"My daughter and I have been sort of living in the woods for the past week," he said. "We have taken auto trips as far as the machine would go, and then have tramped the rest of the way. I want to see how my land is. It is some property I bought a good while ago, and which I never thought amounted to much. But I have a chance to sell it now, and I may dispose of it.
"I was looking along the lake shore, the other day, for some of my land extends out there,--and I saw a boat, containing some Chinese and a white man. It was being rowed up and down the shore, and I thought, at the time, the men acted rather suspiciously. They seemed to be waiting for something to happen. I was too busy to pay much attention to them, but I believe now that they were part of that smugglers' band you speak of."
"Why didn't you tell the police, father?" asked Ruth. "To think of poor Fenn being captured by them."
"We are not sure he is captured by them, Ruth," said Mr. Hayward. "At any rate I'm going to the point on shore near where I saw the boat. It may be there is a tunnel running from that place on the hill, where Fenn disappeared, right down to the lake. In that case we may find some trace of him there. This region used to be worked by some ancient race, I understand, who dug deep into the earth after certain minerals and ores. There are several tunnels, shafts and queer passages through the hills and along shore, I have heard; shafts that used to give access to the mines. They have long been abandoned, but it is just possible that the smugglers may have discovered and utilized them."
"Maybe they're hiding in a cave, somewhere, now," suggested Ned, "and perhaps they have Fenn a prisoner."
"Oh dear! Isn't it dreadful!" exclaimed Ruth, with a shudder. The other boys could not help wishing she was as anxious about them as she was over Fenn. It made up, in a great measure, for all he was likely to suffer, Bart thought. He looked closely at Ruth. She seemed strangely excited, as though she feared some nameless terror.
"This way!" called Mr. Hayward, leading the little party of rescuers through a short cut, and down a sloping bank to the shore of the lake. "Here we are. Now the boat, when I saw it, was right opposite that little point of land," and he motioned to indicate where he meant.