just then a sound reached
their ears which drove all thoughts of that other night from their
minds. It was the low, snarling call of a wolf!

"That's Ned!" whispered Jimmie.

"It's a Wolf, anyway," Pat exclaimed, losing caution in the excitement
of the moment. "That will help some!"

The boy's voice must have been heard above the rain and the swishing of
the tropical growth, for several shots came from the rear, and one of
the bullets cut into the tree near Pat's head.

"They seem to be gettin' the range!" Pat said, scratching his head and
blessing his lucky star that a bullet had not connected with it.

"They couldn't hit a flock of bridges!" said Jimmie, disdainfully.

Then he straightened up and gave out a long, shrill cry, like that of a
wolf calling to the pack. Pat caught him by the arm and drew him back
into the semi-shelter of the "legs" of the balete tree.

"You'll have a spray of lead flying this way in a second!" he said.
"Can't you give the Wolf call without alarming the people of Hong Kong,
six hundred miles away?"

"I'm celebratin'!" answered the boy.

Again the wolf cry echoed through the forest, and this time it was
answered from within a few feet of where the boys stood. There were no
shots this time, and it was concluded that the pursuers had returned to
the camp.

"Ned!" called Jimmie.

"Hey, there!" added Pat.

"That voice sounds like Chatham Square!" said a voice close to the boy's
elbow, and in the darkness two hands fumbled together and clasped in a
hearty greeting.

"What you followin' me about for?" demanded Jimmie, as the three started
on through the jungle again.

"You've got your nerve!" said Pat. "Only for the darkness I'd hand you
one for that. What's he following you for? If he hadn't followed you,
both of us would have been captured back there."

"Hereafter," Ned said, "when Jimmie goes into the woods I'm going to tie
a string to him, so he can be pulled back home."

"Huh!" snickered Pat, "they tied plenty of strings to me, but they
didn't pull me back home!"

It was so still in the rear, for all of any sounds of pursuit, that the
boys decided that their enemies had given up the search for them, so
they walked faster and soon came out on the elevation which Ned had
mounted on leaving the _Manhattan_ in the afternoon. The rain ceased
gradually, and a fugitive moon was seen now and then among the hurrying
clouds.

With the first show of light Ned looked Pat Mack ove