“You don’t seem to be afraid of him,” replied, George.

“I’m afraid of him all right,” the other replied, “but I don’t intend to let him know it.  I’ve got one of these billies inside my coat, all the time, and if he tries any funny business with me I’ll knock his block off!”

“He could cut you into shoestrings while you are asleep!”

“Yes, I suppose so, but be won’t do anything of the kind!”

“Well, come on over to camp,” urged George.  “It isn’t so very much of a walk.  I guess we can make it in half an hour.”

Thede hesitated, but finally dressed himself for a cold journey, and fixed the fire so that no damage might be done by it during his absence.

“How long has Pierre lived in this cabin?” asked George, as the boys started out.  “It looks like an old building.”

“I guess he found it standing here deserted and just moved in,” was the reply.  “I don’t think he knows much about this country.”

“Do you think he has any idea that the Little Brass God is in such great demand?” asked George.  “No, I don’t think he has.”

“Then, why should he keep it hidden away, even from you, three hundred miles away from civilization?  I should think he’d want to have the thing out once in a while, just to take a look at it, anyway.”

“I should think so,” agreed Thede.

The boys made their way over the morass and entered the thick undergrowth.  Now and then George flashed his electric, but he did not keep it burning steadily for the reason that he did not care to have Pierre trailing them back to the camp.

“Are you sure you passed this way when you came to the cabin?” asked Thede as they walked along.  “I don’t seem to find any trail here.”

“It seems to me I came along here,” was the reply.  “If it wasn’t so blasted dark, we could tell whether we were going in the right direction or not, all right!”

As the boy spoke, he lifted a hand to his face and raised the net which protected his features from the mosquitos, still flying about, although the night, apparently, was cold enough to freeze their wings stiff.

“They won’t bother you much more,” Thede commented.

“How do you know that?”

“Because there’s a snow storm coming up!”

“Then we’d better be getting a move on!” advised George.  “If we get caught up here in a snow storm, it’ll be ‘Good-night’ for us!”

“We’re going as fast as we can,” replied Thede, “but I don’t know whether we’re going in the right direction or not.  It seems like we’ve walked far enough to be at the camp.”

In five minutes the searchlight revealed a drift of snow in the air, and ten minutes later the ground was white.  A cold wind blew out of the north, shifting at times to the west, and the boys shivered under the chill of it.  Still no welcome light from the camp.

“Can you find your way back to the cabin?” asked George after they had walked at least an hour.