After a hearty meal they cleared away the dishes and sat around the fire discussing the situation until ten o’clock.  Then they secured the door and windows of the cabin and crawled into their bunks, which were remarkably well supplied with blankets and tanned bear skins.

In the middle of the night the fire died down to embers and Will arose to pile on more wood.  He moved softly about in order not to disturb the sleep of his chums, and finally sat down by the blaze to enter anew upon a mental discussion of the mystery which surrounded them.

Will heard the sash rattling, as if in the light wind which was blowing, and glanced toward it.

What he saw was not the velvet darkness of the night laying against the glass.  The firelight which shone through the glazed sash revealed the outlines of a human face looking in upon him.

It was an ugly face, with dusky skin, narrow slits of eyes, and straight black hair which seemed to wind and coil about the repulsive countenance as a collection of serpents might have done.

The face disappeared as the boy looked, and Will tiptoed softly to the bunk where Tommy lay and awoke him with a violent shake.

“Get up!” he said.

“Aw, go chase yourself!” answered Tommy not very politely.

“It’s worth seeing,” Will assured the lad.  Tommy seized a shoe from the floor, hurled it at the head of his chum, and then rose to sitting position, rubbing his eyes sleepily.

“What have you found now?” he demanded.

“There’s a new one on us!” Will declared.

Tommy opened his eyes wide in wonder.

“Not a new Boy Scout?” he asked.

“We seem to pick up plenty of new Boy Scouts,” laughed Will, “but this isn’t a new Boy Scout.  This is the Little Brass God given the power of expression and the use of his legs!”

“So you’ve gone and got ’em too, have you?” demanded Tommy.

“When I got up to renew the fire,” Will answered, “I heard the window sash to the north rattling.  Thinking that I ought to go and fix it, I glanced that way and saw the Little Brass God looking down upon me.”

“Was he sitting up in the window with his legs crossed, and his arms folded, and his face making you think of the Old Nick?” asked Tommy.

“I could see only the head, but the head looked exactly as I imagine the Little Brass God looks; with the firelight shining on the yellowish hide, the face gave me the impression of being made out of brass!”

“You better read another page out of the dream book and go back to bed!” laughed Tommy.  “You’ve been laboring under strong excitement lately and I think you need a long rest.”

CHAPTER XIV

A CALL FROM THE DARKNESS

“Perhaps you don’t believe I saw anything at the window,” replied Will, somewhat indignantly.

“Oh, I don’t doubt that you think you saw something at the window.”