Los Angeles herald., 1908-04-26
CONTINUED FROM PAGE TWO

Grasping his club firmly, Jethro stepped
cautiously forward, every sense aiert anu
ready for whatever might occur ,
The footsteps came nearer. and presently
he heard a familiar voice say:
ut wouldn't be half as bad if we dared 70
build a fire. / believe il that rascal was
here now. would settle matters, II he nag
twice as big a club as he had this morning.
Bent! Truel" Jethro called-for ne qua
not want to rush in upon them wltnon. CIV
ing them some warning OF MS p.oNni,y,
and in another instant he was, shaking .ne
boys by the hands, laughing, almost crying
and, as he said afterward, making tarhai
fool of himself in every way" b;,,
The boys were overjoyed at seeing MIN,
they were quite exhausted, wholly discouraged
and nearly famished. They gave way 70 as
extravagant demonstrations OF Joy as oetnio
did, and for several moments neither one pl
the three had very clear idea OF Whae ne
was doing.
"Are you hungry" was Jethro's first ques-
ton.
Hungry" replied Bent. .'Well,. | should
say So. We could eat pine knot, II we only
had a little salt to put on it"
How far are you from where that man
"Why, how did you know anything about
him?' asked True, in surprise:
"II tell you after awhile. What you want
to do now is to have something to eat: Let
set down here, an while you are dlsposin
of the grub you can ask all the, questions
you like, an I'll answer them the oest
know how"
Jethro's proposition was quickly agreed to;
and the hungry boys were soon making RAPID
inroads upon the provisions he had brought.
They were far too eager to hear from those
on the boat to tell their story first, and Jeth-
TO was obliged to inform them OF an that
had transpired in their absence before he
could ask them to relate their experiences.
After he had concluded, True gave HIM a
detailed account of all that had happened to
them up to the time when they had been
1r,x hu ha man w stolen
guns The remainder was told In tew
They had started off at right angles with
the path by which they had come to the
shanty, and True, knowing how important it
was for them to be able to find their trail
again, had been careful to keep in his mind
On and on they had walked during the en-
tire day before they found the path, and
then, at but short distance from the begin
ming of it, they had stopped for the night,
! hungry weary and discouraged.
; "You ought to have come right back"
Jethro began, and then interrupting himself,
:, he added, extenuatingly, Its nc. use tein'
\ what you oughter DONE the question is what
: big risk when you come back to tackle that
scamp, for in such place as. this law don't
amount to much. Do you s'pose, we could
make our way to that shanty IN tine the night.
what are you going to do? Try to get the
) aThat's about the size of it." answered
yethrp srm p hgnt bnf Tge' ge ssen smars some
! rather tough scrimmages on this river my
self. an if it comes to close quarters one or
the other of us won't be able to use the guns
. "But how are you going to do -" per-
1--WE can't tell that till we find out how
things are round his place Keep your clubs tS6s
leads to our particular friends summer cot
As he spoke, Jethro put away what re-
mained of the food and, in single he, the
, bows in the advance, they started in the di-
rection of the path;
Mind it, as it was hardly more than thirty feet
10 follow it easily even in a dark night.
Then the three set out noiselessly, Jethro
now leading the way, until light was seen,
when he came to halt
'CThis light came from hre that was built
airectly in front of the shanty, and lying on
the ground was the man OF whom they were
!" he was between the fire and the door OF
tbls hut, which would prevent any one from
enSerinr without his knowledge, and Jethro
moitioned the boys to sit down that they
,n;cht hold consultation without danger OF
e9SWe've got to sail right in an take the
r;sibk,'' said the cook, in low, whisper
.nHTfaae'n make the tallest kind Of q fight if we
rive him the chance, an tnat Wnat we
must gn,sst look out for. II I can keteh him foul
ge the guns as quick you cam hoT Ss ysr fG
gbsen lef the dance begins"
.fEethro stood erect for an instant. and then
rr9shed upon the sleeping man. seized him by
nr;s1ned him to the earth.
p}l At the same time, True and Bent ran into
the shanty. where, leaning against one cor
ner Of rude bunk Were the stolen guns
were loaded, and True dashed outside, where
fierce struggle was taking place between
the thief and Jethro;
Both men fought like tigers, each determin-