n't have carried him
through if he hadn't been in the cove," I said.

"Guess we'll never know that," I told him.

Then we rowed around some more and neither of us said anything.

"Look up there and see if you think that's a lantern," Westy said,
after a while.

"Yes, it is," I said, "they're coming back." And then my heart began to
thump.

"I bet they've got them and that everything's all right," Westy said;
"I kind of think so by the way the lantern is swinging."

Pretty soon we saw another light and then another one; and then I could
hear some of the fellows talking and hear twigs crunch under their feet
as they scrambled down. I didn't dare to call them, but Westy called.

"Any news? Are they all right?"

"Who's there?" a fellow called.

"Two fellows from Bridgeboro troop," Westy shouted. "Have you got them?
Any news?"

Just then a fellow came scrambling down and stood on the shore. "The
whole blamed pit has fallen in," he said; "it's just a pile of rocks
and mud. It's filled up to within six or eight feet of the surface.
Just collapsed. Must have been some flood over that way."

CHAPTER XXXIV

TELLS ABOUT THE STRANGE FIGURE

I didn't want to see them and I didn't want to hear anything more. I
just said, "I knew it," to Westy, but all the while I knew I had been
hoping all to myself. And now I couldn't even do that.

"I don't want to talk to them," I said; "Let's row along the north
shore and go home the long way. I don't want to go back yet. I just
want to stay on the lake with _you_!"

Westy said, "Just as you say."

"Row along the north shore," I said, "I'd rather be here in the dark."

"Just as you say," he said, awful nice and friendly like.

* * * * *

We could hear them rowing across and talking. The lanterns looked like
two little stars. One fellow said it would take a week to clear out the
pit. I heard Mr. Elting say, "It must have happened as soon as he
crawled into that passage, because the passage surely didn't go far."

"Now are you satisfied?" I said to Westy; "you see how I'm to blame. I
though it could be a mile long."

"Winton thought so too," Westy said.

"I wouldn't listen to anything against him--not now," I said. Anyway, I
knew he couldn't be saved--I just did. Then I said, "Westy, Bert and I
were going to square Skinny. We were going to prove he didn't take the
money. And we were going to see he got the cross. I never heard you say