"Well, I should say not. It would only advertise the fact that a couple of very fresh Boy Scouts were wandering around. Why, those very men might sight us and lie in wait to capture you again," with which Thad blew out the lantern.
They started on.
Thanks to the moonlight they were able to keep their course fairly well; sometimes under the low trees, and again among masses of piled up rocks. Far above their heads towered the mighty mountains, their tops capped with snow. Thad never glanced up at them without thinking how eagerly he and his chums had looked forward to this chance for seeing the fortress Nature had built up and down the Western country, separating the Pacific Coast from the balance of the land.
"Listen!" said Aleck, laying a hand on his companion's sleeve.
"Did you think you heard a voice again?" asked Thad, whispering the words, for there was a spice of danger in the very air around them.
"I sure did; and there it is again. Whatever is that man doing?"
"Sounds to me like that Waffles?" suggested Thad.
"But what would he be praying for, tell me?" asked Aleck.
"Praying?" echoed the other, astonished himself.
"Well, listen to him, would you; he seems to be begging somebody not to hurt him? Do you suppose they've gone, and had a falling-out among themselves, and the colonel is threatening to finish his man for running away?" Aleck went on, still keeping his voice lowered.