It still wanted an hour or so of moonrise, when the waning firelight half disclosed a human figure that emerged from the woods behind the lean-to, and stealthily crouched in the black shadow beside it. For some moments it remained motionless, listening to the regular breathing of the boys. Then it moved noiselessly forward on hands and knees.
Suddenly Worth awoke, and sprang into a sitting posture. At the same time he uttered a startled cry, at the sound of which the creeping figure drew quickly back, and disappeared behind the trunk of a tree.
"What is it?" asked Sumner, who, awakened by Worth's cry, was also sitting up.
"I don't know," answered the boy, "but I am almost certain that some one was trying to pull my gun away."
Chapter IX.
THE NOCTURNAL VISITOR.
For a full minute the boys sat motionless, listening intently for any sound that should betray the presence of the intruder who, Worth was positive, had visited their camp. Once they both heard a slight rustling in the bushes behind them, and Worth, putting his hand on Sumner's arm, whispered, breathlessly,
"There!—hear that?"
"That's nothing," answered Sumner. "Probably that 'coon has come back to look for the rest of his supper."
"But a 'coon wouldn't pull at a gun," insisted Worth.