"No; I didn't."

"Well, from one of four men, then? Tell me the truth."

"Ye-es."

"What did you do to please the four men?"

Alf Drew shifted uneasily from one foot to the other, and then back
again.

"Come! Speak up!" Reade insisted sternly.

"You're wasting our time. What did you do for the four men?"

"I didn't do anything," Alf evaded.

"What did you tell them, then?" Reade wanted to know.

"They asked me a few questions."

"Of course; and you answered the questions."

"Well, I-----"

"What did the men want to know about?" pressed Tom, the look in his
eyes growing sterner still.

"They wanted to know how many men Jim Ferrers had," admitted the
Drew boy.

"Oh, I see," pondered Tom aloud, a half smile creeping into his
face. "They were guessing the size of Ferrers's army, were they?"

"I---I guess so," Alf replied.

"And you told them-----?"

"I told 'em the camp was made up of you and Mr. Hazelton, Jim
Ferrers and myself."

"And then they gave you the tobacco for cigarettes, did they?"

"I made 'em gimme that first," Alf retorted, a look of cunning
in his eyes.

"So, my bright little hero, you sold us out for a toy bale of
cigarettes, did you?" demanded Tom Reade, staring coldly down
at the shame-faced youngster.

CHAPTER V

NO NEED TO WORK FOR PENNIES

"I---I didn't see how it could do any harm," sniveled young Drew.

"Perhaps it didn't," Tom admitted. "So far, it has resulted only
in our being ambushed and all but murdered. Now, where did they
take our tents and the other stuff?"

"I don't know," declared Alf. "Are the tents gone?" He answered
so promptly that Reade believed him.

"Very much so," replied Reade, releasing his grip on Drew's shoulder.
"Come on, friends, we'll hunt further."

"Say, what was that big explosion?" asked Alf, running after the
party when he found himself being left alone.

"No time to talk until we find our camp stuff," Tom called back
over his shoulder.

"I'll help you," proposed Alf eagerly.

"You're full of helpfulness," Reade jibed.

But Alf evidently preferred to stick to them. He ran along at
the heels of the last rapidly striding man. Joe Timmins was the
only one absent, he having remained at the camp site to keep a
watchful eye over the automobile.

Jim Ferrers was in the lead, his trained eyes searching the ground
for the trail of the tents.

Within five minutes the party came upon the tents and the food
suppli