e the gag, and untie his
hands, after which he could finish the work without assistance.

"Did you send the message?" Harvey asked, eagerly.

"Yes, and made a fool of myself afterward," Jet replied, quickly.

"Tell me what you mean, and speak quickly, for there is no knowing how
long we may be able to talk with each other."

In the fewest words possible the boy related the events of the night,
sparing himself not one whit, and when he had finished the detective
said, soothingly:

"An older hand than you might have been taken in. They probably got a
glimpse of your telegram, and were thus able to deceive you, so don't
feel badly."

"But they will now be able to get into the house."

"I'm not so sure of that. Those there must fancy that one or both of
us were hurt in the scrimmage, and would look mighty close before
letting two enter without a struggle."

"Are you wounded badly?" Jet asked.

"My leg is useless, and I lost considerable blood before I had time to
get a bandage around it."

"How did you give them the slip?"

"After you left I fired two rounds, and then crawled into the bushes.
They didn't dare to hunt me out while it was dark, because I could have
killed the first who came near, so I had a chance to circle around the
clearing. I wanted to be here when you came up with the
reinforcements."

"Have the fellows in the woods done much firing?"

"No; they have kept mighty quiet, and I'm hoping that some of our
bullets hit the mark by chance. We must get out of here as soon as
possible. Can't you find something that would answer as a crutch?
Thus far I've hunted in vain."

"I'll do better than that, Mr. Harvey, if you'll get on my back."

"You can't carry me."

"Indeed I can for a while, and at a good pace."

At that instant a shrill whistle sounded twice, and Jet said, in a
mournful tone:

"Now they are trying to get into the house."

"There's the answer," the detective said, a moment later. "We shall
hear some firing soon, whether they are successful or not."

He had hardly ceased speaking when the sound of firearms rang out on
the still air, and Harvey exclaimed, as he pointed toward the sky:

"We'll hope they tried their plan too late. Day is breaking, and in
the clearing it should be possible to distinguish the forms of men
quite distinctly. If our fellows are fooled, I fancy we shall never
see them again."

"Are we to leave without making one try to give them warning?"