There was more or less difficulty in reaching the top of this little elevation.

"They must go around here when entering the woods," Frank concluded, after he had finally gained the top of the rise.

He hardly liked the idea of returning along the same difficult lines; but when he felt this disinclination he was really worrying over something that was fated never to come about.

By degrees he pushed forward until he found himself on the edge of a little declivity. Down below he could see the old dingy tent which he knew so well, also the fire of the Peters crowd.

The boys were gathered around, watching Pet, partly disrobed, trying to warm himself near the blaze; but if he was shivering outwardly with the cold, he seemed to be burning within, to judge from the motions he made while talking.

"Evidently Pet is making a vow to settle my hash the first time we meet.

But I don't seem to be trembling, that I can discover. I know Pet of old, and how easy he can change his mind," Frank told himself, as he watched.

Unable to see just as well as he wished from where he first knelt, he moved a little to the left, as that seemed to promise a better view.

It was the last straw upon the camel's back. Already, though Frank did not know it, the treacherous soil was giving way under his weight, and this move on his part aggravated the trouble.

He felt himself slipping, tried to catch hold of a nearby bush, which gave way in his frenzied grasp, and down the steep incline he plunged!

CHAPTER XIII--THE WILD MAN DEVELOPS AN APPEt.i.tE

"Great smoke! what's that?"

"It's the wild man, fellers!"

"Run, afore he gits yuh!"

There was an immediate scramble among the adherents of Pet Peters. What they had heard about the wild man of the island had kept them on edge throughout the entire length of their short sojourn; and now, when this sudden object came rolling down the incline into their very camp they were panic stricken.

Pet himself was just as frightened as any of his mates. He had been sitting by the fire, drying his back, having removed his coat and trousers meanwhile. As the alarm sounded he tried to get to his feet so as to join in the hasty flight, but, as might be expected, his legs became twisted, and consequently he fell in a heap.

"Wow! keep off'n me, you! I ain't done nuthin'!" he yelled.

It was his customary plea when caught doing something wrong.

Frank had by this time reached the bottom of the incline, for which he was not at all sorry. He had not been seriously hurt by his rough tumble, and, thinking only of keeping himself aloof from these ugly spirits, he managed to scramble to his feet after some fashion.

Through it all he had kept a firm grip on his gun, as though he knew what protection he could count on from that source.

There was another grand picture that escaped Will, and which he would never cease to lament the loss of--Frank regaining his feet, those fellows scampering away in several directions, and Pet on his knees, holding one arm up as if to ward off some evil blow which he expected to descend.

"Hey, it's only Langdon! Kim back here, yuh cowards!" bellowed Pet, as soon as his startled eyes could tell him the truth.

And the others, halted in the midst of their mad flight, looking back, saw that instead of the terrible hairy wild man of their dreams it was indeed only a boy who stood there, and he the one they hated most of all.

So they came straggling back, some looking sheepish over their recent scare, while others scowled as if in an ugly temper.

"Wot yuh want here, Langdon?" demanded Pet, bridling up as he saw that much was expected of him by his followers.

It was unfortunate that this should happen so soon after he had been making such enormous threats about what he was going to do to Frank when next they met.

What could a fellow do anyway when he was minus his coat and trousers, as well as shoes?

Frank had recovered his lost breath by now.

"Well, I might have strolled over here just to ask whether you had arrived safely after your swim; and to express a hope that you might not take cold. It's pretty early in the season to go in, you know," he said smoothly.

The others looked at each other as if they hardly knew what to make of it. Somehow this Langdon always did seem to have the advantage whenever they came face to face. In the canoe he was Pet's master, because he felt quite at home there, while the other did not. Now, here ash.o.r.e, he held something in his hands which none of them liked the looks of--a double-barreled shotgun.

"Aw, go chase yerself! 'Twan't that as fetched yuh here. Think we scooped sumpin, an' yuh come sneakin' round tryin' tuh see," snarled the shivering Pet.

"Come up to the fire and keep warm. It's your fire; I don't lay any claim to it. Perhaps you fellows think I slid down that toboggan track on purpose? Well, you've got another guess coming, then. I have more respect for my clothes than to try such things, as a rule."

Frank was talking for a purpose. He did not expect to enter the camp of the enemy when he parted from Will and Bluff; but now that circ.u.mstances beyond his control had caused such a move on his part, he meant to take full advantage of it.

Before he left, he expected to know positively what they had in that tent. If Jerry was found there, a prisoner, he must be set free, no matter what happened after such a move.

So, as he talked he kept moving a little at a time in the direction of the said tent. If the others noticed his action they could not give any sort of guess as to what he was after. Besides, he kept that gun always half raised, and moving back and forth, from side to side, so that it covered the entire bunch.

"Jest yuh make tracks outen here, Langdon. Yuh ain't wanted, see? This here's our camp, an' yer intrudin'," chattered Pet, who was compelled to creep closer to the fire, for he was shivering as though he had the ague.

"Oh! I'm going right away, boys. I a.s.sure you I haven't the least intention of staying and putting you to any inconvenience. Just a little social call, you understand, Pet. I couldn't bear the thought that possibly you were still floundering around out there on the lake. Glad to know you arrived," Frank continued, now close to the flap of the tent.

The others had unconsciously followed him, so that with the exception of Pet the whole of the camp's inmates were cl.u.s.tered just in front of the intruder.

As he uttered the last word, Frank suddenly stooped. He had seen his chance, and meant to investigate the interior of that tent.

To his dismay it was far from light inside. He could just make out objects dimly. There might be a prostrate figure on some of the dirty blankets strewing the ground, for all he could say.

Determined to make sure, he immediately darted inside the tent. A chorus of excited exclamations arose from the half circle of roughs outside.

"He's a-goin' ter steal our blankets, that's what!" shouted one.

"Don't let him, fellers!" whooped Pet, dancing from one bare foot to the other in his excitement, but not offering to lend a hand in corralling the intruder.

"Hey, you, wot yer want in there?" howled another, looking around for a cudgel that might come in handy.

Then Frank emerged. He still kept his handy gun in evidence, seeing which the others backed away again, not being quite so eager as they imagined to come to hand-grips with this determined boy.

Frank was disappointed. He had failed to find the slightest trace of his missing chum in the tent of the Peters crowd. This seemed to prove that they knew nothing about the kidnapping of Jerry.

Under the circ.u.mstances he thought it might be just as well to explain his queer move a little. The knowledge might hasten the departure of these rowdy fellows, and purge the island of their presence.

"I'll tell you what I was looking for. One of my chums has strangely disappeared, and we thought that perhaps you had him here. That's all.

But I find you haven't; which makes me believe he's fallen into the hands of that wild man, or else the two hobo thieves who robbed the man on the steamboat; because we happen to know they're here on this island."