"Say, won't you take me with you?" pleaded Alf.
"You wouldn't be of any use to us," Reade answered.
"But I—-I am afraid to stay here alone."
"Do you believe yourself to be so valuable that any one will want to steal you?" Tom laughed.
Alf made a wry face and watched the others depart. Then, filled with needless alarm, he crawled out into a thicket and hid himself. He didn't mean to be trapped by prowlers!
Tom led the way for nearly a mile. At last the trio climbed a slight ascent, halting at the top of the ridge.
"You see, Jim," Tom explained, "this ridge runs southwesterly from here."
"I see it does?" nodded the guide.
"Now, to the northeastward I don't believe there are any croppings that look good enough. But just keep along to the southeast, picking up a specimen here and there. Some of the rock looks good to me."
Jim Ferrers didn't answer in words, though his eyes gleamed with the old fever that he had known before.