“Where can the others be? Why don’t they come and help me out?”
He asked himself these questions over and over again. But no answer was vouchsafed. It was as if the other members of the Zero Club had forgotten his existence.
Presently Jack heard a rustle in the bushes in front of him. Was it one of the other boys on the hunt?
Then a low growl made him start and strain his eyes in the direction. What was it, a fox, wolf or bear? He looked up at the entrance to the hole, but no animal showed itself.
Again he yelled, this time not only to summon assistance, but also to scare away the beast, whatever it was. A crashing in the brush followed, and then dead silence.
“He’s gone away,” he muttered, with a sigh of relief. “But who knows but what he’ll come back, or some other animal will meander this way. Oh, if I was only out of this hole I’d take precious good care that I didn’t get into another.”
Ten minutes more—an age to poor Jack—and another rustle in the brush was heard. Then followed a shout:
“Hullo, Jack! Where are you?”
It was Harry’s voice, and it thrilled him with joy.
“Here I am, in a hole,” he replied.