"Look here!" expostulated Ralph bluntly. "It's no good stopping here talking and wasting time when every minute is precious. Those fellows are on the farther side of the wood, and they are beginning to search, and they won't leave off until they have hunted right through the place."
"But where can we go?" asked Charlton, wringing his hands. "This place has nowhere to hide in; nowhere that could not be found if once people were really searching."
"They will search; there is no doubt of that," answered Ralph. "But we may manage to elude them. We cannot stay here dodging round, that is quite certain. We must manage to get out of it and find somewhere else to hide."
"Ah, my kind boy, but where shall that somewhere be?" said the man, shaking his head. "It might have been in my own home, but now that they think that I am here, and are on my track, they will keep their eyes on that spot, and I have not one single friend who will shelter me."
"Hush! Hush!" cried Ralph suddenly. "Listen! There is no time to lose. They are in the wood on that side. Creep after me. Stop! Cover those leaves over or they will see where you have been standing."
"You are thoughtful for one so young," murmured the man, as he obeyed Ralph's instructions. "Well, I will place myself under your guidance, and trust to you. Where shall we go? Through that undergrowth?"
"No, no! You cannot move through that without making a noise and leaving traces. Keep to this path. I feel sure that is wisest. Bend low, and step lightly. Come! Now, Charlton, buck up, and we will save your father yet."
His confidence inspired them with hope. Unhesitatingly they followed his lead. The path he chose led them into another clear little space, away to the right of that which they had left. They could hear the noise made by their pursuers in their rear, and they did not seem any better off here. It was only putting off the end for a little time, and so Charlton's father said, but Ralph would not listen to him. He had been in as tight a corner before, when he and his father, and two more, had been pursued by the Indians of the plains, and had dodged and doubled for three whole days ere they had thrown their foe off their track. Ralph was not going to give up yet.
"Stop!" he said. "You must climb up this tree. No, not that one!" as Charlton ran to a big, old decaying oak.