"I heard somebody talking, too!" declared Davy Jones; while Allan showed by his manner that the sounds had surely come to his acute hearing, trained by long service in the piney woods of his native state.
"They're comin' this way, too; I c'n hear 'em pushin' through the bushes, and stumblin' along too." Bumpus declared, in an awed tone; looking a trifle worried, and wishing Thad would only snatch up that gun, lying against the tree trunk, which the other did not seem at all anxious to do.
The voices drew steadily nearer, as the boys stood and listened.
"Hyar's a fire, Nate; we gut ter git him thar, sure's anything. I tell yuh he'll never be able tuh walk 'crost tuh the doc's cabin. He'll bleed tuh death long 'foah we gits thar with 'im. Steady now, Cliff; hyah's a light, an' we kin see how bad yuh is hurt!"
Then, while the scouts stood and stared in amazement, a group of three men staggered into view, two of them assisting the third, whose faltering steps showed that he must have been injured, even if the arm that dangled helplessly at his side had not told the tale of a serious gunshot wound!
No wonder that the Boy Scouts felt a thrill as they watched these rough mountaineers enter their camp in this strange way.
CHAPTER XXI.
"BE PREPARED!"
"Whee!"