In doing this, he had not only to avoid Harney and Baxter, but also Husty, providing that individual was anywhere around, which was probable. Consequently, although he traveled as fast as the deep snow permitted, he kept a sharp lookout on every side. The youth soon circled the lower shore of Bear Pond, and he found the trail he was seeking. It led directly to the westward, and he followed it up, almost on a run. In the meantime Dick, Tom, and John Barrow had journeyed to the third outlet of the lake, the stream which the guide thought must be the original of Perch River. Here, after a good deal of trouble, the party located what looked like the stump of a tree once struck by lightning. "We've found it at last!" cried Dick. "I feel it in my bones that we are on the right track!" Again they measured off the distance with care, and now came to a large flat rock, behind which was another, unusually sharp. "The flat rock!" muttered Tom, and his heart began to thump wildly. "Dick, you're right. We are on the right track. If the treasure isn't here, it's been taken away." They had brought along a pick and a crowbar, and now all set to work to clear away the snow, and then the dirt from around the pointed rock. The ground was hard, and at first they made but slow progress. "Perhaps we'll have to build a fire, to thaw out the ground," suggested John Barrow. "Oh, that will take too long," said Tom. "I wonder if we can't turn the rock over?" With the crowbar and the pick wedged against the flat rock they pushed upon the pointed rock with all the force at their command. Several times the tools slipped, but at last they held, and 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.