nature of what had been said.

"Please confide in us, Frank; we'll keep mum, sure we will!" pleaded
Elephant.

Stuttering Nat only wagged his head, and moved his jaws; but this
pantomime stood for volumes with those who knew his infirmity.

"It turns out that our old friend Jules gave them leg bail a week ago,
along with a couple of other convicts. But though they recaptured the
two fellows, crafty Jules is still at large!" Frank said, quietly.

At that Andy came near having a fit.

"My goodness gracious! hear that, would you, fellows?" he exclaimed.
"Now we know who fired that nasty shot at us this morning. And he
meant to hit us, too. Oh! the coward, to stand down there, and just
let us have it, when we couldn't give him back as good as he sent!
Frank, is that going to end our flying?"

Andy looked pained at the very idea, and Frank could hardly keep from
laughing at the miserable face his chum exhibited.

"Oh! I don't know," he replied. "There's no reason it should, that I
can see. We can avoid that section, or else keep high up when passing,
so he never would have the least chance at hitting us, going a mile a
minute. Besides, perhaps he'll find himself in hot water presently,
when Chief Waller gets a line on him."

"Does the Chief know he's loose?" asked Larry.

"He does now, but he never suspected it until I dropped in on him,"
replied the other, calmly.

"But see here, how did you know?" demanded Elephant.

"The Chief told me," laughed Frank.

"Oh! say, is this fair, Frank?" complained Andy. "You're just getting
the whole lot of us balled up. You told the Chief; and the Chief told
you! Please lift the curtain, won't you, and let us see the game."

So Frank, taking pity on them, condescended to explain. Colonel Josiah
had also joined the group, and was an eager listener to the recital.

The old traveler had himself been through a vast number of adventures
in his time, for he had delighted in exploring odd corners of the world
seldom heard of by ordinary people. Hence, he delighted in listening
to "his boys" when they were narrating some stirring event that had
come to their experience.

All sorts of exclamations arose when they heard what the warden of the
State penitentiary had to say about Jules. Andy even looked about him
suspiciously, as if he might entertain a feeling approaching timidity,
lest the desperate escaped convict suddenly appear, and threaten them
in some way.

"Now