Thad caught a wink when he looked into the face of the Maine boy. It told him that Allan had news to tell, which Bob had sent on ahead, knowing how anxious his chums would be to hear whether he had met with any measure of success or not in his undertaking.
When Thad turned around again he found that Old Phin had slipped away, taking advantage of their attention being directed for a minute toward the scout who had just come into camp with the lantern swinging at his side.
And Thad heaved a sigh of genuine relief when he found that this was so.
CHAPTER XIV.
THE RETURN OF THE EIGHTH SCOUT.
"He's gone!" exclaimed Bumpus; and it would have been hard to tell whether relief or regret lay back of his words; for some of the boys, forgetting the peril that might hang over the head of Bob White, did the moonshiner know of his presence, and his mission to the Blue Ridge, only considered the entertainment afforded by having Old Phin at their fire.
"And I guess the old feller's got enough information in his head to last him a long spell," remarked Giraffe.
"Say, p'raps he's seriously considerin' starting a troop of Boy Scouts here in the Blue Ridge country," suggested Step Hen, who sometimes did have brilliant ideas flash through his brain.
There was considerable of a laugh at this proposition, which struck the boys as about as absurd as anything they had heard for a long time.