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236 slowly the pointed rock went up, until with a thud it rolled over and several feet away.

"Hurrah, a hole full of small stones!" cried Dick, and leaped down to pick the stones out. Tom followed, and so did the guide.

"Dick! Tom! Hullo! hullo!" came the unexpected cry from a short distance away.

"Who is that calling?" demanded Dick.

"It's Sam," replied the guide, looking up. "He's coming here as fast as he can track it."

"Then something is wrong," said Dick, and for the moment the treasure was forgotten.

It did not take Sam long to reach them. He was so out of breath that for several minutes he was unable to talk connectedly. At last he gasped out:

"Dan Baxter and that big guide—they attacked me and I ran away. They—they are in possession of our traps."

"Baxter!" ejaculated Dick. "That's the worst yet. They'll steal all our things and leave us to starve!"

"We might as well go right after them," put in John Barrow.

"Oh, say, let's unearth this treasure first," pleaded Tom. "If we leave that, Baxter may follow up our tracks, as Sam did, and take it from under our very noses."

"Tom is right—get the treasure first," said Dick.

Once more they set to work, Sam watching