," answered Dan. "But what of money in
the desk?"

"I had but little--not over twenty dollars all told, Dan." Mr. Radbury
walked over to the little desk, which was a rude affair made by himself
during his leisure hours. "Yes, it's been ransacked pretty thoroughly."

"Is anything missing?" asked Ralph.

"I can't say." Amos Radbury looked over a number of the papers. "I
guess they are all right. No, there is my discharge from the army,
after the war of 1812. The rascal who broke open the desk took the
pleasure of tearing that in half." He rummaged about a bit more.
"Hullo, it's gone!" he cried.

"What's gone?" came from both boys.

"The papers relating to this grant of land."

"Are you sure?" asked Dan.

"Yes, it isn't anywhere about."

Mr. Radbury was more worried about the papers pertaining to the land
grant than over anything else, and at once a search was instituted,
outside of the ranch home as well as indoors. It proved of no
avail,--the papers were gone.

"Will it do much harm?" asked Ralph, who knew very little as yet about
real estate matters.

"It may and it may not," answered the father. "Of course the grant is
recorded, but with matters in such a revolutionary state the records
may at some time be destroyed, and then somebody else might come
forward and claim this grant."

"Well, I reckon you won't give it up, partner," put in Poke Stover,
suggestively.

"Not without a fight, Stover," was Mr. Radbury's firm answer. "The land
is mine, paid for, and I'll hold it, papers or no papers, and no matter
how the affairs of the government turn."

"I wonder who was the thief," mused Dan. "I don't believe it was an
Indian. He might take the other things, but he wouldn't know anything
about the papers, nor care for them."

"He might be cute enough to take the papers just to throw us off the
scent," suggested Ralph.

"You're wrong, Ralph, for he wouldn't know one paper from another."

"But he'd know the land papers were important, because of the seals on
them," persisted the youngest Radbury.

The Indian in the corner now demanded their attention. He was plainly
in a bad way, and Poke Stover said it was very doubtful if he would
live.

"If he does pull through it will only be because he's a redskin and as
tough as all creation," added the old frontiersman.

In his guttural tongue the redskin appealed to Dan for a drink of
water.

"Certainly, I'll give you a drink," answered the boy, kindly, and w