“This is a fine howdy-do!” she muttered. “Pete will give us away if anyone is within a mile of here!”
“Do you suppose Bart could be close?” Kathleen speculated. “Pete plainly is trying to get us to follow him to the cave.”
“If we let him go, he’ll set up a fearful clatter. I can’t hold his jaws together forever either!”
“Bart would be a big help to us if we could find him.”
“We could see if he’s at the cave entrance,” Judy said reluctantly. “I don’t think we’ll find him though, and we’d be leaving a good hiding place.”
“We can be careful,” Kathleen returned. “Help from the Forest Service or highway headquarters should be coming quite soon.”
Allowing herself to be persuaded, Judy followed Kathleen from the leafy shelter. She kept tight hold of Pete however, not allowing him to bark or scramble out of her arms.
The rocky path wound through the trees and around big boulders. Presently, the girls were within view of the dark entranceway to the cave.
Judy halted, thinking that she saw a tiny wisp of smoke emerging from the cavern. In that moment of inattention, Pete made a convulsive movement and before she could regain her grip, leaped to the ground.
Yipping excitedly, he ran toward the cave entrance.