“See! It is light. We are in danger! We must hurry back to our refuge.” Like a gleam of white light she was away.
CHAPTER XIX
NIGHT ON ISLE ROYALE
Once again it was night on Isle Royale. All day a wild south-easter had lashed the waters of Lake Superior into foam. All day in the scout’s cabin Red Rodgers and Berley Todd had waited for that which they felt to be inevitable—the arrival of the kidnapers and the battle that must follow. Or would there be a battle? The snow had melted. No footprints remained. Perhaps Ed could make the outlaws believe they were not there.
For a time after a breakfast of sour dough flapjacks they sat discussing possibilities. After that, overcome by their long vigil, they slept.
Now that night had come, they were as wide awake as night owls.
“It’s tough to be waiting without knowing what they are about,” Red exploded at last. “I’d almost rather meet them face to face and fight it out.”
“Oh, no! Not that!” The girl shuddered. “But we might have a look at them from the Palisades. Surely we’d not meet them on that trail. And, if we should, we could lose ourselves on the instant.”
“Safe enough,” Ed commented.
“What are the Palisades?” Red rose as if prepared to go.
“The highest point on this ridge,” the guide explained. “Trees are cut away there. You can look down a hundred feet to Tobin’s Harbor. Their camp’s back there. If there’s a light showing they will still be in camp. If one moves on the water, you’ll know they are out looking around.