“I—I seem to see—” began the crone, rolling her eyes toward the ceiling.
“Oh, no, you’re not as old as this god,” Cliff told her. “But it has strange powers and we are going to show them to you.” She shivered and drew back but Nicky smiled gaily at her.
“It won’t hurt you,” he said. “Now you stand it up in front of you—prop it against this book! Now, make a circle in the air in front of it, and then draw a circle around it with your index finger on your left hand, and then say—‘Abacca-abbaca-brab!’ three times and see what happens—it won’t hurt.”
The woman looked at Sam. He was grinning, but he nodded for her to do it. She hesitated and then, taking some bits of queer stuff from a bag she had, muttering some charm to protect herself from evil, she made the circles and muttered the words of Nicky’s fol-de-rol.
There came a thump, and a small bar of gold fell onto the table. Tom had flung it adroitly, of course, but she fixed her eyes and stared as if she would pop her eyes out.
“Want to know how it was done?” demanded Nicky.
“I’ll give you this gold if you tell me,” she said.
“I’ll tell—” began Cliff. But suddenly all three saw that Mr. Neale, whom they had long before taught their secret signs, was making a sign which they all interpreted to mean, “Seeing All, I see nothing; Knowing All, I know nothing; Telling All, I tell nothing,” the oath of the Mystery Boys. Nicky grinned and nodded.
“This is it,” he said. “Once you made three clay figures of us and stuck their heads in the sun; they brought us good luck so we brought this god to give you some of it.”
[Illustration: The Mystery of Lake Retreat]
Here’s a Series of thrilling, exciting mystery stories by some of the best-known authors for Boys in this Country. Each volume is a separate story in itself; independent of any other volume in the Series.
Handsome Cloth Binding _Attractive Colored Jackets_ PRICE, 50 CENTS EACH POSTAGE 10c. EXTRA
TOM BLAKE’S MYSTERIOUS ADVENTURE. By Milton Richards BARRY DARE AND THE MYSTERIOUS BOX. By Gardner Hunting THE BLACK SKIMMER. By Philip Hart WRECK OF THE DAUNTLESS. By Philip Hart THE VALDMERE MYSTERY. By Milton Richards THE FLIGHT OF THE MYSTIC OWLS. By Philip Hart THE SECRET OF THE ARMOR ROOM. By Capwell Wyckoff ADVENTURES OF A PATRIOT. By Philip Hart DONALD PRICE’S VICTORY. By L. P. Wyman, Ph.D. IN THE CAMP OF THE BLACK RIDER. By Capwell Wyckoff THE MYSTERY AT LAKE RETREAT. By Capwell Wyckoff THE STRANGE TEEPEE. By Philip Hart THE MYSTERY OF EAGLE LAKE. By L. P. Wyman, Ph.D.