“Where did you meet her?” asked Jerry of the professor, when it was seen that the woman was not coming back.
“She saw me while I was gathering some specimens,” was the reply, “and she came up to warn me about the hermit. It seems that she lives not far away, and roams through the woods. Besides telling me about the old man, and to be on our guard against him, she showed me where to get some beautiful tree toads,” and the scientist opened his pocket and showed it full of the little creatures.
“Do you think she is telling the truth about the hermit?” asked Jerry.
“There may be some exaggeration to it,” rejoined the professor, “but I have heard of old half crazed men who lived in the woods as this one does, and who occasionally murdered lone travelers. We can’t be too careful.”
“Besides, it did look as though she was trying to prevent him doing something last night,” put in Jerry.
“Well, we’ll keep a good lookout,” suggested the professor. “That’s all we can do now, unless we decide to move on away from this place.”
“I would rather like to solve the mystery,” said Jerry. “I do not think we have much to fear. He is an old man, and I guess we four are a match for him.”
“Then we had better do as the woman says, wait until she comes to lead us to his hut, or cabin, or whatever it is,” the professor advised after a moment’s thought.
That plan settled on, they made their way back to camp and the professor was given his rather late dinner. But he did not seem to mind this in the least.
“Are you going to keep watch again to-night?” asked Bob of Jerry.