âThese fellows wonât get away!â blustered Noddy.
âI should say we wouldnât!â snapped Jerry. âThis creek is public property, and we have a right to be here.â
âWell, donât you come on this land!â
âWait until we do, before you order us off,â suggested Ned.
âThey arenât on our property, Noddy,â observed Fussel, quietly. âYou boys can read, I suppose?â he asked, and his voice was a bit sharp.
âOh, weâve been to school,â replied Ned, easily.
âWell, just observe what the sign saysâthatâs all,â the foreman went on. âYou havenât any rights here now, you know,â he said, addressing Jerry.
âAnd we donât intend to claim any,â was Jerryâs answer. âAt least not now.â There was a significance in his tone that made Fussel look at him in a peculiar manner.
âI guess you donât need to stand guard, Noddy,â went on the foreman, âand I need you over at the work. Come on.â
âYou neednât worry. We wonât take any of your yellow clay,â called out Jerry.
âThatâll do!â interrupted Fussel, sharply. âGo back where you belong,â and Noddy, rather taken down by this rebuke, slunk off.
Fussel, as though he knew the signs would not be disregarded, had turned away, and Jerry, after standing up in the boat, so as to get a good view of the men digging in the yellow mud, threw in the clutch and started the craft on her return trip.
âWhat in the world do you imagine that yellow clay is good for, Jerry?â Ned remarked.
âI havenât the least idea in the world, but Iâm going to find out. Professor Snodgrass said it was valueless, but he may have been
âOh, Iâve got some of the first lump left yet. Iâll have him experiment on that. He didnât make a very exhaustive test before. Iâll take some to Bellport when we go over this afternoon.â
But the boys were disappointed in their search for Professor Snodgrass at Bellport. As we know, he had already left the hotel there, being hastened on his way by the conspirators, for reasons of their own.
âNo, the professor ainât here, boys,â drawled Ike Rossiter, proprietor of the Mansion House, where the scientist had written that he was making his headquarters.
âWhere did he go?â asked Jerry, eagerly.
âI donât know,â replied Mr. Rossiter. âBut I wish I did.â
âWhyâdoes he owe you money?â Ned wanted to know, for the professor was sometimes in the habit of absent-mindedly going off without paying his bills, and the boys, several times, had made up the deficiency, for which he reimbursed them later.
âNo, he donât owe me a cent,â said Mr. Rossiter. âOh, heâs honest enough, as far as thatâs concerned.â
âThen why do you want him?â Bob asked.
ââCause he left behind a box of funny bugs,â answered the hotel proprietor, âand every woman servant in the place is so nervous, for fear theyâll get loose and bite âem, that they canât do their work half properly. Great big black bugs they are, in a wire box. The professor left âem behind in his room, and I had âem brought down to the office. I donât want to turn âem loose, for fear he might want âem and bring suit against me for losinâ âem. I donât know what to do.â
âWeâll take charge of them for you,â volunteered Jerry. âWe expect to see the professor soon. But canât you give us any idea of where he has gone?â
âNot in the least, boys. He left here suddenly, with a couple of men, and all I heard âem talkinâ about was a two-headed lizard, as if
there was any such critter.â
âWasnât it a two-tailed lizard?â asked Ned.
âWell, maybe it was,â admitted the hotel man. âI didnât pay no attention. But if youâll take them bugs away Iâll be much obliged. Theyâre big, fuzzy things, and they look dangerous.â
The boys readily assumed charge of the specimens the professor had forgotten in his haste, but further questioning failed to bring out any information as to his whereabouts.
âHe must have gotten some clue, or what he thought was a clue, to the location of the lizards,â observed Jerry, âand he started after them in his usual hurry. Heâll be back again soon. But I donât like the idea of waiting for him. It will upset all our vacation plans.â
âThen why wait for him?â asked Bob.
âOh, we donât want to leave without him, after we half promised to take him with us.â
âNo, I donât mean that,â went on Ned. âBut letâs trail him.â
âTrail him? How can we?â asked Ned. âWe havenât the least idea where he went.â
âNo, but we might find out,â resumed the stout youth. âHe would probably leave word at his home, near Boston, where he could be reached. Heâd want his mail forwarded, too. You can be pretty sure that his housekeeper knows his address.
âNow whatâs the matter with us starting our trip, and calling at his residence? Weâre almost sure to get some information about him there. And you can bring along that specimen of yellow clay, Jerry.â
âGood idea, Bob! Weâll do it!â cried the tall lad.
