"I've walked these mountains night and day for more than twenty
years," faltered the old lady, "and I'm not afraid now!"

"You don't object to my going?" asked Ned.

"I'm awful glad to have you go," was the reply. "But you'll find it a
long walk, there and back," she added.

"If it is too far for me to walk back," Ned laughed, "you may give me
a bunk on the floor! Anyway, I'm going to see you home!"

As the boy spoke he beckoned to Frank to step to one side with him.

"Of course this looks all straight, on the face of it," he said, when
the two were alone together, "but one can never tell. We've got to be
pretty careful, for we are in a strange country, and are here for a
purpose which may be resented by the mountaineers. We can't afford to
take any chances."

"Do you suspect the old lady?" asked Frank, in amazement.

"I don't know what to think," was the hesitating reply. "The first
night we spend in a permanent camp, up she comes with a story about a
son being about to bring in a boy of seven for her to mother! Then,
as if that wasn't enough of a bait for us to snap at, she goes on to
say that the son is blonde, with light brown hair and blue eyes.
Looks like we were being led on!"

"You bet it does," Frank replied. "Jimmie and Teddy have disappeared,
and this may be a frame-up, and so I wouldn't go off alone with her.