s he prepared to take his turn bending over the water hole.

Of course everybody laughed, for they could guess what had happened.
Step Hen's little failings were an everyday occurrence. As Giraffe had
often declared, the careless one would have long since lost his head had
not a kind Nature secured it to his body.

The march was resumed, with Thad lecturing Step Hen on his prevailing
sin; and as usual Step Hen solemnly promising to be more careful the
next time. But he had a very slippery mind, and the chances were that
before nightfall he would be up to his old tricks again, accusing the
rest of playing a prank by hiding some of his possessions.

"There's a man sitting on that rock up there, watching us!" said Davy
Jones, in a tone that thrilled them all.

"A regular mountaineer too," added Smithy. "Just as I've pictured them
often, with butternut jean trousers, a ragged woolen shirt open at the
neck, and an old hat on his frowsy head. Boys, he seems to have a gun in
his possession, too."

They were a little uneasy as they passed along; but the lone man seemed
to simply watch the squad of uniformed scouts without making any hostile
move.

"Chances are," remarked Davy Jones, after they lost sight of the man;
"he was some sort of vidette or sentry, posted up there to keep an eye
on the trail; and if any suspicious characters came along, to send word
to the other moonshiners. I understand they can telegraph all right
without the aid of instruments, or even the latest wireless outfit. How
about that, Bob?"

"Yes, it is so," replied the Southern boy. "They do it by making smokes;
or sometimes by sounds that are passed along from one station to
another. It's queer how fast a message can be relayed in that way."

"Well," remarked Thad, "that's the method used by blacks in Africa; and
they do say they can send news of a battle faster than white men can get
it along by relays of telegraph stations, with breaks where a carrier
has to be used."

"Are we getting anywhere close to the place you said old Reuben lived
at, Bob?" asked Bumpus, who was showing signs of being tired.

"Another hour will take us to where we can look across the wonderful
little valley and see the place," Bob answered. "You will all be
surprised, for nobody would ever think so fine a house could be found
among these wild mountains; but as I told you before, Reuben Sparks
seems never to have been molested by the moonshiners. Most people
believe he