a little longer. He would be caught anyhow, and he guessed that,
if Dick got away, he would find his captors in a savage mood.

Even as he let the flashlight wink out, since it was dangerous to
use it more than was necessary, he heard a cautious movement
within a few feet. At first he thought it was an animal he had
heard, so silent were its movements. But in a moment a hand
touched his own. He started slightly, but kept quiet.

"Hush -- I'm a friend," said a voice, almost at his elbow. "'I
thought you were somewhere around here but I couldn't find you
until you flashed your light. You're caught in a trap, aren't
you?"

"Yes," said Dick. "Who are you?"

"That's what I want to know about you, first," said the other boy
-- for it was another boy, as Harry learned from his voice. Never
had a sound been more welcome in his ears than that voice. "Tell
me who you are and what you two were doing around here. I saw you
this afternoon and tracked you. I tried to before, but I
couldn't, on account of your motorcycles. Then I just happened to
see you, when you were on foot. Are you Boy Scouts?"

"Yes," said Harry. "Are you?"

"Yes. That's why I followed -- especially when I saw you coming in
here. We've got a patrol in the village, but most of the scouts
are at work in the fields."