“Ho—how long must we stay here?” asked Sabine, in a trembling voice.
“We’ll be back before sunrise and fix it so you can get away,” answered Andy.
Then the three boys withdrew and left the two prisoners alone.
Neither Coulter nor Sabine dared to move, thinking they would run into some sharp steel-trap, or sword point, and hurt themselves.
“This is awful!” groaned Coulter. “Hang the luck anyway!”
“If we get cut with a rusty trap we may get lockjaw,” groaned Sabine. “I heard of a boy who got caught in a bear-trap once and he died from blood-poisoning.”
Andy, Pepper, and Dale watched the prisoners for a while and then went back to their tent. Here they were joined by Hogan and Stuffer, coming in from guard duty.
There was a brief consultation of war, and it was decided that Baxter, Ritter, and the others must be paid back for what they had attempted to do.
CHAPTER XXIII
THE GENERAL ALARM
Baxter and his chums were just getting to sleep, having grown tired of waiting for the return of Sabine and Coulter, when the bully awoke with a start.