"Then I'll get into those bushes," whispered Greg. "When you
come back, come straight to the bushes, so I'll know that it's
one of my own crowd. If any strangers appear, I'll listen to
'em if they halt near here, or trail them if they try to go past
here."

Dick nodded. This seemed about the best that could be done.
Of course, back in camp, he had three more good and courageous
fellows to draw upon as added forces, but with such strange doings
afoot in the night it didn't seem wise to call the others away
from the camp. Above all, the camp had to be watched and guarded.

In half an hour Dick returned. He had found nothing to throw
light on the puzzle of the night. Tom was back already, having
beaten Dick to Greg's hiding place by about two minutes.

"We may as well go back to camp," whispered Greg.

"Not much!" Prescott retorted. "If anyone is trying to do anything
to us, then we want to run the mystery down and put an end to
it. My idea is that the best thing we can do is to get up to
the road, post ourselves at fair intervals and watch to see if
anyone should pass."

"Correct!" clicked Reade. "And I think that would have been the
best plan in the first instance."

"If the powder-mill explosions are to keep up through the night,"
hinted Tom, "then there ought to be another one due within a few