CHAPTER II
A TIMELY SUGGESTION
Doctor Kane, the kindly physician from Oakvale, was just coming downthe path from the Kenyon farmhouse as Ralph rode into the yard. Hepaused beside his car, seeing the lad dismount hastily and comeforward with an anxious appeal in his brown eyes.
"How---how is she to-day?" Ralph asked, when he had grasped thedoctor's outstretched hand. "Her eyes---are they------"
"No better, and no worse," replied his friend; and again the doctorexplained the situation in simple terms that Ralph could understand.
"What will the operation cost?" Ralph asked desperately.
Doctor Kane pondered for a moment.
"Well, if she will consent to go before a clinic, I think I can gether off with a hundred and twenty-five dollars, including hospitalfees," he replied. "I'll be glad to go with her to the city, Ralph,and pay the car fares."
Ralph knew he meant by "car fares" traveling expenses, for he wasfamiliar with Doctor Kane's habit of belittling his many charitableacts. He knew also that, if necessary, the doctor would gladlylend him the sum of money which stood, a tangible barrier, betweenhis mother and total darkness; but with a sense of indomitablehope and modest pride, he had resolved not to ask for that favor,which, he realized, would be no small one, except as a last resort.
"You're awfully kind, sir," he responded warmly. "I appreciate-----"
"Nonsense!" ejaculated Doctor Kane. "It will be a pleasure forme to do anything I can for your mother and you, my boy. Yourfather was one of the best friends I ever had, and some day I'lltell you how I came to owe him a debt which I shall never be ableto repay. Just call on me if I can help out, won't you?"
He closed the gate and went forward to crank up his runabout, butRalph detained him a few moments longer, to tell him about theencounter with Bill Terrill. When he had finished, the doctoradvised him to pay no attention to the vague overtures made bySilas Perkins' hireling, until the doctor himself had referredthe matter of the survey to the coexecutor of Mr. Kenyon's will.After that, it would be time to consider a sale, definitely.
"Don't let anyone bunco you, my boy," he added, as he climbed intohis car and grasped the steering-wheel. "By the way, Ralph, I sawmy friend Professor Whalen in Oakvale, the other day. He told me hesighted a fine pair of golden eagles up here in the mountains,recently, and would willingly give a hundred and fifty dollars forthat pair, if they're as good as he thinks they are. He wants themfor a gift to his college museum. There's a chance for you!"
"So much---for a pair of eagles!" exclaimed the boy. "Did hereally mean it?"
"I'll bet he did! You don't know what a good sport Whalen is whenhe strikes any thing out of the ordinary in that line. If I wereyou, Ralph"---here the doctor leaned over the side of his car,and spoke earnestly---"I'd try to locate their eyrie and capturethem, dead or alive, Or, it might be worth your while even to leadthe professor up to a place where he could get a safe shot at thebirds. He talked of coming up here some day this week. I tell youwhat I'll do; I'll send him here to you, and you can guide him."
"No, no!" protested the lad, eagerly. "Just give me his address,and I'll do my best to get the pair for him and bring them to himin the village."
"You can ride over with me and see him, the next time I come up here,"said the doctor. "Good luck, Ralph!"
"Thank you, sir! Good bye!"
When the automobile skidded out of sight, leaving a cloud of dust,Ralph remained standing by the gate, warmed by a new hope whichthe doctor's suggestion had kindled in his mind. No longer didthe hundred and twenty-five dollars seem unattainable, no longerdid clouds of gloom and anxiety hide their silver lining! Herewas another way of earning money for his mother's desperate need:an uncertain, difficult, even dangerous way, to be sure, but onewell worth trying. Yes, he would make the attempt, even thoughhe hated to take the lives of those splendid creatures of theair. He determined to get those eagles for the professor.
Full of this plan, he led Keno to the stable, unsaddled and fed him,and then, while waiting for his mother to call him in to dinner,skinned the mink he had trapped. His active mind was busy devisingthe best way of securing the prize.
In the house, he found his mother less dejected than usual; doubtlessthe doctor's visit had had a cheering effect upon her. However,Ralph said nothing to her of his new hopes, because, after all, theymight prove too slender to build upon; they might lead only todisappointment. He plunged at once into a lively account of hismorning's hunt, and from that he went on to discuss with her thefirst steps to take in the early planting.
The next morning Ralph was up before sunrise. Instead of bringinghis trapping to an abrupt end, he decided to get up at an earlierhour than before, in order to have time for his daily rounds ofvisiting the traps. He did not know which day the professor mightchoose for coming in quest of the golden eagles, and he was determinedthat no one should get ahead of him.
"After all, he can't come hunting up here on our land without mypermission, for that would be trespassing," reflected Ralph. "Andif he should turn up, I can tell him that I'm on the job, myself."
Two busy days passed. While attending to his traps, in the earlyhours, Ralph never once allowed his rifle to lie beyond his reach;yet a third day went by, and he had no chance for a shot at thecoveted birds of prey. Several times he caught sight of themhovering above the gray cliffs where he knew they were preparingto build a nest, but each time they were too far away to risk a shot.
