“Gee, you gave me a scare!” he exclaimed, after they had exchanged salutes. “What on earth are you doing here, Bob?”
“Why, it’s this way,” explained Bob. “You know that we overheard what the outlaws said, and after you had gone, Mr. Durland thought that we had better patrol this path so that in case either of them tried to stop you from going to or coming from the logging camp, we could wig-wag signals back to our camp, and so let them know there what was going on. That is the solution of the reason we are here.”
“I wish we could solve the mystery of why those fellows aren’t in jail just as easily,” remarked Dick.
“So do I!” returned Bob, soberly. “We seem to be as far as ever from catching them, don’t we?”
“Here, here, young fellow! That kind of talk won’t do at all,” laughed Dick. “This isn’t a case of where we want to catch them. It’s a case of where we’ve simply got to. That’s the only way to look at it.”
“Yes, I suppose you’re right, Dick,” said Bob, his confidence somewhat restored. “What did Harry say? Is he going to join?”
“Surest thing you know!” responded Dick, cheerfully. “That boy is going to help us more than a little, too. He knows a good deal about the surrounding country, and he knows the habits of these rascals. He can figure out better than we can, perhaps, just what they would be likely to do under given conditions.”
As they had been holding this conversation, the boys had been walking rapidly along, and now they came up to one boy after another, all posted as relays for wig-wagging.
Before very long they reached the camp itself, and soon Dick was making his report to Scout-Master Durland.
“So you see, sir,” he concluded, “Harry will be a help to us, and we can help him, so it is a sort of mutual benefit arrangement all around.”