e been thrown down in all
sorts of twisted shapes; and those sort of things always make the boss
pictures, you know."

They followed the trail. It was very faint in many places; but then
Ethan could be depended on to find it whenever a cry arose that it was
lost. Phil, too, had his bearings pretty well in hand, though as a rule
he allowed Ethan to swing things, for he saw that it was giving him no
end of pleasure to thus exercise his knowledge of woodcraft.

For a full hour they pushed on. The sun peeped out every little while,
showing that Phil had guessed rightly when he said the storm was a thing
of the past. The leaves still dripped, though not so copiously as at
first. Lub even boasted that he seemed to be drying off faster than he
got wet. That fact apparently occupied more of his attention than other
matters.

"How far ought we go, do you think, Phil?" inquired X-Ray Tyson; "not
that I'm getting tired at all; but I just asked for information."

"Another half-hour, and then we'll call it off," he was told. "By that
time we'll have covered a number of miles. If this--er--friend of Mr.
Merriwell's is anywhere around, and able to make us hear, we'll come on
the party."

"Beats me to understand what it all means," grumbled Lub. "And d'ye
know, I've got a good suspicion that you've tumbled to the game, Phil."

"I've been told no more than the rest of you," the other replied; "and
my guess may be wide of the mark; so just now I'm not going to say
anything more. But you can see from the way he keeps looking at Mazie
she's got something to do with it all. When he talks about having to
make a terrible sacrifice it means giving her up."

"Gee whiz! I never once thought of that!" burst out Lub; "now I bet you
the little tot's got a grandfather who's been left the child by her
mother when she died. Is that the answer, Phil?"

"I refuse to say, Lub. Ethan and I have been talking it over, and we've
come to a certain conclusion; but wait a little, and we'll explain. We
may find the person he seems to be expecting. Perhaps he received a
later message, and which warned him his presence up here was known."

Lub relapsed into silence. It could be seen, however, that he was
pondering over matters, for that serious look on his usually placid face
betrayed the fact.

They continued to push forward, and kept up a constant watch for any
sign that would indicate the presence of strangers. This might be the
smoke of a fire, or