Accordingly, three days later, the two men were released, with a stern warning to keep away from this settlement, if they valued their lives.
CHAPTER XXX
THE MYSTERY SOLVED CONCLUSION
Bob, despite his long tramp, as well as the excitement that had been his portion during that day, felt little like sleeping. It seemed to him as though something weighed upon his mind, preventing him from enjoying his customary slumber. He did not know just what to make of it, and wondered whether it might mean that danger again hung over the cabin of his parents.
When the others had settled down, Bob wandered forth. It was not his turn to act as sentry, and so, instead of passing around to converse in low tones with Mr. Bancroft, who was serving at the time, he found a place where he could be comfortable, and there remained, with his back against the cabin wall.
The night was warm, so that it was no task to remain out of doors. Besides, Bob was accustomed to looking upon the star-decked sky as his roof. Many a time had he and Sandy slept in the open, with no other covering. They were hardy, as indeed all pioneer boys had to be, in order to encounter successfully the privations that seemed to be their birthright.
Bob, himself, hardly knew just why he had chosen to settle down there, where he could observe the door of his father’s new cabin in the flickering light of the dying fire. He seemed to take solid satisfaction in just sitting where he could keep his eyes upon it, while thinking about that other home, many hundred miles away, which they had left forever.
Bob was just becoming conscious of the fact that his eyes were feeling a trifle heavy, and wondering whether, after all, he would not be wise in entering the cabin, so as to seek rest upon the furs that constituted his couch, when he suddenly became aware that there was something moving between him and the almost dead fire.
Now thoroughly aroused, he bent over until upon his knees, and eagerly watched. In this fashion he presently became aware that it was a human figure, and not a prowling wolf, that had attracted his attention. It was surely advancing, slowly yet positively, toward the cabin occupied by the Armstrongs.