cavern in the quarry. He was indeed a wild-looking party,
with long, unkempt hair and a sunburnt face in which his glowing eyes
were deep-seated. There was that about him to convince Hugh instantly
he must be deranged, although just then the man bent over poor K.K.
solicitously, and seemed to be tenderly doing something calculated to
ease his pain.

Hugh coughed, meaning to draw attention to the fact of their arrival.
The man immediately stood up and bent a searching look upon the five
lads. Perhaps he had been hearing K.K. tell how some of his chums
would certainly be coming to search for him, and, therefore, even
though he might wish to remain in his hidden retreat undisturbed,
he manifested no hostility toward them, simply folded his arms and,
stepping back, watched their approach.

Hugh made gestures to indicate that they were peacefully disposed.
In doing so he purposely used the signal code and spelled out the
one word, "friend." He saw the wildman's thin face take on a sudden
gleam of awakened interest, and he nodded his head in the affirmative,
as if to reassure Hugh that they were not unwelcome. From this the
boy knew the stranger must at some time have been in the army, and
that even while his brain was resting under a cloud he could till
send and receive messages such as had been one time his daily avocation.

They reached the side of their unfortunate companion. He held out a
hand to welcome Hugh. "Oh! I'm mighty glad you've come, fellows, I
tell you," he told them, with a tremor in his voice. "I've had a
rotten time of it all around, and suffered terribly. You see, I made
a fool of myself, and tripped over a vine, so that I was thrown into
a gully, with my left leg under me. Snapped both bones, he says,
just above the ankle, and a fine time I've got ahead of me this
winter, with no skating, hockey, or anything worth living for. But
then it might have been worse, because my neck is worth more to me
than my ankle. But now I do hope you can get me home. I never wanted
to see home and mother one-half as much as now."

"Yes, we've come in the big car, K.K.," Hugh assured him. "And we'll
fetch you home right away. You ought to be looked after by Doctor
Wambold; broken bones are not things to be trifled with, and while
this party seems to have done the best he could it can only be a
make shift."

"Don't you believe it, Hugh," said the injured boy warmly; "why, he's
a regular jim-dandy about su