ascending from limb to limb till he was probably
twenty-five feet above the ground, concealed by the foliage and the
obscurity of night.

He had not long to wait.

Presently there emerged from the thicker recesses of the wood two men,
one of whom carried in his hand a tin box of considerable size.

Harry scrutinized them both, but he only recognized one. That one was a
man named Ralph Temple, generally considered a ne'er-do-well and a
vagabond, who lived in a tumble-down shanty in the edge of the wood.

"This is the place I was thinking of," said Temple, halting about twenty
feet from the tree in which Harry was concealed.

"It seems a lonely, out-of-the-way place," said his companion.

"Yes; no one is likely to see the box here. No one ever comes here.
There is a path through the wood, which is always used by those who pass
through it."

"And this is off from the path?"

"Yes."

"Where do you think it best to hide the box?"

"Under that tree will be a good place; say ten feet from it, in an
easterly direction."

"East and west are all alike to me here; I can't tell the difference."

"I can; and so could you, with a compass."

"Shall you know the place again?"

"Yes; do you notice that mark on the bark of the tree? It was struck by
lightning once, but that was all the harm done to it."

"Good! That will serve to identify it. But why couldn't we have
concealed it nearer your cabin?"

"I don't want to fall under suspicion," said Temple, shaking his head.

"Why should you?"

Ralph Temple laughed a harsh, unpleasant laugh.

"The good people round here haven't a very good opinion of me," he said.
"They would be very apt to suspect me, if suspicion came this way. No;
it's better to hide the box here."

"I wish we could sell the bonds at once."

"Nearly all are registered, and probably the old man has a record of the
rest, so that if we tried to sell them we would be brought up with a
round turn. No; as I told you, the only way is to wait till a reward is
offered, and then open negotiations for their return. Not immediately,
you know. We will keep them long enough to make the owner feel anxious,
and willing to get them back at any cost."

"I guess you're right. We must be prudent. If we could only get away
with the whole sum it would make us comfortable for a year or two."

"How much is there?"

"Well, there are eight thousand dollars in government bonds, and five
Union Pacific bonds of a thousan