In front of the wide, open entrance were the smouldering remains of a camp-fire, over which a hasty breakfast had been cooked and eaten.
The boys were sure that the meal had been a hurried one, because the dishes were left unwashed; and that is a disagreeable duty that no old-time "outer" ever neglects, unless circumstances compel him to do so.
When the fire was in full blast, and the flames were roaring and crackling and the sparks ascending toward the clouds, it was probable that the interior of the cabin was bright and cheerful; but now it looked dark and forbidding, thought the boys, as they stretched their necks, twisted their bodies at all sorts of angles, and strained their eyes in the vain effort to see through the gloom that seemed to have settled over the other end of it.
It was a fine place for an ambuscade, but if the enemy had concealed themselves there, why did they not come out? Now was the time for them to make their presence known and felt.
All this while Tom Hallet's little beagle, upon which the boys had been depending to warn them of the proximity of any danger that their less acute senses might not enable them to detect, had been acting in a most unusual manner. He was generally foremost in every expedition in which his master took part, but in this one he was quite contented to remain in the rear.
He went into the camp boldly enough, but after he had taken one look at its surroundings, and caught a single sniff of the tainted air, he stuck up the bristles on the back of his neck, dropped his tail between his legs, and ran behind his master for protection.
"I really believe they are in there. 'St—boy! Go in and hunt them out! Sick 'em!" whispered Tom, pointing to the cabin.
But Bugle was in no hurry to go. He was usually prompt to obey the slightest motion of his master's hand; but now he refused to budge an inch—except toward the rear.
He ran to the foot of the path and stood there, saying as plainly as a dog could that he would go back to the top of the bluff before he would advance a step nearer to the cabin.