  “The three peaks are in line, but no trace of the ‘ruby glow’ the cipher speaks of.” The speaker was Rob Blake. He and Merritt, in the red canoe, were in advance of the other craft. The first level rays of the early sun were slanting down over the precipitous hills surrounding the lake and gilding the placid sheet of water with a glittering effulgence. The canoes seemed to hang on the clear water as if suspended. Right ahead of the adventurers, the three jagged peaks seen the previous evening had gradually swung into line, until the first and nearest one veiled the other two. “Let’s run the canoe ashore. May be we shall come across something to make the meaning of the cipher plainer,” suggested Merritt. Presently the bow of the canoe grazed the beach, and the two active young uniformed figures sprang out. For an instant they looked about them. Then suddenly Merritt gripped Rob’s arm with such a tight pressure that it actually pained. “Look!” he cried, “look!” Rob followed the direction of Merritt’s gaze and was tempted to echo his cry. Through the trees a rectangular mound of rock, with a dome-like summit, had just caught the rays of the sun. In the early morning light it glittered as redly as if bathed in blood. “The ruby glow!” breathed Rob poetically, gazing at the wonderful sight. “Must be some sort of mica or crystal in the rock that catches the sunlight,” said the practical Merritt; “good thing we didn’t come here on a dull, cloudy day.” “I guess so,” rejoined Rob; “we might easily have missed it.” “Let’s get the others!” exclaimed Merritt. “See, the ruby glow is masking the Three Brothers.” “That’s so,” agreed Rob, “this is the place, beyond a doubt.” By this time the other canoes had been beached and their occupants were presently gazing in wrapt wonder at the spectacle. As the sun rose higher they could see the glow diminishing. “Your ancestor chose his hiding place well,” said the professor to Major Dangerfield, “only at sunrise and at sunset can the glow be visible. At any other hour of the day there would be nothing unusual about that rock but its shape.” Suddenly Tubby broke into song. He caught at the others’ hands. In a jiffy the Boy Scouts were dancing round in a joyous circle, singing at the top of their lungs: “Ruby glow! ruby glow! We have sought you long, you know! Now you’re found we won’t let go Till we get the treasure—ruby glow!” “Rather anticipating, aren’t you, boys?” asked the major, “there is still quite a lot to be done before we discover the cavern where the treasure is supposed to be buried.” But despite his calm words they could see that the major was quite as much excited as themselves at the idea of being on the threshold of great discoveries. “Suppose we press forward,” suggested the professor presently; “I think that the base of the ruby mound is the place to start from.” The canoes were hauled up on the beach and concealed in a high growth of tangled water plants. They did not wish to risk having them stolen for a second time. Then they struck forward into the gloom of the woods lying between the ruby mound and the lake. As they went the Boy Scouts hummed Tubby’s little song. Even Jumbo seemed to have cast off his gloom. His great eyes rolled with anticipation as they pressed on, ambition to find the treasure cavern lending wings to their feet. Before long they were at the base of the ruby mound. It was quite bare, and rose up almost as if it had been artificially formed. The professor declared it to have been of glacial origin. Certain markings on it he interpreted as being Indian in design. “They seem to indicate that at one time the Indians, who formerly roamed these mountains, used this mound as a watch tower,” he said. “It must have made a good one, too.” “Too high colored for me,” said Tubby in an undertone. But by this time the glow had fled from the conical-shaped top of the mound. It was a dull gray color now, and, except for its shape and barrenness, looked just like any other rock pile. “There’s the dead pine!” cried Hiram suddenly. “So it is!” exclaimed the major, as his gaze fell on an immense blasted trunk soaring above the rest of the trees, “boys, we are hot on the trail.” “Looks so,” agreed Rob. “Now, then,” exclaimed the professor, as they stood at the base of the pine, which appeared to have been blasted by lightning at some remote period, “now then, one of you boys pace off four hundred feet to the west.” Rob drew out his pocket compass and speedily paced off the distance. This brought them into a sort of clearing. It was small, and circular in shape, and dense growth hedged it in on all sides. By this time the boys were fairly quivering with excitement, and their elders were not much behind them in eager anticipation. “Now, three hundred to the north,” ordered the major. “We’ll have to plunge right into the brush,” said Rob. “All right. Go ahead. In a few minutes now we shall know if we’re on a fool’s errand or not.” The former army officer’s voice was vibrant with emotion. Followed by the others, Rob pushed into the brush, pacing off the required three hundred feet as accurately as he could. All at once he came to a halt. “Three hundred,” he announced. As they looked about them a feeling of keen disappointment set in. Tall brush was hemming them in on all sides. No trace of a stone man, or anything else but the close-growing vegetation, could be seen. “Fooled again!” was the exclamation that was forcing itself to Tubby’s irrepressible lips when he stopped short, struck by the look of keen disappointment on the major’s face. “It looks as if we had had all our trouble for nothing, boys,” he began, when Rob interrupted. “What’s that off there, major, through the bushes yonder. You can see it best from here.” The major hastened to the young leader’s side. “It’s a sort of cliff or precipice,” he cried. “Maybe the man of stone is located there,” suggested Rob; “it’s worth trying, don’t you think so, sir?” “By all means. This growth may have sprung up since the treasure was hidden away, and so have concealed the place.” Once more the party moved on. A few paces through the undergrowth brought them to the foot of a steepish cliff of rough, gray stone. It appeared to be about thirty feet or more in height. Above it towered the rugged peak of the first of the Three Brothers. “Now, where’s the man of stone?” asked the professor in a puzzled tone, gazing about him. “There’s certainly no indication of a man of that material or any other,” opined the major, likewise peering in every direction. “What’s that mass of rock on the cliff top?” asked Merritt suddenly; “it looks something like a human figure.” They all gazed up. A big mass of rock was poised at the summit of the cliff. There was a large rock with a smaller one perched on the top of it. To a vivid imagination it might have suggested a body and a head. “It’s worth investigating, anyway,” decided the major; “we’ll look at the face of the cliff directly beneath it. Maybe there is an opening there.” But this decision was more easily arrived at than carried out. Thorny brush and thick, tall weeds shrouded the base of the cliff for a height of eight or ten feet. But the Boy Scouts had their field axes with them, and before long the blows of the steel were resounding. In a few minutes they had cleared away a lot of the brush directly beneath the two poised stones. The major and the professor, with Jumbo looking rather awe-stricken at the major’s side, stood watching. “These balanced stones prove my theory that all this is of glacial origin,” the professor was saying. “Some antediluvian water course must have left them there. Why, it wouldn’t take much of a push to shove them over.” “That is true,” agreed the major; “in that case, supposing that an entrance does exist at this spot, they would block it effectually.” “Very much so,” agreed the professor dryly; “in fact——” “Hoo-r-a-y!” The shout rang gladly through the silent woods. The boys had thrown down their axes and stood with flushed, triumphant faces turned toward the elder members of the party. The major was quick to guess the cause of their excitement. “They’ve found it!” he cried, springing forward. The professor and Jumbo followed. As they came up Rob was pointing to an opening at the base of the cliff which the cleared brush had revealed. “The entrance to the cavern of Ruby Glow!” he exclaimed dramatically, while the rest of the Boy Scouts swung off into Tubby’s extemporized song of triumph. “The entrance to the Cavern of Ruby Glow!” “The entrance to the Cavern of Ruby Glow!” |
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