"I can see somebody moving around there," announced X-Ray, soon afterwards; "and it's a man, too. Seems to be a guide, if his looks count for anything."
They kept heading straight toward the small cheerless camp in the drenched woods. All the while Phil was expecting to hear his chums, saving possibly Ethan, give utterance to low cries of surprise.
"There's somebody lying down on the other side of the fire, boys," continued the one with the hawk eyes. "That smoke keeps shifting around so much I don't seem to be able to glimpse as well as—say, what d'ye think, fellows, I declare if it ain't a woman!"
CHAPTER XVI
PEACE AFTER STRIFE—CONCLUSION
Lub uttered a gurgle to indicate his consternation. Ethan and Phil exchanged knowing looks, as though to say it was coming out just as they had figured.
The guide was a dark-faced native. He had evidently been having a hard time of it during that terrible storm, with possibly an hysterical woman on his hands, and no proper shelter. He waved his hand at the boys, and looked pleased to see them coming to their relief.
As they entered the camp they saw that the woman was sitting up. She looked as though she could not have stood much more. In spite of all the Adirondack guide may have done in trying to shield her from the torrents of rain, she had been wet through and through. Even sitting close to the fire for a long time had not caused her to stop shivering.