" Time for Long Jim to be back."

"Jim don't do things by halves," said the shiftless one. "Guess
he's beatin' up every squar' inch o' the bushes. He'll be here
soon."

A quarter of an hour passed, and Long Jim did not return; a half
hour, and no sign of him. Henry cast off the blanket and stood
up. The night was not very dark and he could see some distance,
but he did not see their comrade.

"I wonder why he's so slow," he said with a faint trace of
anxiety.

"He'll be 'long directly," said Tom Ross with confidence.

Another quarter of an hour, and no Long Jim. Henry sent forth
the low penetrating cry of the wolf that they used so often as a
signal.

"He cannot fail to hear that," he said, "and he'll answer."

No answer came. The four looked at one another in alarm. Long
Jim had been gone nearly two hours, and he was long overdue. His
failure to reply to the signal indicated either that something
ominous had happened or that- he had gone much farther than they
meant for him to go.

The others had risen to their feet, also, and they stood a little