Almost instantly a dark figure appeared between the place where the
boys were hidden and the space of moonlight in front. The man stepped
out, looked up and down the canyon, and came slowly back to meet
another figure.

"Nothing doing!" a gruff voice said.

"But that wasn't any bird!" insisted another gruff voice.

"Well, you may look for yourself!"

"I tell you," the second speaker went on, "that those boys are still
out in the hills! When I was at the camp there was only one in the
tent, and he sat there with a gun in his lap, watching for the others
to come back."

"Did you speak with him?"

"What for would I speak with him?"

"To get his story. What are they here for? That is worth knowing."

"Well, I didn't show myself because we're not supposed to be here
ourselves!" came the other voice. "If you hadn't built the fire
outside to-night we'd have been in no danger. Now we've got a lot of
boys sneaking around. What did you do with the others?"

"They're in the work-room."