“Pete is onto it now!” Kathleen agreed in dismay.
The little dog had halted alertly on the trail. After sniffing the air, he left the path and came directly over to the bushes where the two girls had taken shelter.
To their consternation, he began to bark and to jerk his head, as if inviting them to follow him to the cave.
Judy seized the little dog, and tightly held his jaws so that he could not bark.
“This is a fine howdy-do!” she muttered. “Pete will give us away if anyone is within a mile of here!”
“Do you suppose Bart could be close?” Kathleen speculated. “Pete plainly is trying to get us to follow him to the cave.”
“If we let him go, he’ll set up a fearful clatter. I can’t hold his jaws together forever either!”
“Bart would be a big help to us if we could find him.”
“We could see if he’s at the cave entrance,” Judy said reluctantly. “I don’t think we’ll find him though, and we’d be leaving a good hiding place.”
“We can be careful,” Kathleen returned. “Help from the Forest Service or highway headquarters should be coming quite soon.”
Allowing herself to be persuaded, Judy followed Kathleen from the leafy shelter. She kept tight hold of Pete however, not allowing him to bark or scramble out of her arms.
The rocky path wound through the trees and around big boulders. Presently, the girls were within view of the dark entranceway to the cave.
Judy halted, thinking that she saw a tiny wisp of smoke emerging from the cavern. In that moment of inattention, Pete made a convulsive movement and before she could regain her grip, leaped to the ground.
Yipping excitedly, he ran toward the cave entrance.
With a gasp of dismay, Judy thrust Kathleen back into a thicket, and herself crouched behind a rock.
It was well that the girls took refuge, for Pete’s loud barking had not gone unheard.
A dark figure appeared silhouetted in the opening of the cave. Judy could not see the face of the heavy-set man, but she knew instantly from his build that he was not Bart Ranieau.
“There’s that confounded mutt again!” the girls heard the man exclaim. “He’ll give us away!”
“Slug him with a rock!” came advice from inside the cave.
The man in the entranceway, heaved a stone which missed its mark by mere inches. Pete barked the louder.