"I wish he'd come
back!"

"Yes, this isn't a very desirable country to be lost in in the
night!" Tommy admitted. "He ought not to have gone away."

"What do you make of this gink prowling around our tent?" asked
Sandy. "Do you think he's doing it out of curiosity, or because he
has an inkling of what we're up here after?"

"Huh! How would any one away off up here know anything about the
Little Brass God?" demanded Tommy.

"Look here," Will argued. "The Little Brass God is stolen from
this house on Drexel Boulevard. Enclosed in a cavity in the toy is
a will disposing of several million dollars worth of property. The
Little Brass God is finally sold to a pawn-broker, who in turn
disposes of it to a trapper known to belong in the Hudson Bay
district."

"That's a fair statement," answered Tommy.

"Now, Mr. Horton, attorney for the man who is in quest of the lost
will, and Sigsbee, the man interested in probating the previous
will, both know of the final disposition of the Little Brass God.
At least, Frederick Tupper knows that it was taken from the pawn
shop by a Hudson Bay trapper, and it is believed that Sigsbee
possesses the same information."

"Of course, they both know about it," agreed Sandy.

"Now, why shouldn't they both send people up here in quest of the
Little Brass God?" Will continued.

"But suppose this man Sigsbee doesn't know anything about the will
being in the belly of the Little Brass God?" suggested Tommy.

"We believe he does know all about it!" said Will.

"And do you believe, too, that he hired a burglar to go and steal
the Little Brass God?" asked Sandy.

"As I said before," Will answered, "we don't know anything about
that. The Little Brass God may have been taken by a burglar who
was simply in quest of plunder. The whole thing resolves itself
into this: If the really, truly burglar stole the toy and sold it
to the pawn-broker, the will is in the ugly little chap's belly.
If Sigsbee hired the burglar he took the will out before the
trinket was sold at the pawn-shop. In that case, he would be the
last one to send an expedition up here to retrieve the toy. And so
you see," Will continued, "that we don't know anything about it."

"Well it's funny that gink should come prowling around our tents on
the first night of our arrival!" Tommy exclaimed. "According to
all accounts, he should have come sneaking into camp looking for a
drink of brandy. The fact that he ran away whe