it came finally.

Twice more he saw the little craft, Sam rowing and Bob steering, and
then she had disappeared.

By this time he was so near the outlet of the lake that it was
impossible to say whether the men had crossed over into Upper Saranac,
or were making camp near by.

During half an hour Jet sat concealed by the bushes where he could have
a full view of the water, and no sign of life met his anxious gaze.

The only benefit derived from this halt was that he had lightened the
bundle of provisions by making a hearty meal from a portion of its
contents, and enjoyed the repose.

"There's no question but that they have either gone into camp on one of
the islands, or kept on through the stream," he said, as he rose to his
feet; "but I declare I don't know which way to turn."

He finally decided to walk to the outlet, scanning the shores of the
island as he passed, and, failing in seeing any signs there, continue
on until nightfall.

He tramped steadily for an hour without finding that for which he
sought, and by this time was at the carry with the gloom of night
settling rapidly around him.

Added to the desolateness of the situation was the sorrow caused by the
belief that he had lost the trail at the very time when allowing Harvey
to believe the men were where they could be arrested without difficulty.

"If I hadn't sent that telegram," he thought, mournfully, "Jim would
have been here to help keep them in sight, or, if we lost them entirely
as I have done, he'd have some sort of an idea where they went to."

The thought of the small guide gave him a new idea.

"I'll go back to our camp, if it takes all night," he said, resolutely,
turning his face in the direction he believed it was located. "We can
come down in the boat and find out whether they stopped on one of the
islands."

Now he walked rapidly, in order to cover as much ground as possible
before it grew so dark as to shut out surrounding objects from view.

Weary as he was, and owing to the broken ground, his progress was
exceedingly slow, and night had fully shut her black curtain down
before he reached the edge of the lake.

Then he was forced to proceed at a snail's pace, lest he inadvertantly
walked into one of the small streams; but he continued manfully on
until it was no longer possible to take another step.

Now came the alarming knowledge that he was lost.

Had he been going in the right direction he should have reached the
la