Complete silence greeted the arrival of the two who had been conferring
so mysteriously near by. Of course, once Thad broke the ice, and
started to tell what he had discovered, this was apt to give way to a
bombardment of questions; for Giraffe and Bumpus could think up the
greatest lot of "wants" imaginable; so that it would keep Thad busy
explaining, until their ammunition ran out, or he had to throw up his
hands in surrender through sheer exhaustion.

He started in to explain what he had seen, and done, as soon as he
dropped down beside his comrades of the Silver Fox Patrol. Immediately
he had the attention of every one enlisted. Bumpus sat there, watching
and listening with such intentness that you would hardly believe he
breathed at all. Step Hen, too, was following every word spoken by the
scout-master, as though trying to grasp the seriousness of the
situation, and figure out a way to circumvent the danger that had arisen
so unexpectedly in their path. And the other two could not be said to be
far behind in the interest they betrayed.

As we have already heard Thad tell Allan about his first, seeing the man
who was spying upon the camp; and later on how he came to find the
hidden boat, as well as the concealed cabin, there is no necessity for
us to follow the scout-master while he imparts this information to the
quartette who, having been absent from that interview, had no previous
knowledge of the facts.

By the time he spoke of crawling silently away, and coming back to join
the balance of the patrol, he had his chums worked up to a feverish
pitch of excitement.

"Well," Step Hen was the first to break in with, "anyhow, game-fish