“Unless we can prove that this needle-business was queer,” said one man.

“Yes, and that is what I hoped to prove to-night.  But since Mr. Bixby is not here to talk to us——­”

“Suppose we go and talk to him!” cried an officer.

“He may hear us coming, and run away,” said another.

“Not if we go through the cave,” suggested Tom.  “I got into the cave, where Bunny and Sue found me, by going through a hole in Bixby’s stable.”

“Then you’d better lead us through the cave,” said Mr. Brown.  “We may surprise the man at his tricks.”

The party was soon going along the lake shore toward the cave.

The cavern was dark and silent when they entered it, but their lights made it bright.

On they went, all the men, with Mrs. Brown, Uncle Tad and the children coming at the rear of the procession.  After they had gone far into the cave the whinny of a horse was heard.

“Ha!” exclaimed Eagle Feather.  “Him sound like my horse!”

They went on softly through the cave and were soon near the place where Tom had entered it from the stable.

“Be very quiet now, everybody,” said Mr. Brown.

“Sh-h-h,” said Bunny to his mother and Sue, putting his finger on his lips.

“I’ll take a peep and see if any one’s in sight,” said Tom.

He went forward a little way and came back to whisper: 

“There are two horses and a cow in there, and one horse looks like Eagle Feather’s.”

“Let Indian see!” exclaimed the red man, and when he had peeped through a hole between two stones in the stable wall, while Tom flashed a flashlight through another hole, Eagle Feather cried: 

“That my horse!  Me git him back now!”

“Go a bit slow,” advised Mr. Brown.  “We want to see what else this Bixby is up to.  How can you get to the house from here, Tom?”

“Right through the stable, by the hole I got out of.  His back door is near the stable front door.  Come on!”

On they went through the stable, Eagle Feather pausing long enough to pat his horse and make sure that it was his own animal and grunting “Huh!” in pleasure.

“Softly now,” whispered Tom.  “We are coming to where we can look into one of the two rooms of Mr. Bixby’s hut.  It is there he sits at night and where he gave me the needles.”

In silence the party made its way to where all could look through the window.  Bunny’s father held him up and Mrs. Brown took Sue in her arms.

What they saw caused them all great surprise.  For there, on a table in front of Bixby, the hermit, was Bunny’s toy engine, and Sue’s Teddy bear.  But the bear was partly torn apart, and from it ran wires that joined with other wires from Bunny’s electric locomotive and batteries.  At the other ends of the wires, were round, shiny balls, like those on the ends of curtain rods.

On the other side of the table sat an Indian, and at the sight of him Eagle Feather whispered: