When he dropped his end of the stretcher Bluff discovered a stout club lying on the ground. It answered his present needs admirably, and accordingly the boy snatched it up with a sense of exhilaration. To himself Bluff was muttering:
"Tramps, hey? Measley hoboes roosting in our nice shack, are they? Well now, let me just get a whack at the same with this bully home-run bat, and if I don't make 'em sick of their job you can take my head for a football. Tramps, hey? Wow! Count me in the deal, will you? I just eat tramps!"
Frank led the way from long habit. It was perhaps the same training that kept Bluff and Jerry just at the heels of the pilot, although they were in a fever to make faster time.
So far as they could see there was no sign of life about the old cabin, only the light shining through that gap in the wooden window shutter. If a party of vagrants had indeed taken possession of the place they were wonderfully quiet. Not a sound smote the stillness of the night.
Presently, however, from some tree not far away a whippoorwill suddenly sent out his vociferous notes, complaining again and again of the severe punishment "poor Will" might expect. The cabin was now close at hand. Frank could see that the door was ajar, as though inviting the passerby to enter without the formality of knocking.
"Huh!" Bluff was heard to grumble, as he, too, discovered this fact.
Approaching the window, Frank leaned forward and took a first peep. He did not say a single word, although very much surprised at what he saw; but simply made room for Will, who in turn moved slightly on so that the others might also see.
The wooden shutter, which had been repaired as well as possible, even when closed left a slight gap, and through this hole it was possible for one outside to survey the whole interior of the cabin.
A single figure sat in the most comfortable chair the cabin boasted. The lantern had been lighted, and hung so that its rays illuminated the interior of the place fairly well.
None of the boys had the slightest difficulty in recognizing the person they were looking at through the window. It was Gilbert Dennison.