"Well, I reckon nothing will hurt 'em," said her friend soothingly.
"I'll tell Mr. Armatage and he will go down there and get them."

This idea impressed both the men when they came back from their
unsuccessful search of the house.

The two men walked briskly along the trail to the burned cabin. The
stars gave them light enough to see all about the clearing when they
arrived. Not a sign of Russ or Rose did they find.

"Do you suppose they went home some other way?" asked Daddy Bunker.

"I don't know. I hope they haven't wandered into the thicket."

As Mr. Armatage spoke both men heard the terrible scream that had first
startled Russ and Rose. Mr. Bunker fairly jumped.

"That can't be the children!" he ejaculated.

The way his companion looked at him told the children's father a good
deal. Mr. Bunker seized Mr. Armatage's arm.

"Tell me! What is it?" he asked.

"Something that hasn't been heard around here for years," said the
planter, his voice trembling a little. "It's the cry of a panther."

Mr. Bunker, although he was practically a city man, had hunted a good
deal and had been in the wilder parts of the country very often. He knew
how terribly dangerous a panther might be on occasion; but he likewise