Page:The Outdoor Chums.djvu/156

142 tree. All he had in mind was that he might be of assistance to a fellow human being in distress.

It was pitch dark in the woods, though now and then a flash of distant lightning came to momentarily relieve the gloom.

Jerry started in the direction he believed the sounds came from. Now and then he paused to listen, and in this way managed to keep going straight.

"Hello! where are you?" he cried, finally, as a dreadful silence fell upon the forest ahead, a silence that made him very anxious indeed.

Immediately a voice called out wildly:

"Oh, here I am, under this fallen tree! Please come and help me! I can't hardly move, and I think my arm is broken. Don't leave me to die!"

"It's all right. Don't worry, for I'm not going to run away. Speak again so I can get to you. It's awful dark under here."

The other took him at his word, and commenced to rattle on, saying all manner of things, simply to direct his rescuer to the spot.

"It's Andy Lasher, as sure as I live," said Jerry to himself, as he recognized the other's voice, despite the agony in it.

So making his way forward he finally came to the tree under which the other was pinioned by some of the branches.