A plug was knocked from a hole in the end of the keg, and then the whiskey was poured over the clothing of the boys, wetting them to the skin.
"Soak 'em!" directed Miller.
The men did not stop pouring till the clothing of the boys was thoroughly saturated.
"Thar!" said Miller, with a fiendish chuckle, "I reckon you-uns is ready fer touchin' off, an' ye'll burn like pine knots. Ther way ye'll holler will make ye heard clean ter ther top o' Black Maounting, an' ther fire will be seen; but when anybody gits har, you-uns an' this still will be ashes."
He knelt beside Frank, lighted a match, and applied it to the boy's whiskey-soaked clothing!
CHAPTER XLVI.
THE MYSTERY OF MURIEL.
Not quite! The flame almost touched Frank's clothing when the boy rolled over swiftly, thus getting out of the way for the moment.
At the same instant the blast of a bugle was heard at the very front of the hut, and the door fell with a crash, while men poured in by the opening.