“Well, we’ll be on the look-out,” Bob promised as they started down the gorge.
CHAPTER VI
THE CAVE ON THE MOUNTAIN.
The foot of the mountain was seven miles from the dam and the going very rough especially through the gorge where they were obliged to leap from one big rock to another as they followed the bed of the stream.
“Good thing Mr. Sleeper didn’t come if he’s got a game leg,” Jack panted as they stopped to rest a moment.
“Reckon he’d have found it pretty rough sledding.”
They soon started on again and about eleven o’clock reached the foot of Katahdin where they again stopped to rest.
“It’s going to be some climb on a hot day,” Jack declared wiping his forehead.
“We’ll take it easy, there’s lots of time.”
“What are you doing here?”
Both boys started violently at the sound of a strange voice. A few feet away, leaning against a big pine, stood a man only a few years older than Bob. He was dressed in a rough tweed knicker suit with a cap to match. His face, although pleasant enough, bore plainly the signs of dissipation; the eyes slightly bloodshot and puffed lids as well as the red nose evidenced the life he had led.