re
we are, all to the good, and right side up with care. The question is,
what d'ye expect to do with the signorina, now that you've got her?"

"She must be kept a prisoner in the shanty until we can decide on our
course, and get George here," replied Elmer, so readily that the others
understood how he must have his plan of action fully mapped out in his
own mind.

"Let's see you usher her in, then," chuckled the tall scout, just as
though he anticipated enjoying a treat when Elmer tried to "shoo" the
Italian woman into the place.

But it proved the easiest thing possible. When Elmer took her by the arm
and pointed to the open door the woman gave him one look, shook herself
free from his grasp, and hastened to vanish within the shack.

"Easy as falling off a log," declared Lil Artha, a shade of
disappointment in his voice, for he had anticipated more or less of a
struggle.

Elmer quietly closed the door.

"How are you going to fasten it?" asked Mark.

"I wish that was the hardest nut I had to crack," laughed the scout
master. "Fortunately the door opens outwardly."

"Unfortunately, you mean," echoed Mark, as he touched the painful lump
on his forehead.

"I say yes to that," grinned Lil Artha, whose nose had stopped bleeding
by this time, but whose face was a sight to behold, being smeared with
all manner of strange red marks that made him resemble an Apache Indian
on the warpath.

"As it does open outwardly, however," Elmer went on saying, with a
sympathetic smile for the woes of his chums, "it ought to be easy enough
for us to barricade the door. Look around, boys, and see if you can find
several good stout sticks about three or four feet long. Even a small
tree trunk would be about what we want."

"And I think I know where to find one," said Lil Artha, hastening away,
"because I took a header over it when we were chasing the dago woman."

CHAPTER XIII.

THE CALL OF THE WOLF.

"That's the ticket, Lil Artha," said Elmer, as the tall scout returned
presently, bearing on his shoulder quite a good-sized log about five
feet in length.

"Reckon that ought to hold all right," panted the burden bearer, as he
cast the small tree trunk at Elmer's feet.

"Fine and dandy," commented Mark, beginning to get the barricade in
position.

Of course the log had to be planted in such a way that it might secure a
grip on the door. This meant that it must incline at an angle of more
than forty-five degrees.