Page:Cornelia Meigs-The Pirate of Jasper Peak.djvu/59

 more as he went slowly over the situation and realized how desperate it was. What could he do, a boy, alone, knowing nothing of woodcraft  and the cruel mysteries of the forest? Nothing, reason told him plainly, absolutely nothing.

Quite evidently he must go back to that cousin in New York who was to help him if things went  wrong. That things had gone wrong, from the moment of his getting off the train, onward  through his terrifying interview with Half-Breed  Jake, was not to be denied. This seemed to be one of the few certain facts in the whirling confusion of his affairs. He recollected now how the friendly porter had felt misgivings as to the  length of his stay in Rudolm and had reminded  him that the train that would carry him back to  the world he knew, would go through at six  o’clock in the morning. After long pondering, he decided to take it.

Just as he was about to go to bed he heard a sound at the window, a handful of pebbles striking against the glass. He got up to look out and saw some one standing on the doorstep below.