HELD UP!
"Pull, Jimmie, pull like the mischief!" cried Dave as the line tightened about the forms beyond the shrubbery.
"Pulling!" answered Jimmie, throwing his weight onto the line behind Dave and straining every muscle in an effort to keep it taut.
Presently they felt the tide turning in their favor.
"Pull it taut, Jimmie!" cried Dave. "Keep them there until I can manage to tie them. Don't slacken an inch or they'll get up."
"Leave it to me," panted Jimmie, walking around the trunk of a small tree with the free end of the lasso. "I'll take a turn around this tree and they'll go some to get away. I'll hold 'em!"
With movements that counted, the lad seized a small stone lying near, laid the end of the line across a larger one and pounded vigorously in an effort to sever a length of the lasso.
Almost as quickly as the task could have been accomplished with a knife Dave had cut off the desired piece of rope with which to tie the captives. In another moment he dashed through the thicket in which the three prisoners were struggling.
Jimmie, hanging onto the lasso with grim determination and taking in every bit of slack given by the struggling trio, was startled to hear his companion emit a shriek of astonishment. A glance over his shoulder told the lad that something unusual was happening beyond the bushes.
"Hurry up, Dave!" he advised. "I can't hold 'em much longer!"