THE HIDDEN VALLEY Uncle John's first inspiration was to sit down upon a stone to think.

He drew out his pipe and lighted it, to assist his meditations.
These were none too pleasant.

That he had been cleverly entrapped, and that by a child scarcely in its teens, was too evident to need reflection.

And what a secure trap it was! The mountains ranged all around the valley were impossible to scale, even by an Alpine climber, and to one who was not informed of its location the existence of the valley itself was unimaginable.
"I had not believed Ferralti was so shrewd," he muttered, wonderingly.
"That something was wrong about the fellow I knew, of course; but I had not suspected such a thing as this.

Now, then, first of all let me mark this spot, so that I will remember it.