Frank always found plenty to occupy his attention. He could discover numerous ways of bettering the conditions of affairs, and took keen delight in making changes calculated to lessen the friction of camp life.

On his part Will pottered with his camera for fully an hour. When in the end he laid it aside in working order he was satisfied with what he had done.

"I've got it in splendid condition now, Frank," he announced, "and from this time on there'll be no danger of a slip when the trap is sprung. That's been bothering me a whole lot for some time now, and I'm tickled to know the ghost is laid."

Every little while he examined the negative he had drying, as though anxious to get a proof from it when it was in proper condition.

About eleven o'clock he came to Frank holding a browned bit of paper on which the sun had printed a very clear picture as taken when the flashlight cartridge burned.

"The face shows fairly well," he announced. "I'd easily enough recognize the man if ever I ran across him, and that's something."

Frank looked long and earnestly at the proof.

"So that's our hermit, is it?" he remarked; "the old man they say acts so queerly, and has kept to himself up there on his estate for years, living the life of a recluse among his books and papers. There must be some good reason for his acting that way. He's met with some sort of terrible disappointment in life it may be; but then that's no business of ours."

"But Frank, I was meaning to suggest something to you to-day," began Will, looking uncertain, as though he did not know just how the other might take the proposition he had on the tip of his tongue.

"Oh! so that's the way the wind blows, does it?" remarked Frank, raising his eyebrows as he looked at his chum. "Somehow when you declined to let Bluff take the camera along with him I had an idea you were figuring on some scheme. You look like a regular conspirator, Will. Out with it before you choke."

"Listen then, Frank; I was hoping I might coax you to go up there again to-day when I could be along."

Frank whistled upon hearing this suggestion.

"I reckon you mean go to the hermit's place, Will?" he remarked inquiringly.

"Yes, that's just it, Frank, and please, now, don't shut down on me too quickly. Say you'll think it over, and let me know at noon."

Frank scratched his head as though considering. The fact of the matter was he himself had a peculiar yearning to make that trip again. There is a sort of subtle fascination about prowling around forbidden territory. Then the mystery connected with the hermit had aroused his curiosity. That strange cry, too, lingered in his memory even more than Frank cared to confess to Bluff.

"But what excuse can we give for trespassing if we run across old Aaron, his housekeeper, or any man connected with the place?" he asked Will.

At that the other smiled calmly.

"Well, you know an amateur photographer never wants for a reason when he gets caught intruding on private grounds," he explained; "his enthusiasm is supposed to tempt him to take any risks. And Frank, if we run across any trouble don't hesitate to pile all the blame on me. I'm willing to stand for it."

"Is it the house you're aiming to take a picture of, Will?"

"Partly that," the other confessed. "You and Bluff described it as a strange looking building, and worth seeing, so I'm fairly wild to snap it off. And then, if we just happened to come on Aaron himself, why I might manage to get him in focus and click my camera without his knowing it. I hope you'll go this time, Frank. Somehow I've got my heart set on it."

"Well, perhaps I may, Will. Let the thing drop till we're eating our lunch, and then I'll tell you what I'll do."

"Good for you, Frank!" exclaimed Will, beaming on his chum, for somehow he must have guessed that the chances of their going were pretty fair.

When noon arrived and they sat down to enjoy what had been prepared Will's face looked so much like one big interrogation point that Frank did not have the heart to keep him longer in suspense.

"I see no good reason why we shouldn't wander up that way if we feel like it," he went on to say, at which the other looked greatly pleased. "Of course," Frank continued, "it isn't exactly the right thing for us to crawl through that opening in the fence again, especially after we've been warned off by the housekeeper; but since you say you must get a snapshot of the house, why, we'll risk it."

"That's kind of you to agree, Frank."

"Oh! I rather guess it's six for you and half a dozen for myself," chuckled the other lad; "because I own up there's something about Aaron's place up there that draws me more than I ought to allow. But after all we mean no harm, and besides we may not meet any one on our trip."

"Remember," added Will, with a grin, "it's only returning the old gentleman's visit of last night, you know. We want to be neighborly, of course."

There was no hurry, since they had the whole afternoon ahead of them. Will, however, urged a start because he had hopes that they might return by a long, roundabout course, and possibly pick up some interesting views on the way.

"There are some clouds passing overhead," remarked Frank, "and we may get a little thunder shower while away; so we'd better fix things here shipshape."

