e way old hunters tell the time at night, do they? Reading the
clock in the sky, you might call it, Thad. I'm sure going to remember
all about that; and later on, when my mind's at rest, I'll ask you a
heap more questions about these things. They get more and more
interesting the deeper you dip in; ain't that so, Thad?"

"I've found it that way," replied the scout leader, quietly. "A fellow
who keeps his eyes and ears open can almost hear the stars whispering
together, they say; and as to the secrets the wind tells to the trees in
passing, why that's easy to understand. But if you're rested by now,
Bob, we'd better be on the move once more."

Only too willingly did Bob agree. He believed that they must by this
time be very nearly up to the point where Polly had agreed to meet them.
She had asked Bob if he remembered the place; and he in return had
declared he could easily find it, even in the darkness of night; for
often had he climbed the face of this ridge when he lived close by; for
at the time, his father had owned the very place where Old Reuben Sparks
now had his home, the miser having purchased it from Mrs. Quail upon her
moving North with her son.

"Keep on the lookout for three oak trees growing close together, Thad,"
he said, presently. "It's always been a landmark around here, because
any one can see it from the valley, you know. I reckon, now, we must be
close by the same; and I'd hate to miss it in the dark. It's been some
time since I was up here, and I'm apt to get mixed a bit."

"Well, I think you've done mighty well so far; because, unless my eyes
deceive me, there's the place right ahead of us," Thad declared.

"You're right about that," Bob added, feverishly; "that's the place of
the three mountain oaks; and they stand out against the sky, now we've
changed our position. Oh! I'm beginning to shake all over, Thad, I'm
that anxious. What if Polly shouldn't be on hand? Perhaps she just
couldn't learn anything, after all, and will only come to tell me she
did her best; but they keep the Still guarded too close, and she
couldn't get close in. There's a dozen, yes, twenty things that might
come up to upset my hopes. They don't seem so strong, Thad, now that
we've got to the point."

"Well, I wouldn't let myself get in any sort of gloom about it yet,
anyway, Bob. Time enough to cry after the milk is spilt. Here we are at
the oaks, and we'll wait for Polly to come, if she's late; but I'm dead
certain sh