"
"Do you mean the log-hut?" asked Winn.
"Yes, if that's what you call it; but you want to get a move onto you
in a hurry."
Bewildered and indignant as he was, Winn was yet cool enough to realize
the folly of resistance. He also reflected that when these men found
the hut deserted, and that there was no one besides themselves on the
island, they would be willing to listen to his story. At any rate, so
long as he was in their power it was best to do as they directed. So,
with the leader's hand still grasping his arm, the boy led the way into
the narrow trail that he had already traversed so often.
Proceeding slowly, and with such extreme caution that not a sound
betrayed their presence, the men followed in single file. At the edge
of the little clearing Winn halted, and was about to speak, when a hand
was again clapped over his mouth with the force of a blow.
"Whisper!" came the order.
"Well there's your hut," whispered the boy, as soon as he was given the
chance, "and if you find any one in it, then I'm a liar, that's all."
The hut was plainly visible by the firelight that streamed from its
open window. Winn wondered at the brightness of this light, for it
seemed as though the fire he had left there the evening before ought to
have burned out long ago. He also wondered that he did not remember
having closed the door.
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