"It's—er—" Jack paused suddenly. On the envelope he had caught, in the light of a slanting ray from a lantern a girl's name—"Laurel." He had been on the point of taking the missive from its cover, but the glimpse of that name prevented him. Somehow he felt that it might have to do with the disappearance of Cora—she was always getting mixed up with girls, he reflected. And it might not be just the best thing to publish broadcast what this was Jack dissimulated.
"I guess it's some shooting license a hunter has dropped," he completed his half-finished sentence. "I'll just stick it in my pocket until we get to a place where I can look at it better. I might lose something from the envelope in the woods. Come on, boys."
"I think we're on the right trail," spoke Walter.
"But where in the world can Cora be?" asked Jack. He was beginning to be very much disturbed and was under a great mental strain.
"Let's yell!" suggested Ed. "If Cora is within hearing distance she'll hear us."
"Good!" cried Jack. "All together now!"
They raised their voices in a shrill cry that carried far.
As the echoes died away there seemed to come, from a distance, an echo of an echo. They all started as they heard it.
"Hark!" commanded Jack, standing at attention.
"It's a voice all right—an answer," declared Walter.