eastern slope, with packages and bags and boxes of provisions piled
around it.

To the south lay Virginia, to the north, east and west stretched the
mountainous district of West Virginia. Far below them ran the North
Fork of the Potomac river.

What they saw was a wild and lonely country, with more deer, wild
turkeys, and raccoons than human beings. On their hard and frequently
delayed journey in they had passed cabins, surrounded here and there
by rail fences, but there were none in sight from where they now
stood.

The sun, a round ball of fire in the west, would be out of sight in
half an hour, and then the desolate darkness of the mountains would
surround them. A wild turkey called to its mate in the distance, and
small creatures of the air fluttered about, as if determined to know
what human beings were doing there, in their ordinarily safe retreat.

The boys had visited Washington the day following the incidents at
the clubroom of the Black Bear Patrol, but had learned nothing of
importance there. The launch in which the young prince had been seen
had been traced up the river to the vicinity of Cumberland, but there
the trail had ended.

"It is a case of needle-in-the-haystack," the Secret Service chief
had said to Ned, on the morning of his departure for the mountains.
"We have men looking over every inch of the large cities. We want you
to rake those mountains with a fine-tooth comb! Personally, I believe
that the prince is there."