“Let’s get back in those bushes and hide. It may be someone we wouldn’t care to see.”
They quickly hid themselves in the thick brush and waited with bated breath.
Soon they could plainly hear something making its way toward them and it was evident that, whatever it was, it would pass close to them. In a moment or two the sound of voices came to them and Bob whispered.
“That sounds very much like Pierre to me.”
His fears were almost immediately realized for, as he carefully parted the bushes in front of his face, he caught sight of the big Frenchman. With him were two other men, both strangers to Bob but Jack at once recognized one of them as the man he had seen twice at the door of the vanishing cabin.
The men stopped short as they caught sight of the smouldering fire.
“They were here only a little while ago,” Pierre declared, speaking in French. “They can’t be far off and we’ll soon have them.”
Bob nudged Jack with his elbow as a warning for him to keep perfectly quiet in the hope that the men would fail to locate them. But his hope was quickly dashed to the ground. Big Pierre, as though led by a scent, came straight toward them and in another minute had parted the brush and was looking directly into Bob’s eyes. But he quickly saw that he was looking into something else as well, for Bob had him covered with a small but business-like looking automatic.
“Were you looking for us?” Bob asked pleasantly as he got to his feet.
For a moment the man hesitated as though at a loss what to say.