boys had managed to recover from their fright.
They even began to show an interest in the conversation, though not
venturing to say a word unless Thad appealed directly to one of them; as
he did occasionally, to corroborate something he had declared.

It was a scene they would none of them be apt to forget in a long
time--this untamed old mountaineer sitting there by their camp-fire,
asking questions in connection with a subject that had aroused his
keenest curiosity; while they lounged around, listening, and drinking in
what was said.

Would he never go? Had he then determined to wait for the return of the
eighth scout? Perhaps he suspected already the identity of Bob Quail.
This was a matter that gave Thad considerable concern, for it meant
immediate trouble for their comrade; since the moonshiner might have his
old-time enmity for the Quail family revived, under the impression that
Bob's coming meant danger for himself.

Once Allan arose, and stepped outside the circle of firelight. The
mountaineer eyed him with just a trifle of the old suspicion apparently
rising again; for Thad could see a nervous twitch to the brown hands
that caressed the stock of the repeating rifle.

But if this were so, Phin Dady must have realized that he could have
little or nothing to fear from one stripling of that species; for he
immediately relapsed into his former careless attitude.

Thad could give a pretty good guess what it was that caused Allan to
walk beyond the camp toward the place from which they had earlier in the
evening watched the lights appear in the home of Reuben Sparks, as well
as the few more humble cabins across the little valley.

Before Bob went away he had arranged a series of flash signals, by means
of which he could communicate with his comrades of the patrol. They
would not have been true Boy Scouts if they had not before now learned
how to wigwag with flags, or lanterns, as well as use a looking-glass in
the sun in heliograph telegraphy.

And so Allan, desirous of ascertaining whether all went well with the
absent chum, was now starting out, lantern in hand, to learn whether he
could get in communication with Bob.

Possibly some of Phin's followers might be in hiding close by, and
witness these maneuvers with astonishment, not unmixed with suspicion.
Thad concluded that it would be best to take the bull by the horns. If
he confided in Old Phin, the other was apt to discount the news when
told by his me