for if there was any hole to flounder into, or thorny
thicket to get stuck in, Jimmy could be depended on to do his share of
the adventure. Not that he purposely chose to get mixed up in all these
skirmishes with unpleasant things; but he was one of those unlucky chaps
whose blundering feet so often led him into a peck of troubles.

It would have taken much more than this to have discouraged Jimmy,
however. He was made of stubborn material. Difficulties played fast and
loose with him, but they never daunted the boy, who would only close
those firm jaws of his more tightly than ever, and say that "after
fifty-nine comes sixty," and if he had to go to twice that number he'd
get there in the end.

One good thing about all this hustle, was the fact that, as Jimmy found
himself, for the most part in the rear, he could not make any excuse to
start in talking, because he did not dare call out, after what Ned had
said.

They could hear him muttering savagely to himself every time a root
tripped him up, or he found a swinging vine trying to lift him off his
feet by means of his neck. That was a small matter, because, of course,
Jimmy had to have some way of letting off superfluous steam, and it
really did no harm.

Ned looked around quite frequently. He did not wish Jimmy to get into
any serious trouble, because, in spite of his weakness for blundering,
the McGraw boy was a faithful companion, who could always be depended on
to stick to his friends, no matter what threatened. And he and Ned had
seen some pretty lively times all told, in times gone by. This
association in peril does more to cement the bonds of real friendship
than anything else known. And that was why Ned wanted Jimmy along on
this trip, also why he kept a wary eye out after the safety of the
other.

Now and then Francois would step aside. On these occasions they knew he
was making sure that the two men were still going on ahead, and had not
either halted or turned aside into the rocky shore recesses.

They had kept up this sort of thing for nearly half an hour, and some of
the boys were secretly telling themselves they had about reached the
limit of their endurance, when Francois made motions with his hands to
tell them that some sort of change had occurred since last he took an
observation.

"Say, they're gone!" muttered Jimmy, coming up just then; and from the
mystified look on his face, one would half believe he thought the men
had taken wings and f