.

"If you'll keep that impertinent little gutter-snipe still,"
Antoine snarled, "I'll answer such questions as seem to me to be
worth answering."

"Are you the man who was seen sitting half-asleep before a fire in
a cavern three nights ago?" asked the boy.

The man hesitated for a moment, as if in deep thought, and then
answered with an exclamation of impatience.

"Were you in the cave that night?"

"No, but my chums were," Will replied.

"What did they see there?"

"A man asleep by the fire!"

"Perhaps the man wasn't asleep at all. What else did they see?"

It was Will's turn to hesitate now. He was wondering if he ought
to mention the fact of the presence in that cavern of the Little
Brass God.

At first it seemed to him that he ought to do so, that he might be
able to secure information as to the exact situation from Antoine
by facing him with the fact of the discovery of the ugly little
idol.

Then he reasoned that an acknowledgment that they knew anything
whatever of the Little Brass God would be likely to get them into
deeper trouble, if possible, than that which they now faced.

So the boy decided to say nothing whatever of what George and Thede
had seen shining in the light of the fire.

During this brief time of silence Antoine brought his rifle into a
more menacing position and began stirring about angrily.

"Are you going to answer my question?" the man finally demanded.

"That's about all so far as I know!" replied the boy.

Of course Will was not telling the exact truth, but he believed
that, under the circumstances, he was privileged to shade the exact
facts a trifle in the interest of his own safety.

"What was it you put in the tea you gave George?" asked Tommy with
a mischievous grin on his freckled face.

"I put nothing whatever in it!" replied Antoine, "that is, I put
nothing in it calculated to do the boy any harm."

It seemed to the boys that Antoine's manner was becoming more
conciliatory every moment.

"The lad was worn out, weak from loss of blood, and sadly in need
of attention," the man went on, "and so, after caring for his wound
and giving him a good breakfast, I gave him a mild sleeping potion,
which, as you already know, affected him only a short time."

"You say it well!" grinned Tommy.

Antoine threw an angry glance at the provoking youngster, but soon
turned to Will once more.

"I didn't quite understand the sudden attack the boys made on me,"
he said.