ng to the wound on
the boy's head. "He never got a bump like that in a fall!"

"Oh, we'll have to wait until the kid wakes up!" Tommy cut in. "We'd
better be doing something to help him out of his trance, instead of
standing here guessing. He may be badly hurt!"

The limp figure was lifted from the floor and placed on one of the bunks
fastened to the wall of the cabin. The lad groaned slightly as the
change was made, but did not open his eyes.

"I guess he got a bad bump," Will suggested. "And I'm sorry to say that
his wound requires a piece of surgery far beyond my ability to perform.
I'm afraid we'll have to send out for a doctor!"

The boys used every means within their knowledge to bring the lad back
to consciousness, but all their efforts proved unavailing. The lad lay
in a comatose condition long after all their resources had failed.

So busily engaged were the boys in their efforts at resuscitation that
they did not for a moment remember that they, themselves, might be in
danger from the same hand which had struck down the boy.

As they worked over the lad, bathing the wound with hot water and
endeavoring to force stimulating drinks between the set teeth, they did
not observe a bearded face was pressed for a moment against a window
pane. It was an evil face, and was gone on the instant.

After three hours of steady exertion, the boys relaxed their efforts and
sat down to consider the situation. They had searched the boy's
clothing, but had found nothing giving a clue to his name or residence.

"Right out of the air!" exclaimed Sandy. "If we should blunder into a
camp devoid of a mystery, we'd have to move out or die of suffocation!"

"I'd like to know who the boy is, and where he came from," Will said,
after a short pause, "but the principal question now is this: What was
in the paper that was stolen from the envelope?"

"Probably some information directed to you," suggested Tommy.

"Undoubtedly," Will answered.

"And now, instead of coming into your hands," George remarked, "the
warning, or the command, or whatever you may call it, passes over to the
man who attempted murder in order to secure it!"

"That's just the size of it!" Tommy agreed.

"It strikes me," George suggested, "that we'd better set a guard through
the rest of the night. The fellow who struck this blow may be waiting to
strike another!"

"How long were we gone from the cabin?" asked Will.

"Less than an hour," replied Sandy.