Pender stepped from the path they had been pursuing and pushed aside some overhanging bushes.  Beyond was a small clearing, backed up by a high, rocky wall.  In the wall was an opening, blocked up by a heavy door secured by a rusty iron chain that was passed through a ring in the rocks.

“Well, this is certainly odd,” exclaimed Flapp.  “What kind of a place is it”?

“It’s a den of some sort,” said Hurdy.  “Maybe some counterfeiters belong here.”

“Bosh, you talk as if you were in a dime novel,” came from Jackson.  “More than likely some old hermit lived here.  When some men get queer in the head they come to just such a spot as this to end their days.  They hate the sight of other human beings.”

“I reckon it is a hermit’s den,” said Pender.  “But if so the hermit left it years ago, for everything inside is covered with dust and cobwebs and mildew.”

Pender walked up to the stout wooden door, unfastened the iron chain, and threw the barrier back.

One after the other the boys entered the opening beyond.  At first they could see but little, but gradually their eyes became accustomed to the gloom and they made out a rocky chamber about twelve feet wide and running back in irregular shape for a hundred feet or more.  At some points the ceiling was so low they had to stoop, while elsewhere it was far above their reach.  The flooring was fairly level, with rock in some places and hard dirt in others.

The opening was rudely furnished with a heavy table and a bench, and close to one wall was a box bed, still filled with pine boughs.  On a big wooden hook hung a man’s coat, so decayed that it began to fall apart when they touched it.  The table contained several tin cups and plates, all rust eaten.

“This is certainly a curious find,” said Flapp.  “How did you happen to hit it, Gus?”

“I was exploring the cliff above when I happened to slip and fall into the bushes just in front of the door.  I was shook up but not hurt, and when I got up I saw the door and wondered what it meant.  Then I looked inside and after that went back to camp to tell you fellows about it.”

“It will make a dandy place for secret meetings,” suggested Rockley.  “We can come here and do what we please.”

“Just what I thought,” said Pender.  “We can smuggle no end of good things here from the nearest village and come whenever we have our off time.”

“Perhaps we can do more than that,” said Flapp, struck with a sudden idea.

“What”? asked the others.

“I’ll tell you some other time.  It’s a great find,” continued the tall boy.

In the meantime those left at the camp had surrounded Dick and were congratulating him on his victory.

“I knew you would win,” said Powell, when the excitement was over.  “I bet with Lew Flapp on the result.  Garling was stakeholder.”

“What did you win, Songbird”?