ny one stealthily entered
fifteen minutes after they had lain down, he would have declared that
all were asleep, though such was not the fact.

Despite his nervousness, Frank was beginning to feel drowsy when he was
startled and set on edge by a sound that penetrated the profound
silence. It resembled the whistle of a bird from the timber, soft,
clear, and tremulous. Almost in the same instant he heard one of the
men rise stealthily from his couch. It was easy to determine, from the
direction of the slight rustle, that it was Hardman.

Frank thrust his elbow into the back of his comrade as a warning for
him to be alert; but there was no response. Roswell had been asleep for
an hour. It was too dark to perceive anything within the tent, though
all was clear outside; but the lad's senses were in that tense
condition that he heard the man lift the flap of the tent and move
softly over the snow on the outside. With the same silence, Frank flung
back the blanket that enveloped him and stepped out on the packed snow
of the interior. Pausing but a moment, he crept through the opening. In
that cold region men sleep in their clothing, so he had nothing to fear
from exposure.

The night was brilliantly clear, the sky studded with stars, and not a
breath of air stirring. He remained a brief while in a crouching
posture, while he peered in different directions. Before him stretched
the lake, its shores crusted with snow and ice, with the cold water
shining in the star-gleam. Still stooping low and looking intently
about him, he saw something move between the tent and the water. A
second glance revealed Hardman, who was standing alone and looking
about him, as if he expected the approach of some person. Impatient at
the delay, he repeated the signal that had aroused the attention of
Frank a few minutes before.

The tremulous note had scarcely pierced the air when a shadowy form
emerged from the wood and walked the short distance that took him to
the waiting Hardman. The two were so far off that it was impossible to
identify him; but the lad was as certain it was the man who had
exchanged the words and signs with Hardman as if the noonday sun were
shining.

Frank Mansley would have given anything he had to be able to steal near
enough to overhear what passed between them, but that was clearly
impossible. To move from his place by the tent was certain to bring
instant detection. Now and then he could catch the faint murmur of
t