ade, or clearing up any of
the dark fog of mystery that hung like a wet blanket between themselves
and the solution.

Elmer immediately strode forward. By following the well-defined path he
was able to find himself at what was plainly the rude door of the shack.

Upon this he knocked sharply. There came no answer, and even the keenest
ears among the scouts failed to catch the slightest sound following this
summons.

"Try it once more, Elmer," advised cautious Mark.

Again the tattoo sounded, but as before it produced no results. So Elmer
opened the door, which he saw had been fashioned in the rudest way from
boards, and hung upon strap hinges.

As he pushed the door aside, every scout held his breath and gripped his
stick expectantly. But nothing happened. No string of rough men came
bustling forth, demanding in coarse language what the boys meant by
bothering them.

It looked as though Toby must have struck the right key when he so
confidently declared there was nobody at home.

So Elmer entered, with some of the bolder among the scouts at his heels.
The balance contented themselves in pressing around the door and window,
and taking it out in looking.

Just as he had expected, Elmer found the interior of the shack pretty
gloomy. Under the best of conditions very little daylight could find a
way through such small openings, and these were now almost filled by the
bodies of the curious scouts. But this was a matter easily remedied.
Elmer had his matchsafe ready in his hands, and his first act was to
strike a light.

As soon as the match flamed up he cast one quick look around the
interior. This assured him that there were certainly no low-browed men
crouching in the corners, and ready to hurl themselves upon the young
invaders.

The next thing Elmer did was also a very natural move. He saw a candle
in a bottle, standing on an upturned box, and stepping forward he
applied his match to the waiting wick.

Then he looked around again.

There could be no doubt about this shack having been recently used as
sleeping quarters by a number of men.

Several heaps of straw told where they lay, and Elmer counted four of
these. Then there were a few bits of old clothing hanging from nails, a
pair of heavy shoes, a frying pan, a kettle in which coffee might have
been made, some broken bread, part of a ham, and some ears of corn; this
last possibly stolen from the field of some farmer.

It looked like a tramp's paradi