words.

Curiosity got the better of me. If the men were hired by Buell I wanted
to know what they were quarrelling about. I stole stealthily from tree
to tree, and another hollow opened beneath me. It was so wide and the
pines so overshadowed it that I could not tell how close the opposite
side might be to the campfire. I slipped down along the edge of the
trail. The blaze disappeared. Only a faint arc of light showed through
the gloom.

I peered keenly into the blackness. At length I reached the slope. Here
I dropped to my hands and knees.

It was a long crawl to the top. Reaching it, I cautiously peeped over.
There were trees hiding the fire. But it was close. I heard the voices
of men. I backed down the slope, crossed the trail, and came up on the
other side. Pines grew thick on this level, and I stole silently from
one to another. Finally I reached the black trunk of a tree close to the
campfire.

For a moment I lay low. I did not seem exactly afraid, but I was all
tense and hard, and my heart drummed in my ears. There was something
ticklish about this scouting. Then I peeped out.

It added little to my excitement to recognize the Mexican. He sat near
the fire smoking a cigarette. Near him were several men, one of whom
was Bill. Facing them sat a man with his back to a small sapling. He was
tied with a lasso.

One glance at his white face made me drop behind the tree, where I lay
stunned and bewildered--for that man was Dick Leslie.

VIII. THE LUMBERMEN

For a full moment I just lay still, hugging the ground, and I did not
seem to think at all. Voices loud in anger roused me. Raising myself, I
guardedly looked from behind the tree.

One of the lumbermen threw brush on the fire, making it blaze brightly.
He was tall and had a red beard. I recognized Stockton, Buell's right
hand in the lumber deal.

"Leslie, you're a liar!" he said.

Dick's eyes glinted from his pale face.

"Yes, that's your speed, Stockton," he retorted. "You bring your thugs
into my camp pretending to be friendly. You grab a fellow behind his
back, tie him up, and then call him a liar. Wait, you timber shark!"

"You're lying about that kid, Ward," declared the other. "You sent him
back East, that's what. He'll have the whole forest service down here.
Buell will be wild. Oh, he won't do a thing when he learns Ward has
given us the slip!"

"I tell you, Ken Ward gave me the slip," replied Dick. "I'll admit I
meant to see him s