Through the whole of that day he returned to consciousness only for brief intervals, lapsing back into a death-like sleep after each awakening.  During one of these periods of unconsciousness Wabi cut short the tangled beard and hair, and for the first time they saw in all its emaciation the thin, ghastly face of the man who, half a century before, had drawn the map that led them to the gold.  There was little change in his condition during the night that followed, except that now and then he muttered incoherently, and at these times Rod always caught in his ravings the name that he had heard in the cavern.  The next day there was no change.  And there was still none on the third.  Even Mukoki, who had tried every expedient of wilderness craft in nursing, gave up in despair.  So far as they could see John Ball had no fever.  Yet three-quarters of the time he lay as if dead.  Nothing but soup could be forced between his lips.

On the second day Wabi revisited the subterranean world beyond the cataract.  When he came back he had discovered the secret of the treasure in the pool.  The gold came from the cavern.  The soft sand through which they had followed the strange light was rich in dust and nuggets.  During the floods of spring water came into the cavern from somewhere, and flowing for a brief space out through the mouth of the cave brought with it the precious burden of treasure-laden sand which was dumped into the pool.  The constant wash of the cataract had caused most of the sand to overflow into the running stream, but the heavier gold-dust and nuggets remained in the trap into which they had fallen.

But the joy that came of this discovery was subdued by thoughts of John Ball.  The gold meant everything to Rod, the realization of his hopes and ambitions; and he knew that it meant everything to his mother, and to all those who belonged to Mukoki and Wabigoon.  But the gold could wait.  They had already accumulated a small fortune, and they could return for the rest a little later.  At present they must do something for John Ball, the man to whom they were indebted for all that they had found, and to whom the treasure really belonged.  On the third day Rod laid his plans before Wabi and Mukoki.

“We must take John Ball back to the Post as quickly as we can,” he said.  “It is our only chance of saving him.  If we start now, while the water in the creek is deep enough to float our canoe, we can make Wabinosh House in ten or fifteen days.”

“It will be impossible to paddle against the swift current,” said Wabi.

“That is true.  But we can put John Ball into the canoe and tow him up-stream.  It will be a long wade and hard work, but—­”

He looked at Wabi in silence, then added,

“Do we want John Ball to live, or do we want him to die?”

“If I thought he would live I would wade a thousand miles to save him,” rejoined the young Indian.  “It means little to us but work.  We know where the rest of the gold is and can return to it within a few weeks.”