Immediately came answering reports, directly to their left.
"Hullo!" yelled Tom, at the top of his lungs, and Sam at once took up the cry.
"Hullo!" came back faintly. "Tom! Sam! Is that you?"
"Yes. We are on the river!"
"All right!"
The yelling now stopped, and Tom and Sam came to a halt and sat down on a flat rock to. wait. Ten minutes passed, when they saw Dick rush into a clearing, followed by John Barrow. As soon as the eldest Rover saw them he waved his hand enthusiastically.
"Where in the world have you been?" came from Dick, as soon as he reached them, and saw that neither was injured. "We've been looking high and low for you."
"We've been prisoners of the enemy," answered Tom. "By the way, have you seen anything of Dan Baxter and his party?"
"No. Do you mean to say Baxter made you prisoners?"
"He and his crowd did."
"How many are there with him?"
"Three men, Bill Harney the guide, Lemuel Husty, and Jasper Grinder."
"Jasper Grinder!" burst out Dick. "Impossible!"
