“Of course he had it in his possession!” said Sandy.  “I’m sure he’s the man who took it from the pawnbroker’s shop on State street.  Now let’s see,” the boy went on, “what were the last words he spoke?”

“He started in to say Brass!” replied Will.

“Then you see, don’t you, that that proves that he knew all about it?”

“Yes, and he asked if they found what they were looking for,” Tommy contributed, “and that shows that the Little Brass God he brought from Chicago is some where about this palatial abode.”

CHAPTER XXII

THE TWIN BRASS GODS

Oje, who had been sitting by the fire, waiting for his supper, long delayed by the rush of events, now arose and took the Little Brass God into his dusky hands.

“Have you ever seen one like that before?” asked Will.

The Indian shrugged his shoulders and pointed to the body of Antoine.

“Dead man have one!” he said.

“Like this?” asked Will.

The Indian grunted an assent.

“Then I’ll tell you what took place, boys,” Will said.  “When Antoine shot Pierre, he came here and took possession of the cabin and provisioned it, He had had the Little Brass God in the cavern where George and Thede saw it, and he thought a safer place for it would be the cabin.”

“So he moved in here and hid it!” Tommy went on.  “And we boys chased along and drove him out into the wide, wide world.  Now the question is whether he took the Little Brass God back to the cavern or whether he left it hidden about the cabin.”

“It’s a hundred to one shot,” Sandy observed, “that this dead East Indian knew that the image he sought was in or about this cabin.  The first night we came here he prowled about looking for it and tried to get one of us boys into a hypnotic trance.  We don’t know how many times he has been back here since that night.”

“But who sent the fellow up here after the Little Brass God, anyway?” asked George.  “How did he come to get on the track of the ugly little devil.”

“I guess that’s something we’ll have to find out in Chicago,” replied Will.  “All we know is that Antoine was scared to death of him, as shown by his sudden flight from the cavern when he looked in and saw the East Indian and his guide standing looking out at him.”

“And they chased him clear up to our burning tree!” Thede cut in.

“That’s a fact,” Sandy replied.  “That dusky faced chap certainly had Antoine buffaloed!”

“Well,” Will went on, “the East Indian kept returning to the cabin and Antoine kept returning to the cabin, so it’s a pretty safe bet that the Little Brass God we seek is here.  Besides, the fact that Antoine asked if the East Indian found anything proves that it is in or about the cabin.”

“Well, we’re going to find it if we tear the cabin to pieces,” Tommy said. ’"As Will says, it is a sure thing it is not far away.”