felt an uneasy sense of impending danger.

"Often feel that way when I first wake up, especially if I've been
eating pie the night before," he confided to himself, in order to
urge his courage back to life.

Bending forward he peered from side to side, but was unable to find
a single trace of light, anywhere about him. If it were a fire it
must be some distance away, he concluded.

"If it were some distance away, I wouldn't smell it. The wind has
died down. No, the fire that smoke comes from is right near by me,"
he whispered.

The sense of human habitation near him caused his pulses to beat
more rapidly. The question that remained for him to decide, was who
was it that had started the fire?

Tad Butler determined to find out if possible, and at once.

He crept cautiously to the right, feeling his way along the ledge,
not being sure how near he was to the edge. He found it more
suddenly than he had expected, and narrowly missed falling over head
first.

"Whew! That was a close call," he muttered. "I must be more
careful."

There was no sign of either smoke or fire below him, as he observed
after getting his balance again. He drew back cautiously and worked