The Young Treasure Hunter | Page 8

We haven't had any in a long time."
"That's so, mother, but I can get along without it."
"You'll not have to, to-night."
Mr. Stanley's face flushed. He keenly felt the position he was in--that of a man unable to support himself, much less his family. If only his lameness would leave him! For there was no work for a lame man in Piddock.
During the meal Fred was so busy thinking that several times his mother had to ask him the same question twice. When this occurred, after she had asked him if he was ready for the pudding, a dish of which he was very fond, she exclaimed:
"Well, Fred! Something must be the matter. You are not ill; are you?"
"No, mother."
"Then of what are you thinking?"
"I'll tell you," said Fred, with sudden determination. "I am thinking of a curious story I heard to-day."
"A story? What about?"
"About treasure, buried in the mountains of Alaska."
Then Fred told what Mr. Gardner had related to him about the gold left by Stults.
"I have heard that story several times," said Mr. Stanley, when Fred had finished the account, "but it was always from men in whom I could place no confidence."
"Do you think Mr. Gardner is telling the truth, father?"
"I place more reliance on the story now than I ever did before," replied the old miner. "You can generally depend on what Old Bill tells you."
"Then you think there might be treasure there?"
"I believe there might have been. Whether it is there still is another question. Why, Fred, you weren't thinking of going after it; were you?"
"I was, father."
Though the boy spoke quietly the words startled his parents.
"You were!" exclaimed Mr. Stanley.
"What, Fred! Go away off to Alaska, and freeze to death on an iceberg?" asked his mother.
"Oh, I guess I could stand the cold, mother. I could wear a fur suit, like the Eskimos. But whether I could find the gold is, as father says, another question. How much do you think would be there, dad?"
"It is utterly impossible to say. I have heard various amounts mentioned, from as high as a million to as low as a thousand dollars. But I think, from the stories current at the time of the death of Stults, that it must be many thousands of dollars."
"So do I, father, and I would like to go after it."
"You don't appreciate what that means, Fred," said Mr. Stanley. "In the first place the treasure, if there is any, is in a desolate place, hard to get at, once you are in Alaska. Then Alaska is no easy place to reach, and it takes more money to get there than we shall ever have, I'm afraid. Another thing: you would have no right to go after the treasure. It belongs to the widow of Stults."
"I would have a right to search for it, if she gave me permission, as she has others."
"Yes, but you do not know her, and I doubt if any one knows where she is. No, Fred, it is out of the question."
Fred drew something from his pocket.
"I admit it may be impossible for me to go after the treasure," he said, "but part of the objections can be overcome. I know where Mrs. Stults is now, and I have a letter of introduction to her," and he showed the epistle given him by Mr. Gardner.
CHAPTER V
MRS. STULTS CONSENTS
Fred's announcement took his parents completely by surprise. Mr. Stanley extended his hand for the letter, and read it over slowly.
"That ought to get you a hearing, at any rate," he said at length. "I understand that Old Bill Gardner is quite well acquainted with the widow of the man who buried the fortune to save it from the Alaskan Indians. But, Fred, don't build your hopes too high. I don't see how you are going to get to Denville, and, even if Mrs. Stults should consent to allow you to hunt for the treasure, how are you going to do it?"
"I thought I might get some of your friends interested, father, and we could form an expedition to go to Alaska."
"But that will take considerable money."
"So it does to start a mine, and this is just as sure as a mine is."
"I admit that. But whom could you get?"
"I thought you might be able to propose some one. You see, father, there is no use of me staying around here. There is no work to be had in Piddock, and if I have to go off some distance to look for a job, I might as well go a little farther, and hunt for the treasure."
"But Alaska is a good way off."
"Not so very far."
"You'd think so, if you had to walk," added his mother. "Besides, Fred, I hate to think of you going off to that terrible place."
"But think