gh seemed lost in thought for a brief interval. When he spoke again
there was a settled look of grim determination on his face that Thad
could easily understand, knowing the other as well as he did.

"It isn't my way to show the white feather when the first cold wind
starts to blowing, Thad, and no matter what Nick is planning to do
I'm not going to give him the first chance to profit by my discovery
of that short-cut route from road to road."

"That means you decline to be shoved off the path, does it, Hugh?"

"If I start in that race, as I expect to," Hugh told him, "I intend
to make use of that short-cut, no matter if a dozen Tip Slavins,
and Pete Dudleys are lying in wait to trip me up. But I'm much
obliged to you all the same, Thad, for your warning. I'll be on my
guard from this time on, and they're not going to trap me with my
eyes blinded, I tell you that."

Thad seemed to be lost in thought himself for a minute or so. Possibly
he was trying to figure out how he could best serve his comrade in such
an emergency. The gloomy woods surrounding the old quarry did not
possess any attraction in the eyes of Thad Stevens. Though he had not
shown the same degree of alarm as Horatio and Julius at the time they
heard those remarkable sounds, so like human shrieks, nevertheless,
Thad felt no hankering after another similar experience.

Still he would brave much in order to help the chum whose interests
were so dear to his own heart. He did not say what was in his mind,
only looked a bit wise, as he once more turned to Hugh, as though his
mind had been finally made up.

"Just as you think best, Hugh," he went on to say quietly. "It may
be that one or more of the other fellows will be taking advantage
of that same old road, and there's safety in numbers, you know, they
say. Nick is likely to get his fingers burned if he attempts any of
his silly tricks. What do you suppose now he could plan to have
those chaps do? They wouldn't want to really hurt you, because that
might get them in bad with Captain Wambold, our police head. Can you
think of any fool play he'd be apt to conjure up, such as might make
Tip say it was the best and slickest scheme he'd ever heard about?"

"Nick has so many wild ideas that he's likely to attempt nearly
anything," said Hugh. "If he could find a good place where a runner
would have to keep to the road I even believe he'd try to dig a deep
pit, and cover the same over, just as the