head, after looking beseechingly at Paul, and turned away.
None of the party obtained any more sleep that night, for they feared that the other man might return to see what had happened to Hank. And so all of them sat around, talking in low tones, with the lantern burning, Paul keeping the pistol in evidence.
Of course they could only tell when morning came by Paul's watch.
Both Bobolink and Joe declared they were fully rested by then, and so the return march was taken up. Perhaps Paul was a little reckless, or it may have been he did not care very much. But it was suddenly discovered that the prisoner was gone! Paul did not say anything, but he could guess that Joe, for the honor of the family, had taken advantage of their being a little ahead, to set him free.
"And boys," Joe said later, when confessing what he had done, "please don't tell anybody that he was my uncle. Just say he was a bad man, and that he got away. You see, we've got dad's papers, and that is all he wanted. I hope I never meet Uncle Henry again."
And he never has to this day, for Hank and his evil companion, Pim, made haste to leave that vicinity, which was growing a bit too warm for their operations.
Mr. Gordon was loud in his praises when he heard the story, though even he was not taken into Joe's secret. He declared that the storm had passed over, leaving a track of ruin in its wake, and that they could now leave the cave to return to Camp Surprise.
This the Banner Boy Scouts did that morning. After all, the damage to their belongings did not turn out to be very serious, thanks to their ready wit in cutting down the tents; and before nightfall they were almost as comfortably fixed as before the blow.
Joe wanted to go home because of the papers; but who should turn up while they were eating supper but his father, accompanied by Mr. Norris and Chief Billings, proving that the hobo had not made a mistake when he said he felt sure he had seen the latter on the way to the mountain by another route.