Page:Cornelia Meigs-The Pirate of Jasper Peak.djvu/143

 the door smartly behind him and never looking at Oscar, who was still in sight, trudging along the  open ridge above the valley. Hugh understood now why Oscar had asked so many questions  about the region where the footprints had been  seen, about how long the boy had walked before  he came in sight of the cabin, about the contour  of the land and the direction in which the shadows fell.

Hugh, as he moved sulkily toward the shed, began composing bitter speeches to be launched at  Oscar when he should return. He stopped for a moment and looked across at Jasper Peak and  the shack high up on its rocky shoulder. Yes, there was the plume of smoke again, torn and  whirled about by the wind, but still sending up its ominous signal. He turned to open the shed door. He would tell Oscar plainly that—that— But, after all, why should Oscar have gone at all? It was a forlorn hope at the best for which he was risking everything, leaving in Hugh’s safekeeping property that was infinitely valuable in