"Trespassin' be jiggered! I'm just restin' here. Go away and leave me alone."
"Not until I find out who you are. Your presence in this hollow tree looks suspicious."
"What's suspicious about it? Can't a fellow roost inside a tree if he wants to when he ain't got nowhere else to go?"
Dick climbed down the tree and, taking Madge by the arm, started off. There was a large rock close by of sufficient size for a person to conceal himself behind.
"You go on, Madge, a little way, and I'll follow in a few minutes. I have an idea that fellow will show himself presently to see if the coast is clear, and I'm going to hide behind this rock and catch a sight of him if he comes up."
The girl kept on at a slow pace and Dick dropped on his hands and knees behind the stone. Five minutes passed and nothing happened. Dick was beginning to think that he had calculated wrongly, when he saw the crown of a hat rise between the fork of the two limbs. A face followed the hat, a tough-looking face, and Dick gave a gasp as he recognized it. It was the countenance of Bulger, supposed to be serving the rest of his time at the Trenton State prison.
[CHAPTER XIII.—The Hidden Treasure.]
Bulger looked around cautiously on every side, and believing that the person who had discovered him had gone away he sank back into his hiding place.
Dick hastily rejoined Madge and told her about the identity of the man in the tree. He also outlined his plans for the rascal's arrest. They were about to hurry to the house when Dick caught sight of a figure slouching through the trees toward the gully. He guessed it was Parker, and he altered his arrangements.