“Hello the camp!” shouted a voice.
“It’s Stacy!” cried Nora. “Oh, I’m so glad.”
“No. It is not Stacy,” answered Grace. “It is a strange voice.”
“What is it?” called the guide.
“I got a message for you. Is there a feller named Wingate—Lieutenant Wingate—here?” answered a voice from the darkness.
“Yes. Come in,” answered Hippy. “Hurry up!”
A boy, who proved to be an employee of the Springs Hotel, entered the circle of light cast by the campfire. Hippy strode forward to meet him.
A brief note, scribbled on a soiled piece of wrapping paper, was handed to the Overland Rider.
“The feller who gave this to me said as you was to pay me a dollar for delivering it,” announced the messenger.
Hippy, without replying, scanned the note. What he read out loud to the eager Overlanders was as follows: