It seemed very dismal and lonely. The network of branches met overhead and ghostly moonlight formed fairylike traceries upon bushes and trunks. In the gloomy, mysterious depths beyond perhaps many dangerous animals might be lurking.
Dick hung back, irresolute; then, drawing a deep breath, kept on.
"Gee!" A cold shiver ran through him. "This is risky business now."
The glow of the fire presently shone clear and bright, while a faint hum of voices came weirdly to his ears.
Dick moved with the utmost care, again dropping on hands and knees, crawling around underbrush and thickets, working along foot by foot, his heart thumping hard, as he saw the dancing firelight now sending its rays over the branches above his head. Twigs smote him in the face; trailing briars caught in his clothes, scratching with a force that made him wince, but he had the satisfaction of hearing the hum of conversation growing louder. Pete and Jimmy, who must have stopped somewhere to rest, had evidently just arrived.
"That sounds like a whopping big crowd," muttered Dick, excitedly. "Wish to thunder I could see a bit better. Horses, too, close about; I hear 'em."
At the imminent risk of being discovered, he had now reached a place where much that was said could be understood.
"So ye sure seen them fellers git that 'ere nag, eh, Pete?" a rough voice demanded.
"Bet yer life we did, Jim," came an answer, "an' they suspicioned, too, as how somebuddy had brung it back; Jimmy an' me hearn 'em."
"Let 'em s'picion," growled another voice; "an' that's all the good it'll do 'em. 'Tain't no use a-stayin' up no longer. Thought ye was a-goin' to take all night, Colliver."