"Oh, what did you think you heard, Steve?" asked the wielder of the
hatchet. "Was it a whine, a cry just like a baby'd make? I've heard that's
the way these panthers act just before they spring. Be ready, both of you,
to shoot him on the wing."

"Rats! It was voices I heard," declared Steve.

"Then it must be Max and Owen coming back to camp from the river,"
Bandy-legs asserted.

"Just as like as not," Steve admitted.

"But what if the savage beast drops down on the shoulders of our chums?"
said the other in tones that were full of horror.

"C-c-come on, b-b-boys!" panted Toby.

"Where to?" demanded Steve. "I'm comfortable just as I stand. What's eating
you now, Toby Jucklin?"

"D-d-didn't you see, we've j-j-just got to warn our c-c-chums, and
s-s-stand that t-t-terrible beast off? H-h-hurry, boys!"

"Yes, I see _you_ hurrying," said Steve, with a laugh; "why, you'd
fall all over yourself, Toby, and perhaps try to swallow our only hatchet
in the bargain. Besides, there's no need of our sallying forth to stand
guard over Max and Owen, because here they come right now."

"Sure they are," declared Bandy-legs, "and mebbe we'll be able to find out