me in less than half an hour after I left you, and it was
through my own fault. I ran on to them before I knew it; and do you
imagine I thought 'robbers' once? As true as you live, I didn't. I took
them for poachers, and told them, very politely, that these grounds were
posted and they couldn't be allowed to shoot there, when all on a sudden
it popped into my head what I was doing. They saw the start I gave, and
in a second more they had me covered. If I could have got away without
letting them see that I suspected them, they wouldn't have said a word
to me."

"Well, they covered you with their revolvers; then what?"

"Beyond a doubt, they made a prisoner of me before they thought what
they were doing, and when they came to look at it, they found that they
had got an elephant on their hands. Then they would have been glad to
get rid of me; but they did not see just how they could do it with
safety to themselves, so they made up their minds to use me.

"At first they thought they would wait and see if anything would come of
the notice they left on the door of the cabin, and then they thought
they wouldn't--that they would hunt up another hiding-place as soon as
possible; so they ordered me to take them where nobody would ever think
of looking for them. And I could do nothing but obey."

"Were you acting as their guide when they released you?"

Bob replied that he was.

"Why didn't you veer around a bit, and lead them toward the railroad?"

"If I had, I shouldn't be here now," answered Bob, significantly. "They
warned me to be careful about that, and they were so well acquainted
with the hills that I was afraid to attempt any tricks. We camped over
on Dungeon Brook last night, and set out again at an early hour this
morning; but before we had been in motion an hour, we found ourselves
cut off from the upper end of the hills, and that was the time they made
up their minds to let me go. They didn't say so, but still I had an idea
that they didn't want me around for fear I would make too much noise to
suit them."

"I know they were afraid of it," said Tom. "The robber that Brierly's
squad captured said so."

"Is one of them taken?" exclaimed Bob, who hadn't heard of it before.
"That's good news. Where's the other?"

"Don't know. They separated after they let you go, and Brierly captured
one of them. Perhaps we shall hear something about the other one now,"
added Tom, directing his companion's attention to a large