Now it is in strange and silent places that the echo, once believed to be a mocking elf, chooses always to linger, mischievously waiting to make itself heard. And in the depths of the pines beyond the hut the taunting elf awoke in mockery of Springer. The laughter flung back from those recesses, like that of the perturbed boy, yet strangely and weirdly dissimilar, caused Phil to gasp a bit and clutch at Grant’s arm. “Hear that!” he whispered. “Nothing but an echo,” said Rodney in a low, even tone, although he realized that his own nerves were unusually tense. “Gee! that’s right,” breathed Phil in relief; “but it gug-gug-gave me a jump.” “It must be evident, comrades,” said Piper hurriedly, “that yonder hut can scarce afford us shelter from the storm which is advancing apace.” The dark clouds had now shut out the sun, and the shadows beneath the pines were swiftly becoming so dense that the eye could pierce them for a short distance only, save when a flash of lightning made every object stand forth with great distinctness. The thunder which followed these electrical discharges was of the snappy, crackling kind, but the protracted space of time between each flash and report made Grant confident that the heart of the storm was yet miles away. “You’re right, Sleuth,” agreed Springer eagerly; “we cuc-can’t get away from the rain in that old sh-shack.” “Let’s take a look inside the hut, anyhow,” suggested Grant. “I hate to hike away without doing that much.” Starting forward as he spoke, he stepped into a shallow excavation, which he would have observed before him under different circumstances. Annoyed, he scrambled up from his knees, to which he had plunged. “Look out, fellows,” he warned, noticing for the first time that there were many similar excavations in the glade. “The treasure hunters sure have near dug up the whole place.” With some reluctance Phil and Sleuth followed Rodney. At the open door of the hut the Texan stopped to look inside, and his companions peered over his shoulder. But the gloom was now so intense that little of the hut’s interior could be made out. “Nun-nothing there, anyhow,” said Phil. “Nothing that anybody need be afraid of,” declared Piper. But his teeth clicked, and his voice was filled with an odd vibration that betrayed the agitation he sought to conceal. “I’m going in,” said Rodney. “Let’s all go in, so that at least we can say we’ve done so.” “Lot of good that will dud-do us,” muttered Springer. “Here goes,” said Grant, stepping inside. Moved by a sudden desperate impulse, Piper pushed Springer aside and followed Rodney. “If you’re afraid,” he flung back at Phil, “you don’t have to come; you can stay out.” “Who’s afraid?” indignantly snapped Springer. “I guess I’ve gug-got as much nerve as you have.” He entered also, and the three boys stood there in the hut of the old hermit. Their feet were on the bare ground, for there had never been a floor.