would a grown man want with them?"
Then he turned to the old man. "You are in the wrong district," he
asserted. "Who ever told you there were Indian relics in this section?
Why, we don't even find arrowheads in this part of the country. Now
over on the San Pedro there's lots of mounds and things. There's where
you ought to go."

"That's a great disappointment. I've come a long way to unearth an old
village or something of the sort."

"You're barking up the wrong tree, mister! There ain't nothing around
here."

As the professor took leave and rode up the trail, his face was a
puzzle. "That's queer," he sighed. "Judge Breckenridge certainly told
me that he had made some very important discoveries himself. But this
man who belongs here should know more about it. I can't make it all
out."

Even Ma Patten's good cooking and her cheerful chatter could not
restore the old man's optimism.

"He's tired himself out the first morning," whispered Kit to her
mother, after the professor had left the table and seated himself on a
large rock overlooking the canyon.

Then, as they watched, they saw him slap his knee vehemently as he
arose with a smile.

"That fellow is a fraud! He's trying to mislead me! I know his type
now. He wants to keep everything for himself."

He would have been certain of this if he had seen Kie Wicks emerging
from the canyon. Kie shook his head decidedly. "There, I put a spike
in the professor's gun. He simply wilted. I'm rid of him all right."

But, as the horse followed the well worn trail, he mused. "There's
treasure there, I know it! It's _my_ treasure! Mine!"

CHAPTER X

_THE PROFESSOR'S JOB_

Within a few days the professor's tent and cot arrived, and after that
Ma Patten pleaded in vain for him to stay with them. The old man was
independent and insisted on getting established in his own quarters.
He had already chosen a spot in Lost Canyon with the aid of Indian Joe,
who knew the best springs and the best place to pitch a tent.

And Professor Gillette could not have had a better helper. Under a
huge cottonwood tree, there was a bubbling spring, cool and clear, and
down the creek a short distance was a small pool.

"Why, there's my bath room!" laughed the old man. "Talk about modern
conveniences, I have them all."

The Merriweather Girls were eager to help the old man get settled. And
when the five of them with Tommy Sharpe got to work they soon had
ever