose riverdistrict."
"That's pretty straight!" George agreed.
"How do they know this French Canadian got this Little Brass Godout of town?" asked Sandy. "You take a French Canadian of thetrapper sort, and get him well tanked, and he'll sell the ears offhis head for another drink of brandy. Perhaps he hocked the LittleBrass God."
"If he did," Will answered, "the search must begin all over again!"
"Who put this will in the tummy of this Little Brass God?" askedTommy.
"The man who made it--Simon Tupper," answered Will.
"Did he tell anyone where it was?"
"On his deathbed, he told Frederick Tupper, his nephew, where tofind it. It's a pity the young man didn't remove the document andfile it in probate court. It would have saved a lot of bother."
"But he didn't," George suggested, "and that gives us a fine tripto the Hudson Bay country."
"When was the house of this Frederick Tupper burglarized?" askedSandy.
"On the night following the death of the o
ld gentleman."
"Had the villain of the drama, this Howard Sigsbee, any knowledgeconcerning the hiding place of the will?"
"He was not believed to have."
"Do they think he went there and got the will himself?"
"Huh!" objected Tommy. "If he'd gone after the will himself, he'dhave taken it out of the Little Brass God and carried it away withhim. And he'd have made a pile of ashes of it in about one minute,at that!"
"Perhaps he couldn't open up the merry little chap," Sandysuggested.
"We don't know whether he understood the secret or not," Willanswered. "All we know is that the Little Brass God was stillintact a week after it had been stolen."
"Then he knew the combination, or he didn't get the will!" arguedGeorge.
"Anyhow!" Tommy laughed, "we've got only about a million or moremiles of country to search over for a little brass god about -----"
"Say, just how big is this Little Brass God?" asked Sandy.
"He's about six inches in height, and three inches across his dirtyshoulders, and he certainly is about the ugliest specimen of aheathen beast that ever came down the pike."
"What would that French Canadian buy him for?" asked George.
"That's another thing we've got to find out," replied Will.
Tommy was about to ask another question when Will held up a handfor silence. The leaping flames were sending long streamers oflight into the thicket on either side and over the glisteningwaters of Moose river. The circle of illumination extended forsome distance on every side, except at the back of the tents, wherethe level ground lay in shadows.
As the boys listened, the soft sound of a moccasined foot came totheir ears. It seemed only a yard away, and yet it was not insight. George dashed to the back of the tents, followed by a sharpcry of alarm.