My, what a steam hammer that fellow is in a fight! I wonder if he really is the son of that hard character called Bill Mosher ?" As Dick neared the camp he stepped more softly.

He wanted to see whether Mosher really had come back.
But no figure was discernible in the clearing beyond the camp.
Dick walked in more confidently.

His first care was to examine the food supply.
"Nothing gone," Dick murmured.

Then he looked about for a stick large enough to serve as a weapon at need.

While doing so his glance fell upon an axe.
"I wouldn't use that," Prescott told himself.