Throughout the morning Garry, with almost the skill of a trained nurse, watched the child’s breathing and kept count of her pulse. As nothing developed to show that the child was in any danger, Garry privately formed the opinion that the iodine had not gotten much further than the inside of her mouth, and that the burn of the poison had prevented her from drinking any great quantity of it. Then, too, the stain on the floor, where the liquid had sunk into the rough boards, was large enough to denote that most of the contents of the small bottle were on the floor and had not been swallowed by the child.
As the youngster brightened up, the relief of the father was almost pitiful to see. He grasped the hand of Garry and in broken, halting words thanked him for saving the life of the baby. At the door was a throng of curious squatters, and when they saw that the King baby was going to live, gradually broke away and returned to their duties. All this time Phil had stood by ready to lend a hand, in case Garry needed assistance.
“Boys,” said the old man, “I’ve never broken my word before, but this is one time that I’m going to. It will mean that we’ll be driven off here, but that can’t be helped. You can go away whenever you want to. My promise to that Frenchman ain’t nothin’ to me since you’ve saved my baby.”
This was what Garry had hoped would happen. He did not want to trade the baby’s safety for freedom, but there was still Dick to consider. He might be and probably was in grave danger at that moment, and it behooved the boys to return as speedily as possible to the lumber camp to set in motion the machinery to effect Dick’s release, for they had decided that Dick was probably a prisoner at the camp. Of course they did not know of the hidden room under the storehouse, where, at that moment, their friend was still languishing.
“I’ll make you a promise now,” said Garry. “It happens that my father owns this tract of land, and I’ll give you my word that you will not be forced to move from here for the rest of the summer. Of course the logging will soon extend in this direction and you will be forced off, but until that happens you can stay here unmolested. Now we’re going back to start a young war at the camp, and release a chum of ours who is held prisoner there.”
“You better stay here for awhile, for part of the word of the Frenchman was that another boy would be brought here to be kept. Now if you boys stay here and pretend to be prisoners when LeBlanc comes with your friend, you can wait till he goes and then all be freed together. In case there’s any trouble comes, I guess my men and I can take care of it.”
“That’s fine,” said Garry. “I don’t think there’s anything better that can be done. When did you expect LeBlanc to come with the other boy?”
“The Frenchman was aiming to get back here by tomorrow night,” replied King. “He’d have to start in the night time, which will probably be tonight, and get here some time tomorrow afternoon.”
“How will LeBlanc be able to find his way in the dark?” asked Garry.
“I left one of my men behind to meet him and guide him,” answered the old man. Then a thought struck him, and he asked: