with interest. Where the soil was soft they
could see the footprints of shoes much larger than those they themselves
wore.

"Here is his trail, going away," said Dick, after a close examination.

"There is your tin box!" cried Sam, pointing to the object, still
dangling from a distant tree.

"Wait till I see what is in it," answered his big brother. "It won't
take but a minute or two."

"Beware of holes!" cautioned Tom.

Feeling his way through the brushwood, Dick approached the dangling tin
box. It was a small affair and now hung open. He felt certain in his
mind that when he had seen it before it had been closed.

The box proved to be empty and Dick was, somehow, disappointed. He
glanced on the ground and saw a number of bits of paper, some old
looking and some new. He picked up some of the bits and saw they had
been written on in pencil, but the words or parts of words were
undecipherable.

"Well, what do you make of it?" questioned Sam, as he and Tom came up.

"I think I know what this is," answered Dick.

"What?"

"A sort of a private post-office. Somebody was in the habit of leaving
messages here, and Dangler or somebody else got the messages from time
to time."

CHAPTER VIII

LAST DAYS ON THE FARM

"I believe you are right," said Tom, after he, too, had looked over some
of the bits of paper strewn around. "Here is the word 'box' and here is
the word 'Saturday.'"

"Yes, and here are the words, 'fast freight,'" added Sam. "This was
nothing more than a letter box for the freight thieves."

"But why was it placed here?" questioned Dick. "It's a very
out-of-the-way place and hard to get to."

"Maybe somebody had to come this way," answered Tom. "See, here is
something of a trail."

"Yes, and here are those same big footprints!" exclaimed Sam. "For all
we know they may lead to some house or hut on the mountainside."

Having picked up the majority of the bits of paper and put them in their
pockets for future examination, the three Rover boys followed the path
or trail they had discovered. It led along the mountainside to where
there was a small clearing, backed up by a series of rocks from which a
spring gushed forth, sparkling brightly in the sunshine.

"I'd like to get another drink," said Sam; "I am terribly thirsty
to-day."

"Wait!" warned Dick, and caught his youngest brother by the arm.

"What's up, Dick?"

"I see a log cabin--over yonder, among the trees."

"Yes, and I see