Hike had swiftly decided that the one thing the men would not expect a youngster to do was keep on going into a marsh. They would be sure to think that he would either reach the road, or stay on the edge of the marsh.
He quietly broke off tree branches, and made of them a safe matting which would not let him sink into the mud. Then he wrapped his coat about his head, to keep off the scourge of mosquitoes, and pulled his trouser cuffs down to his shoe tops, to protect his ankles. Even so, the pests tormented him. But he kept very still, peering out of a tiny opening at the coat collar, which he had left for his eyes.
He saw lanterns darting about the hill top. One came down, apparently carried by a man who was following the road. There was the sound of a horse’s neighing, some distance away, and then Hike had the worst shock of the night.
From some distance away, along the road clattered three or four horses’ hoofs; and the shouts of three or four riders were heard. So, then, the two thugs had companions, who had been sleeping over there, somewhere in the great darkness which was making him feel so “awf’ly alone” against all these men.
The horsemen were circling, quartering what seemed to be fields about the hill; hunting over every inch of the hill itself. At last, he saw the lanterns, which marked the searchers, draw together, at the edge of the marsh, and he heard a loud voice:
“Well, I tell you he must be in the marsh—way in, then, Bat. We’ve looked everywhere else. He couldn’t ’ve gotten far.”
“All right,” came Bat’s voice. “Get out that auto light, then, and we’ll search the blooming marsh.”
A horseman galloped away, soon returning. Then, to his horror, Hike saw the group at the edge of the marsh kindle what looked to be a powerful head-light, with strong reflectors. Its rays swept through the thickets of the marsh, as the light was slowly turned.
A shout sounded from the knot of horsemen as the beams struck Hike. He knew that he was found.
Calmly rising, he drew on his coat, stooped to kill a mosquito that had caught in a fold, and strolled out through the thick mud as calmly as though he were walking through the Santa Benicia Academy Yard.