"Oh, yes, sir."
"Then we'll let them off this afternoon," proposed Holmes amiably, as he wrote time two names down on the list. "Perhaps they'll turn out better for a bit of considerate treatment."
Though Lund frowned as he received the list back in his own hand he made no comment.
Immediately after the noon meal Mock and Wilhelm exhibited their passes to the guard and walked briskly out of camp.
"Look at that now—-the pair of traitors!" muttered Private Riley, as he spat vengefully on the ground. "Me, I knew better than to ask for it, and me so lately out of the pen. But those bir-rds with dir-rty feathers get their chance to go off the reservation and plot more mischief."
Had Private Riley been able to follow the pair unseen he would have been even angrier. Mock and Wilhelm, stepping briskly along the road over which Dick had ridden that eventful evening, kept on for some three miles, then turned abruptly off into the forest.
For another half mile they kept on, going further and further from the road.
"Here's the spot," said Mock, after some hunting under the trees. "It must be the place, for it has the nail driven into the tree trunk."
"Sure, it's the place all right," Wilhelm agreed.
Mock emitted a shrill whistle that would not, however, carry very far. Instantly there came an answering whistle.