The camp-fire was suddenly blotted out.
“There! I’ve shot out the fire,” he grumbled. “Just the same, I don’t believe it is the bandit camp, and I’m going down.”
Moving with extreme caution, Hippy crept down the mountain-side until he believed that he was near the place where he had seen the fire.
“I reckon there’s nothing doing, boys,” Ford was saying. “Light the fire, but keep a sharp lookout.”
Hippy got up. Stacy’s keen eyes discovered him and the fat boy fired.
“Hi, there! Cut the firing! It’s Hippy,” called Lieutenant Wingate, ducking.
“Oh, wow!” howled Chunky.
A shout went up from the searching party when Hippy called out his warning, and he was fairly dragged into camp where Sheriff Ford hurriedly started a cook-fire and put over coffee as a starter. While this was being done, Lieutenant Wingate briefly related the story of his capture and escape.
“You say you know the man who was on foot when you were taken?” asked Tom Gray.
“Yes, I know him.”