but I’m stiff!”

He really was limping painfully, and his chums had to help him down the hill to the river. As they approached their boat Tom, who was slightly in advance, uttered an exclamation of surprise as he peered along a path that led up the river.

“What is it?” asked Dick.

“Look,” was the answer. “Old Wallace! We got away just in time.”

“And see who’s with him!” exclaimed Jack, in a hoarse whisper. “Professor Skeel!”

“By Jove! So it is!” gasped Tom. “Wonders will never cease. Have they seen us?”

It was evident they had not, but to make sure of it the boys hurried behind a screen of bushes, where they could see but not be observed.

“Look!” exclaimed Tom again. “They’re going to have a conference.”

As he spoke the others could see that the former professor and the old hermit had come to a halt in a place where the path widened. It was in a little glade, and, sitting down beneath the trees,[83] the two men, one of whom had played such a strange part in Tom’s life, and the other, who was destined to, proceeded to talk earnestly.

[83]

What they said could not be heard, but it was evident that it was some subject that interested them both, for they held their heads close together as if afraid of being overheard. They little realized that they were being watched.

“What are they doing now?” asked Dick.

“The old hermit has some sort of a paper,” said Tom.

“And he’s showing it to Mr. Skeel,” added Bert.

“Maybe it’s some sort of map to tell where the treasure is,” suggested Dick.

“But why would he be showing it to our old professor?” asked Tom. “If he wants to keep it a secret why is he giving it away like that?”

“Hard to say,” commented Jack. “I think, though——”

He did not finish, for at that moment Mr. Skeel and the hermit leaped to their feet and gazed down the path as though they heard some one coming.

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