This was easily done, though of course they did not think to fasten the door in any way. The other two boys might get back before they did, and it would be foolish to bar them out of the cabin. Besides, what reason had they to fear any invasion from tramps up in this lonely section of country?

Once started, Will seemed very happy. Frank on his part had no great difficulty in following the dimly seen trail. From time to time he would show his companion the marks of footprints both going and coming, and which were other than those left by himself and Bluff on the preceding day.

"That proves we guessed right when we said it was old Aaron who ran against the string of your flashlight trap," Frank explained; "and I'd give a cooky to know why he was making for the cabin at the time."

"You told the housekeeper, didn't you, Frank, that we had bunked in the cabin on the point jutting out into the bay?"

"Yes, and she may have informed him," Frank mused. "Even if he's kept himself up here away from everybody for so long, buried in his books, old Aaron might have enough curiosity to walk down over this trail that he knows so well, just to take a look at us."

"If he's half as gruff as they say," suggested Will, "he may have meant to order us to vacate the ranch. Then that awful flash came and frightened it all out of him."

Other things cropping up caused them to change the subject. And in due course of time they sighted the high board fence with which the strange hermit had surrounded his estate, thus warning strollers to keep out.

Will was interested in everything connected with the isolated home of the rich and mysterious recluse.

"Of course," he remarked, reflectively, "we could climb over that fence if we went to a lot of trouble, even if it has got a barbed wire strand along the top; but it would take more or less time. And you said there was an opening we could use, didn't you, Frank?"

"It's just ahead a little way, if some one hasn't found the loose board and fastened it up securely," replied the pilot of the expedition.

They were pleased to discover that this had not happened. The loose board still hung in position, and could be easily moved to one side, allowing them a ready entry to the enclosed grounds.

Neither of them spoke above a whisper as they advanced. Frank followed the tracks he and Bluff had made when leaving, since these marked the shortest route to the building. And it was not long before they caught their first glimpse of the house.

The sun happened to be just about right for a good picture of the front; Will hoped those drifting clouds would not come along in an exasperating way, as so often happens in the experience of every amateur photographer, and obscure the light.

"It's going to make a cracker-jack of a picture, Frank!" said Will, eagerly, and in the lowest of tones, as though he feared that something might still happen to keep him from accomplishing his cherished purpose.

"Just what I thought," replied the other, in an equally cautious voice; "which was one reason I agreed to bring you up here. Get busy now, Will."

The boy with the camera glanced about him, looking for the proper spot from which to snap off his picture. Taking into consideration the situation of the sun at that particular minute, together with the direction the long, low building faced, Will saw that he could get in the entire front and the western side.

He moved a little to the left and gauged matters with his practiced eye. Being quite a skillful operator with the lens and the shutter, Will could judge these things much better than any of his chums. In a case of this kind at least he had no occasion to ask the advice of Frank.

The latter in the meanwhile was looking from window to window of the two-story building. It must have many rooms, he judged, from the number of these openings. He was also wondering whether that old and vigilant housekeeper would chance to discover the intruders in front of the house, and hasten out to warn them away, lest they get in trouble with her master.

Then, too, Frank was letting his curiosity have free rein again; he remembered the weird cry that had come floating to the ears of himself and Bluff, giving them such a queer feeling.

Nothing happened to spoil Will's chance of getting a good picture. The clouds kept away from the sun in the most accommodating way, and no gruff keeper of the grounds came along with an angry demand that he desist in his undertaking, as the owner of the estate did not wish the public to see what manner of home he had built for himself there behind that towering fence.

When Frank heard a slight "click" he knew that Will had made at least one exposure, though like a cautious photographer he might decide to shift his location a trifle and try again, so as to make sure of his work.

Their excursion, then, promised to meet with success. If only the eccentric owner of the place himself should come along and give Will a chance to snap his picture off it would be doubly satisfactory.

That was what Frank was saying to himself as he stood and waited for Will to complete his work. Once he fancied he heard some slight sound, like the rustling of bushes, and wondered whether, after all, there could be a dog at large within the enclosed grounds.

Frank realized that they were intruders, and as such could not give any good excuse for being there. He decided that they had better linger no longer; and was really in the act of turning to wave his hand to Will, some twenty feet or more away, when something happened that stopped his plan.

A voice that was trembling with anger came to his ears, and gave him a rude shock.

"How dare you trespass on this private property, and even have the assurance to take a picture of my house, you young rascals?" was what this furious voice said, and turning quickly Frank saw the speaker not five feet away from him.

* * *

Chapter 10 TRESPASSERS

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