Arrived at the top, the boys could see that they were some little distance from the creek and that the ridge upon which they stood was not continuous but broken and irregular. There were also two paths.
“Which of these paths had we better follow, Don?” asked Adrian.
Donald bent down and examined both carefully.
“I believe,” he finally said, “that this one on the left has been the most used. Suppose we take this?”
They did so, and after a few minutes approached the place where the bodies of the two smugglers were lying.
“What’s this?” exclaimed Donald, starting back as the two figures caught his eye.
Adrian made no reply, but stood staring in surprise at the unexpected sight. It was not a pleasant
spectacle, and both the boys involuntarily turned away from the place.
Donald was the first to regain his composure. “Come,” he said, “this is no time for squeamishness. Something serious has occurred, and we have been in too many serious scrapes to falter now! Let’s see what has happened.”
They approached closer and examined the bodies.