Elmer dug a little hole, first of all, at a certain distance from the
door, after the length of the log had been tested.

Then, with the help of his chums, he seated one end of the log firmly in
this. When the other end was allowed to slip down the face of the door
it rested about halfway.

"No danger of that slipping loose if she tries to push out," remarked
Elmer.

Mark gave several additional pulls downward at the upper end of the log,
to make it still firmer.

"I'll just wager," he said, finally, "that nobody, man or woman, could
open that door now from the inside."

"How about the window?" asked Lil Artha.

"You might manage to crawl through that small opening, but that
broad-beamed woman, never," declared the scout master, positively.

"Then we've got our wild bird safely caged."

"Looks like it, for the time being, anyhow," was the way Elmer replied.

"Say, see here, you don't seem to go very strong on the jail business.
What's on your mind now, Elmer?" and Lil Artha confronted the other as
he spoke, lifting a reproachful finger at him.

"Well, there's many a slip between the cup and the lip, you know."

"Oh, rats! Get down to business, Elmer. What might happen to upset our
plans?" asked the tall scout.

"One of the men might return."

"And of course throw down the log and liberate our prisoner. But between
you and me and the lamp-post, Elmer, I don't believe that's going to
happen. 'Cause why? Well, it's my honest belief that this Italiano
woman's got all the nerve there is in that crowd. The men are cowards."

"I'm rather of the same opinion, Artha," remarked Elmer. "And I've
thought that same thing more than once when watching some of them in
their settlement."

"But how about your other reason, Elmer?" asked Lil Artha. "Suppose now
the men don't come, what danger is there of her getting out? D'ye expect
she could burrow under the walls like we did once up at that old lumber
camp?"

"Perhaps. But I was thinking of another thing. Notice how poorly this
shack is put together? Why, if that Amazon got on the rampage and just
took a notion, I believe she could bring the whole business down in
ruins about her head."

"Wow, I guess she could, Elmer!" remarked the tall boy, nodding his
head, "just like Samson did long ago when he yanked the temple down, and
kicked the bucket himself, with all his enemies. But I don't think this
dull-witted creature's got sense enough for that; do you?"

"Perha