ismayed.

If they should be too late! This was the terrible fear that haunted
them. Already the afternoon had advanced and their shadows were growing
longer behind them. Bert consulted his watch. Night comes on suddenly
in those latitudes and there were only a few hours of the precious
daylight left. Whatever they did that day would have to be done before
darkness set in. It was difficult enough to follow the trail by
daylight, but at night it would be utterly impossible. Since they had
not killed Dick at once the probability was that his life would be safe
during the flight. But at night they would be resting, with nothing to
do but drink and gamble and indulge in every vice of their depraved
natures. What deviltry might come to the surface, what thirst for blood
and death that could only be slaked in the torture of their captive!
Nine-tenths of the world's crime is committed under cover of the night,
and it is not without reason that Satan has been called the "Prince of
Darkness."

Such thoughts as these gave an added quickness to their steps. The way
led steadily uphill. The path was rough and they tripped often over the
tangled undergrowth. Long creepers reached down like snakes to grasp
them from the branches overhead. Once they narrowly escaped a
treacherous bog that got a firm grip on Tom's feet, and from which Bert
only pulled him out by the utmost exertion of his strength. At times
they lost the trail altogether, and fumed for nearly an hour before they
took up the thread again. At the brook through which Dick's captors had
walked their horses, they had almost begun to despair, when an
exclamation of Tom's showed that he had found the spot where they had
left the water. But through all these vexations, they stuck to the work
with dogged tenacity. Then suddenly, almost without warning, night came
down on them like a blanket. There was nothing of the long dusk and
waning light common to northern climes. Five minutes earlier there was
light enough for them to read by. Five minutes later and they could not
see their hand before their face.

"Well, Tom, old scout," said Bert, "it's no go for to-day. We've got to
go into camp."

"Yes," agreed Tom, bitterly, "we've done our best, but our best isn't
good enough. Poor Dick----"

"Brace up, old fellow," replied Bert, feigning a cheerfulness he did not
feel, "we'll get there yet. To-morrow's a new day. And remember that
this same darkness is