Further questioning of the hotel man brought out little that was of value. Professor Snodgrass had been seen with two strangers in Bellport, but only a meager description of them could be obtained. No one had paid much attention to them. And beyond the fact that
CHAPTER XII
ON THE BRINK
It is a hard matter to know, or even fear, that a faithful friend has been unfaithful, particularly so when one is young and rather unsophisticated. It is no small matter then to have oneâs ideals shattered.
And it was thus with Jerry and his chums when they read the advertisement of the Universal Plaster Company, and saw the indorsement of Professor Snodgrass, concerning the value of the yellow clay, which was given a high-sounding medical name, based on the Latin term.
âProfessor Snodgrass has betrayed us!â went on Jerry, still in a heat of passion. âHe knew all the while that the yellow clay was valuable, and yet, when I asked him to analyze it, he said it was worthless. And he knew there was a deposit of it on motherâs land.â
âAre you sure about that?â asked Ned slowly.
âSure? Of course I am! Didnât I tell him so when I showed him the clay? I told him where it came from, and he said all the good he could see in it was for filling. Now he goes and helps these fellows made a medicine of it. Heâs double-crossed us, I tell you!â
âIt does look so,â admitted Bob, who was rather more likely than Ned to agree with the more positive speakerâin this case Jerry Hopkins.
âMy, whatâs all the excitement about?â asked Mrs. Hopkins, coming into the room at this juncture. âHas something gone wrong with your plans?â
For a moment no one spoke, and then Jerry said:
âSomething has gone wrong, Mother, but not exactly with our plans. Look here,â and he showed her the advertisement. She read it through without remark. Over her shoulder Jerry saw some statements that had escaped him at first.
These were to the effect that several cures of stubborn ailments had been effected by the yellow clay, and the medicines with which it was impregnated. The clay was of medicinal value in itself, it was claimed, but it was rendered more efficacious by the introduction of other chemicals.
Rheumatism, swellings, pains, aches and ailments of various sorts yielded to its application, and the names of well-known medical men bore out the claims of the Universal Plaster Company.
âAnd to think that the most of that clay was on your land, Mother, and you have sold it!â cried Jerry, when she looked up from the paper.
âWell, it canât be helped now, Jerry,â she answered, quietly. âWhatâs done is done.â
âIâm not so sure about that!â cried Jerry, pacing up and down the room. âI think Professor Snodgrass cheated us in not telling me the clay was valuable.â
âMaybe he did not know it,â suggested Mrs. Hopkins. âI am sure the professor would never do anything dishonorable.â
âLook at that!â demanded Jerry, pointing to the letter of the scientistâa letter appearing over his own signatureâin which the claims for the clay were substantiated.
Mrs. Hopkins could not answer. Certainly it looked as though the scientific friend of the boys had acted against their interestsâor, at least, against the interests of the Hopkins family.
âAnd just think, Mother!â cried Jerry, âif we owned that land now we could sell the clay ourselves, and get back some of the fortune you have lost.â
âDonât believe it, dear,â suggested Mrs. Hopkins in her gentle voice. âJust suspend judgment. I am sure it will all come out right.â
Jerry shook his head doubtfully.
âAnd, if it doesnât,â went on his mother, âmoney isnât everything in this world. We shall live, even without the money we might have had from the sale of this yellow clay, Jerry.â
âOh, but I do hate to be cheated and fooled!â he answered. âNoddy Nixon is laughing at us now, I believe.â
âLet him!â advised Ned. âHe laughs best who has the last inning, you know.â
âWell, maybeâyes. Anyhow, weâve got our work cut out for us for some time ahead.â
Jerry sat down to read the advertisement over again. There was little to be extracted from it save to confirm the first impression. There was told how the clay was accidentally discovered, and how, after much experimenting, a medicinal use was found for it. Then the efforts of the company to get control of all the available supply were detailed; but nothing was said of the forceful efforts made to induce Mrs. Hopkins to sign away her rights, of which she was in ignorance at the time of making the deed.
âI suppose, legally, they are within their rights,â remarked Jerry, âbut, morally, they are not. But Iâll wait and see what the professor says. It looks bad for him; but maybe, after all, he is innocent. Heâs a regular kid when it comes to some things, and those fellows may have âput one over on himâ without his knowing anything about it.â
âThatâs the way to talk!â cried Ned. âI canât believe the dear old professor would go back on us.â
As their preparations were nearly completed, nothing more was done that night. Jerryâs two chums would meet at his house the next morning, and in the auto would make the journey to the home of the professor, in the vicinity of Boston.
