right ahead and find that cave where they make diamonds!"
"And we're with you!" exclaimed Tom. "We'll have a good fire going the
rest of the night, and that may keep intruders away. In the morning
we'll begin our search, and we'll go up the trail where we saw the white
figure."
A big pile of wood had been collected for the fire, and Tom now piled
some logs and branches on the blaze. It would last for some time now,
and the adventurers, still talking of the "ghost" went back into the
tent. It was over an hour before they all got to sleep again, and Mr.
Jenks and Mr. Damon took turns in getting up once or twice during the
remainder of the night to replenish the fire.
Morning dawned without anything further having occurred to disturb them,
and, after a hearty breakfast, to which Tom added some fish he caught in
a nearby mountain stream, they set off up the trail on Phantom Mountain.
They had left their tent standing, as they proposed making that spot
their headquarters until they located the cave they were seeking. What
their course would be after that would depend on the circumstances.
If they had expected to have an easy task locating the cavern in which
Mr. Jenks had seen diamonds made, the adventurers were disappointed. All
that day they tramped up and down the mountain, looking for some secret
entrance, but none was disclosed. The higher they went up the great
peak, the fainter became the trail, until, at length it vanished
completely.
But this was not to be wondered at, since it was on solid rock, in which
no footsteps would leave an impression.
"They never brought you up here in a wagon, Mr. Jenks," decided Tom,
when he saw how steep the place was.
"I'm inclined to think so myself," admitted the diamond man. "They must
have reached the cave from some other way. As a matter of fact, I walked
some distance after getting out of the vehicle, before we got to the
cavern. But, even at that, I don't believe we came this way."
"Yet the phantom was here," persisted Tom, "and I'm convinced that the
cave is in this neighborhood. It's up to us to find it!"
But they searched the remainder of that day in vain, and as night was
coming on, they made their way back to the camp. As Tom, who was in
the lead, approached the tent, he saw something black fastened to the
entrance.
"Hello!" he cried. "Some one's been here. That wasn't on the tent when
he left this morning."
"What is it?" asked Mr. Damon.
"A bla
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