" added Bluff, as he reached down to get a good
grip on the end of the litter pole.

The start was made in fairly good shape, and if their movements caused
the wounded man new pain he managed to repress his groans. Realizing
the great debt he owed these sterling boys, the woodcutter felt that
he ought to suppress the signs of suffering, at least as much as he
possibly could.

Frank watched to see with what confidence little Sandy again started
in the lead. He was immediately convinced that there need be not the
least anxiety concerning his ability to serve as a true guide. The
instinct was born in him; if asked how he picked out his course he
could never have explained save by saying he _knew_ it, and that was
all.

When they had covered about a mile Frank called for a rest. He felt
sure Will in particular must be getting weak and weary with all this
strenuous work, to which he was quite unaccustomed.

Sandy had offered to lend a hand, but was told to stick to his post as
guide.

"It's a more important service you can render leading us straight,
than the little help you could give lifting," Frank told the boy when,
for the third time, Sandy offered to relieve Will.

"We ought to get there on the next turn," decided Bluff.

Jerry was sniffing the night air.

"Why, it seems to me," he remarked, blandly, "that I can just smell
the lake, and according to my guess it can't be more than half a mile
away."

They waited to rest for about ten minutes. Then as Bluff and Jerry
began to manifest signs of restlessness Frank gave the order to move
along once more. Will declared that he felt able to keep on for a
time, long enough, probably, to take them over the remainder of the
ground.

There were numerous occasions when one or another stumbled, for with
poor illumination it was not always possible to see small
obstructions. Once or twice the man on the litter groaned, and at such
times the boys took themselves to task with fresh energy, afterwards
trying more than ever to avoid all such petty pitfalls.

"Pretty nearly there, I guess!" said Jerry, who felt sure he had
recognized some of the surrounding woods, although they looked
different to him in the weird moonlight from their usual seeming in
broad day.

"We'll break out of the trees inside of five minutes," prophesied
Bluff, going his chum one better, since he set the time, which Jerry
had not.

"Make it seven and I'm with you," Frank told them, knowing that