CONNIE and Jane were very frightened. Huddling behind Grandfather Gordon, they didn’t say a word.
“Speak up, or I’ll put a bullet through you!” commanded the gruff voice again.
“Is that you, John Jeffert?” called Grandfather Gordon, recovering his power of speech. “Don’t shoot!”
For an instant, Connie and Jane were blinded as a flashbeam played directly in their eyes. Then it was turned off, and a tall, heavy-set man with snow-white beard, stepped out in front of them.
“Henry Gordon!” he exclaimed. “I couldn’t see who it was. Hope I didn’t give you a bad scare.”
“Well, you did,” admitted Grandfather Gordon. “Not to mention these youngsters I have in tow.”
“I sure am sorry,” Mr. Jeffert apologized again. “In the dark, I couldn’t tell who was coming through the woods.”
“So you thought you’d shoot on general principles?” Grandfather Gordon was a trifle annoyed to think that the girls might have been injured through Mr. Jeffert’s carelessness.
The other man had put aside his shotgun. “I wouldn’t have fired,” he said. “That was only bluff.”
“Then why are you carrying a gun?”