“How—how did he get here?” gasped Jerry.
“I’m sorry for the poor chap, boys, but it couldn’t be helped. He was smart enough to find out where I was, and if I hadn’t tied him up, he would have had me caught in the wink of an eye! It was the only thing I could do.”
“Well, that’s not so good,” put in Jake. “Dog-gone it, why did he have to come snooping around right at this time? It’s a mess; it will make our getaway all the harder. I thought that all we would have to do would be to sneak out our stuff after Taps to-night, and hit the trail. But right now, half the camp is chasing all over the place, looking for this sap; if we try to get through now, they might easily spot us, and if we stay here, they might decide to look in here any minute. What’ll we do with him?”
“Yes, what?” Jerry echoed. “If we don’t leave pretty quick, we’ll be nabbed. Sherlock heard everything, and we don’t dare let him go now. Even if we leave him here, he’ll work loose sooner or later, and that will be even worse for us.” He glared at the prostrate Sherlock, the whole cause of this hitch in their carefully laid plans. “I guess we’ll just have to tie him tight and get as far away as we can before he’s discovered.”
“You two are ready to travel, then?” asked Burk.
“We couldn’t get our blankets, because everybody in the tent is awake and up,” said Jerry, “but that’s all right. We can start right away, sure.” Both twins wore khaki hiking breeches, woolen stockings, flannel shirts, and high shoes, and each wore a heavy mackinaw that would protect him well from the cold.
Burk’s tone was serious. “And you’re still determined to run away from your friends and go with me? Don’t you think it would be wiser to let me start off alone, and let me take my chance without involving you in my trouble?”
“Dead sure. We go with you. Honest, we can help you a lot—we know all the trails around here, and we can hike fine. We’re with you to see this through to the finish!”
Jake, during this whispered discussion, had been lost in thought. Now he broke out with the scheme that had occurred to him. “Listen! The only thing we can do with Sherlock is to take him with us! Sounds crazy, I know,” he went on, looking at their amazed faces, “but we can’t leave him here to let the cat out of the bag as soon as we’re started. If we can take him with us up the mountain and leave him somewhere, we’ll be far away before he can find his way back and break the news. What do you think? Anyway, we’ve got to do something right away; the longer we stick around here, the less chance we’ll have to get clear. The campers are buzzing all over the place like hornets; pretty soon the moon will rise, and we won’t be able to get ten feet without being spotted. Do we take him?”
“That might be the way out,” said Burk slowly. “It’s my fault that we’re in this fix, and I don’t want the poor fellow to suffer any more than he has to. Let’s go!” The delay was telling on the man’s nerves. He longed to get into the open, and start the dash for Canoe Mountain; each minute they lingered would bring them fresh difficulties. “Here, I’ll take the lad. You two lead the way.”