But then three would be better than two in such an adventure.  There was Toby Jucklin, a stout fellow, and usually well primed for anything that smacked of excitement and peril; he must be awakened, and enlisted in the game.

So Max held up a warning finger, and stooping low again whispered: 

“I’ll get Toby; wait by the door for us!  Don’t dream of going out until we join you!”

With that he silently slipped over to the opening in the wall occupied by the sleeping Toby Jucklin.  The latter was easily aroused, and when Max whispered a word of caution in his ear, he knew enough not to cry out; though of course the blood must have started bounding like mad through his arteries.

Indeed, it was a most singular thing to be aroused from sound sleep by being told that danger hovered over their heads, and that it would be necessary for the three of them to sally forth so as to surprise the enemy at work.

Toby was game, however.  His vocal cords might play tricks with him frequently, and give him heaps of trouble, but when it was a matter of action, Toby “took nobody’s dust,” as he often boasted.

Obed had meanwhile managed to creep over to the door, where he impatiently awaited the coming of the other two.  The strange tapping sounds continued, and evidently the man lying there under the blanket had become so deeply interested in what he was trying to communicate or receive, that, so far, he had failed to discover there was any movement in the cabin.

Of course, all of the boys were quivering with half-suppressed excitement, though grimly determined to put their plan into operation.  Obed had already reached up and taken hold of the bar, so as to be ready to remove it when joined by his companions.

“Keep the bar,” whispered Max; “it will make a fine club, Obed!”

“Say when, Max,” came back from the tightly compressed lips of the woods boy, whose eyes could be seen glittering eagerly in the firelight.

“Open up!” Max told him.

Perhaps the door may have made some creaking sound on being drawn back; either that, or else the man chanced to free his head from the muffling folds of the blanket just then, and discovered what was going on.  He gave a shout of warning, and the three boys shot through the opening at the same instant.

Max led the way.  He had carefully noted the location of the sounds, and judged that the interloper must be somewhere close to the wall where Jake Storms lay; so it was in that direction he leaped.

The stars wore shining brightly above.  Besides this a certain amount of light managed to come through that small window of the lodge, and help to partially dispel the gloom without.

“There he is!” cried Obed, as they turned the corner, and discovered a figure in the act of scrambling erect.

Pell-mell the trio rushed at the unknown who just managed to gain a footing when he found himself furiously beset.  There was a tremendous struggle.  The man seemed savage at the thought of being caught, and struck furious blows.  Toby at one time managed to cling to the other’s back for a brief moment, but was dislodged by a clever fling that sent him crashing against a tree, and made him grunt like a hog that receives a jolt.