“Sure do. You see when I first got in the cabin the first thing I bumped into was the table and my hand struck it as I ran it over the surface. I knew what it was the minute I felt it so, of course, I shoved it into my pocket.”
“Good boy. They’re welcome to the revolver and the rest of the things I had with me just so they haven’t got that set.”
By this time the first hint of the coming dawn made itself evident and in a short time it was light enough for them to see for some distance. Bob discovered a small spring of icy cold water bubbling up by the side of a rock and there they ate their scanty breakfast of bread and crackers washing it down with the clear cold water. They had a small supply of bacon left but did not dare to build a fire for fear the smoke would betray them.
“How far do you suppose we are from the camp?” Jack asked as they were on the point of starting off again.
“Pretty hard to say, but it must be all of twenty miles or more. We’ll have all we want to do to make it by night.”
“I wish we didn’t have to go back. It seems like such a waste of time.”
“I know, but we have to eat. If I hadn’t lost part of the stuff we could have made out for a couple of days longer but, as it is, I’m afraid it’s the only thing to do.”
“I suppose so but it seems to me that so far this expedition has not been what you would call a howling success. We really know just about as much as before we started.”
“We must have patience,” Bob counseled. “We can’t expect to solve, in a day, a case that has baffled the captain for weeks.”
“Hark! Someone’s coming,” Jack grabbed his brother by the arm.