the desperados chance to open the door
while he was crossing this space, discovery would be certain. However,
this was a chance that Bob knew he must take, and without hesitation he
sprang to his feet and ran swiftly but silently toward the cabin.

Fortunately he reached it unobserved, and crouched close to the wall
beneath one of the little windows. There were numerous cracks in the
side of the rude structure, and he had no difficulty in hearing what was
going on inside.

The crooks were engaged in a heated debate, but soon the voice of their
leader spoke out commandingly and the others fell silent.

"I tell you we haven't had a chance to get rid of that last load of silk
we got near Castleton," he said, in an angry voice. "I couldn't get the
price I wanted for it, and, besides, it will be just as easy to get rid
of two loads as one, and no more risk. Now, I'm going to send out a
radio message in code to the rest of the gang, and we'll pull off the
job to-night, just as I've already told you."

There were no dissenting voices, and presently Bob heard the whirr of
the sending set, followed by the voice of the leader.

"HDEA' HDEA'," he called again and again, switching over to the
receiving set to get an answer. At length he evidently reached the
station he was after, for he listened intently for a few minutes. Then
the generator hummed again, and Bob heard the black-moustached man
speaking again.

"Get this, and get it right," he commanded, and there followed a string
of words that would have been mere gibberish to Bob had he not held the
key to their meaning. He searched frantically in his pockets for a
pencil, and scribbled the words down as the man spoke them. When he had
finished, the leader of the gang shut down the generator, and turned to
the others.

"That's fixed," he said. "There won't be much to do for the rest of the
day but look over your guns and make sure they're in good working order.
Since we got that last truck they've been putting guards on them, and we
want to be prepared to shoot before they do."

There was a general pushing back of chairs, and Bob realized that at any
moment the door might open. His mind worked quickly, and instead of
going back to his friends the way he had come, he made a rush for the
woods on the opposite side of the clearing. In this way the "blind," or
windowless, end of the cabin was toward him, so that he would not be
likely to be detected unless the robbers came