So saying he blazed away with both barrels, allowing a margin of a few seconds to occur between the shots.
Then both lads bent their ears and listened carefully.
The night breeze was sighing among the pines and hemlocks, but it carried no answering sound to their waiting ears.
When several minutes had gone by Cuthbert thrust a couple more shells into the barrels of the gun and once more let go.
Again silence alone repaid their anxious attention.
If the missing one heard those signal shots he was in no condition to reply, and that would mean, of course, that he must be in trouble.
Cuthbert looked at his friend.
"It doesn't seem to be of any use. After that I can't doubt but what something uncomfortable has happened to Eli. He's a jolly fellow, and I think the world of him. If any harm came to pass I'd feel wretched, for it was my foolish idea that brought him up here," he said disconsolately.
"Oh, I wouldn't feel that way about it. A fellow like Eli must run a certain amount of risk, no matter where he is. If he wasn't here he'd be logging, and taking his life in his hand every hour, with trees falling in the wrong direction, log jams occurring in the spring rise and the lumber jacks risking death in the effort to free the king-pin that holds the jam. Oh, no, Eli has no fault to find with the way you've treated him; indeed, he's had a snap, and knows it. But we must be doing something, if you feel too anxious to wait until morning."
"It must now be ten o'clock, and that would mean many hours. Can anything be done in the night? How could we follow his trail without a hound? What wouldn't I give to have a good dog just now, such as my old Bunker down home in Virginia. You take charge, and order me around as you see fit. I'm ready to do anything."