“Tell it,” urged Harriet, nodding to Hazel.

“I was watching for you and the girls when I thought I heard something behind me.  I looked around but saw nothing unusual.  But I had a feeling that some one was about.  I walked to the other end of the camp and back.  I saw no one—­nothing, I hadn’t thought to look up.  Something made me do so just then and I saw it.”

“Saw what?” demanded the guardian and the guide in chorus.

“A man.”

“You did?” exclaimed Janus.  “Where?”

“He was behind those green bushes that you see up there—­Oh, he has gone.  No need to go up there now, Mr. Grubb.”  Janus had begun to climb the rocks.

“Yes.  Please wait and hear the rest of the story,” ordered Miss Elting, who was deeply interested, but apparently undisturbed.  “What sort of looking man was he, Hazel?”

“He wore a long, black beard, and—­”

“You are positive of this?” interrupted Miss Elting.

“Yes.  I saw him plainly.  That is, I saw his head and shoulders.  The rest of his body was hidden behind the bushes.  I was going to cry out, but I knew you couldn’t hear me.  There was too much noise down there, so I just stood still.”

“Did he speak to you?” asked Janus.

“No.  I spoke to him.  I asked him what he wanted.  He did not reply.  Instead, he dodged behind the bushes and ran.  I could see, from the movement of the bushes to the right there, that he was getting away very rapidly.”

“Did the man wear green goggles?” asked the guide.

“No, sir.  He wore no glasses.”

“Of course not.  We’ve got the green goggles,” broke in Jane.  “But the whiskers!  Our enemy wore whiskers, didn’t he?”

“What do you make of this, Mr. Grubb?” questioned Miss Elting, eyeing Janus sharply.

“Can’t make anything of it.  Might be most anybody.  A good many persons up in these parts wear whiskers.”  Janus stroked his own reflectively.  “And then again, a good many more do not, so I don’t see that his whiskers prove much.  Wish I might have seen him.  If you don’t mind I’ll go up there now and see what I can find.”

Harriet said she would accompany him and assist in the search.

“You couldn’t recognize in him the man we saw on the station platform at Compton the night of our arrival, could you, Hazel?” asked the guardian.

“Oh, no.  I don’t believe it was the same person at all.”

“Then we are no wiser than before, except that it behooves us to keep our eyes open.  If that man has followed us into the mountains we shall hear more of him.  Do you find anything up there, Harriet?”

“We find where he has broken down some bushes, but that is all.  No footprints.  I might possibly pick up his trail, but over the rocks there would be slight chance of running it down.”

“I couldn’t permit it,” was Miss Elting’s decisive reply.  “Come down.  Jane, will you please start the fire?  We will have breakfast.”