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Rh start was delayed for a whole day, much to Tom and Sam's secret joy. John Barrow had to go to Timber Run for things needed in the house by his wife and daughter.

When he returned there was a broad grin on his face.

"I've got news for you," he said to Dick, who had followed him down to the barn. "There's another party arrived at Timber Run on the hunt fer that treasure of old Goupert's."

"Another party. Who is it?"

"Didn't hear their names. There are two men and a young fellow o' nineteen or twenty. They have hired Bill Harney fer a guide, and are goin' to strike out fer the Pond to-morrow."

"Two men and a young fellow," mused Dick. "I'd like to know who they are."

"One o' the men looked like a preacher or schoolmaster. He called the young feller Thacher, or something like that."

"It wasn't Baxter?" queried Dick, struck by a sudden idea.

"That's the name—now I remember."

"And the man, did they call him Grinder—Jasper Grinder?" went on Dick excitedly.

"If it wasn't Grinder, it was something like it. The party came east from Ithaca."

"It's Dan Baxter and Jasper Grinder sure!" burst out Dick. "Well, this beats the nation."