they
trooped forth, they were in a condition to do battle if necessary, and
at least strike terror into the heart of any skulking marauder.

Max, wise general that he was, had thought of something very essential
to their success. This was nothing more or less than a lantern. They had
been thoughtful enough to fetch one along, a clever little contraption
that took only a small amount of room, and yet afforded considerable
light. Besides, Obed possessed a lantern of the ordinary type, together
with a plentiful supply of oil, looking to the long winter evenings when
he might want to read in order to pass away some of the spare time, that
promised to drag heavily on his hands.

So they poured forth. The cries still continued, and as vociferous as
ever. Indeed, if anything, there was a wilder strain to them now, as
though the fellow who gave utterance to the shouts might be getting
sorely alarmed at his strange condition, and feared the worst.

There was no trouble about deciding which way to go. Even if they did
not have Obed to serve as guide, and pilot the expedition, they could
easily have followed the loud notes of alarm.

Everybody was more or less excited, from Obed down to Max himself, and
small wonder when the fact of their being aroused in the dead of the
night by this fierce racket is taken into consideration.

Hastening in this manner toward the spot where the first trap had been
set, they speedily discovered that the overhanging tree bore strange
fruit. Something grotesque was swinging violently back and forth. It was
a human figure, but hardly recognizable as such, on account of the fact
that it now hung head downward, with one leg firmly gripped by the
tenacious slip-noose, and the other, together with a pair of wildly
flung arms, cutting all sorts of eccentric circles through the air.

Never in all their varied experiences had Max and his three comrades
looked on a more remarkable spectacle than the one by which they were
now greeted. The man's face could not be plainly seen on account of his
coat sagging down partly over his head, so they could not immediately
tell what he looked like; but he certainly possessed a bull-like voice
that, properly trained for opera use might have won him a fair amount of
fame and money, for it was more than usually lusty.

He seemed to divine the fact that those in the cabin must have rushed
out in answer to his shouts. Perhaps he detected the light they carried
with the