“I hope he will follow us,” said Thad, with perfect confidence; “because then he may step into a trap, and have his teeth drawn without being able to do anybody harm. But come, let us hurry off.”
She seemed to have the utmost faith in this boy who had so suddenly dawned upon her horizon with the astonishing claim that he was her own real brother; for without hesitation she was about to take his hand, when suddenly she gave utterance to a piteous little cry:
“Oh! dear, I just knew it would turn out like it always does!” she exclaimed; and Thad, seeing that she was looking past him in a sort of daze, instantly turned his own head to ascertain what had caused this new alarm.
What he saw was not reassuring. There not twenty feet away stood the man of the shack, Felix Jasper. He was holding something that glistened in his right hand; and seemed both angry and astounded to see a stranger here on his private island that was guarded by that supposed to be impassable bog.
CHAPTER XXVII.
MR. JASPER SURPRISED.
“Don’t move, you!” the man called out, threateningly; “I’ve got you covered; and I’m desperate enough to shoot, if you rile me just so far. Get that?”
Thad managed to preserve his level head in spite of the seriousness of the conditions. It had always been one of his strongest points that when an emergency arose he could calmly meet it. In times past this sterling trait had placed him head and shoulders above the other scouts, and had considerable to do with making him the assistant scoutmaster of Cranford Troop.
He knew that this man was in a frame of mind to do almost anything wicked. He had always been a bad man, and now that his whole future depended on his getting safely out of the country with the plunder he had lately stolen, it was not likely he would let anything stand in his way.
Thad began to use some of the shrewdness that a scout should always aim to have at his command when placed in a position of this sort.
He saw something moving just a little way behind Jasper, and quickly realized that this must be the swamp guide. Alligator Smith had allowed the man to pass him by, but he was now creeping up like a panther back of him, advancing inches at a time, but with the utmost care, and meaning when the proper second came to spring upon Jasper’s shoulders.