"Don't you know what that is?" queried Harriet.
"No. It looks to me like a man leaning against something," answered Miss Elting.
"Yes, yes," interposed the guide. "When I first shot at it it was standing straight up, then it tilted over against the rocks, and there it is. You get back. I'll go over. If he shoots, you won't be in any danger."
"Oh, nonsense!" exploded Harriet. "Put your pistol down. Don't you dare to point it toward me. I'll lay your intruder."
The girl ran forward, unheeding the warning cries of her companions. She ran straight to the object that, in the uncertain light, so closely resembled a human figure. The girls were begging Harriet to come back. Instead she boldly grasped the object with both hands, and threw it across the trail. A chorus of "Ohs!" greeted this performance. Janus lowered his weapon, his under jaw dropped. He followed Miss Elting, while the girls followed them both at a safe distance, Tommy and Margery ready to take flight at the slightest indication of danger.
"Here he is, Mr. Grubb," cried Harriet.
"Harriet, what is it?" demanded Miss Elting.
"Just a plain, rotting old tree trunk," returned the girl.
"But—but it wasn't there before," stammered the guide.
Again Harriet laughed. Her companions gazed at her admiringly. None, unless it were Jane McCarthy, would have had the courage to go out there as Harriet Burrell had done. They told her so, too, at which Harriet laughed again.