And still no sign of the professor, or of anyone else in pursuitof the eagles. Had the professor gone away from Oakvale, or,on a hint from Doctor Kane, was he merely waiting and giving Ralphevery chance to earn the money? If the latter were the case, it wasquite unlikely that Professor Whalen would share the secret of hisdiscovery with any other possible hunter.
* * * * * * *
Several miles away from the Kenyon farm, on the shore of Pioneer Lake,which was separated from the farm by the rugged slopes of oldStormberg and the adjacent hills, was a fair-sized camp which borethe same name as the lake. It was occupied every summer by a troopof Boy Scouts under the leadership of an ex-officer of the UnitedStates Army. In fact, Pioneer Camp was well known in that sectionof the country, and Ralph had often heard of it from Tom Walsh andTom's young cousin, Jack Durham, who had joined the troop. At onetime, before his father's death, Ralph had longed to become a memberof the troop; but one duty or another had prevented him in thesummer, and now it seemed out of the question. Daily work, thenecessity of earning a living for his mother and himself, and themanagement of his farm, demanded all his attention, and gave him notime for play.
On the fourth day of Ralph's new hunt, he was obliged to drive overto Oakvale to bring home groceries and provisions as well as seedswhich he had ordered. In the town market he saw Doctor Kane talkingto a tall, bronzed, soldierly-looking man who wore a khaki uniformwith the Scout Masters' badge embroidered on the coat-sleeve.Accompanying this man was a half-breed Indian, known in thatvicinity as Joe Crow-wing, or "Injun Joe," the guide and chiefwoodsman of Pioneer Camp. The half-breed hung about in thebackground, conversing with two lads also dressed in scout uniform.
Catching sight of Ralph, the doctor beckoned to him.
"Come here, my boy," he said, in his cordial way, as the youngfellow approached, "I want you to meet Scout Master Denmead, who'sup here arranging for the opening of camp next month. Denmead,this is Ralph Kenyon, a very particular friend of mine."
"Glad to know you, Kenyon," said the Scout Master, grasping Ralph'shand. After talking with him for a few minutes, he called thetwo other boys over from the counter on which they were sittingand introduced them to Ralph as Tom Sherwood and Arthur Cameron.
"Aren't you fellows up here earlier than usual?" asked Ralph,presently, finding his habitual reserve wearing away.
"Yes, we are," replied Tom Sherwood. "You see, we graduated fromHilltop last February, and when we found out that the Chief wascoming up
here, we asked him to take us in tow for a while beforecamp regularly opened."
"He's going to give us a course in geology," added Arthur Cameron,"and we're going to make a survey around here this summer."
"Geology!" repeated Ralph. "That's my pet subject. Some day, youknow, I'm going to study mining engineering."
"That so? Well, come along with us for a 'prelim,'" suggestedArthur, in the true scout spirit of friendliness.
Ralph sighed and shook his head.
"Wish I could!" he admitted. "Haven't time to spare, though."
"Studying?" queried Tom.
"No, working" And Ralph stated briefly and frankly the nature ofhis work.
"Like it?" again inquired Tom, who was always interested in peopleand their occupations.
"I don't mind the work itself," said Ralph, "it's not half bad, youknow. But selling vegetables in the village market, and hagglingwith stingy buyers over the price of cabbages and green peas, iswhat gets my goat!" He laughed ruefully. "I guess I'll have to bejogging on my homeward way," he added. "So long! Come over andsee me on the farm, if you're ever along that way. I'll show youmy traps and perhaps we can go out on a little hunt--er---that is,if you-----"
"Thanks; we will," said Tom. "But we don't hunt animals to kill;it's against scout rules in our troop."
"We hunt 'em with a camera," Arthur explained.
"Oh, I see. Well, so long."
The three lads shook hands.
"So long! Hope we'll meet again soon."
Ralph then took his leave of Denmead and Doctor Kane, and went onhis way, with a new idea buzzing in his mind: so they were goingto make a survey of that locality! He could invite them toinvestigate his land, and---what if his father's hopes andbeliefs should prove to be founded on bed-rock? Bed-rock, richin ore? Could it be more than a dream? If they should discoverany iron, anything---they were nice fellows---he could trust them.Very decent chaps to know, perhaps to have as friends. And theydidn't approve of trapping or shooting! Against scout rules, eh?And was he---oh, well, it was fair play, and he needed whateverextra money he could earn. Those eagles! Yes, he must not loseany more time. The eagles would have to be the prize of hismarksmanship, even though he winged them against his will.
* * * * * * *
At the end of that week he told himself that he would have to getthe birds that day, or give up the hunt for them, and devote hisentire time to the gardens. He resolved to spend the whole day inthe neighborhood of Eagle Cliff, as he called it; for get them hewould, then or never, before going back to the presence of hispatient, pathetic, brave little mother.
Accordingly, about five o'clock in the morning, he led the faithfulKeno from his stall, and rode slowly down the dusty road until hecame to a point where the narrow bridlepath branched off the roadand wound upward into the silent woods. Following this path untilit became indistinguishable on a thick carpet of moss and leavesand coarse fern, he reached the big boulder at last; there he leftKeno safely tied and hidden in a clump of alders. Then he went on,several rods down the trail, and took up his position directlyacross the stream from Eagle Cliff.