Phil posted himself several feet away from Andy, so that their weight would not be bulked. He was a trifle uneasy. They knew nothing as to the plans or dispositions of the men they had seen at Lowell and now approaching the hut. It seemed impossible that they would not be discovered if the new visitors remained any length of time. The way the tan bark bent and rustled and sifted down into the room below startled Phil. There were a dozen breaks in the flooring, and Phil could easily keep the door in sight. Upon this he fixed his eyes, expectantly and anxiously. A moment or two later the door was pushed open. There was a prodigious stamping of feet, and the sounds of heavy, tired breathing. "Thunder!" exclaimed one voice--"that was a hard tramp." "Yes," echoed the other. "If royal old King George don't pay us well for this bit of work, we'll sell out to the enemy!" CHAPTER XII A NEST OF TORIES "Hush!" whispered Phil warningly to Andy. The latter was all a-quiver over the intense situation. "Humph," muttered Andy. "I never could keep still and, balancing on this sharp beam, I'm worse than ever. My, those are two tough-looking fellows." The men came stamping into the room, puffing and panting from their exertion in the deep snow. They indulged in some casual conversation about their journey and their satisfaction on reaching warmth and rest. They kicked off their overboots and sat down near the fire. Phil instantly recognized one of the men as the fellow who had held him a prisoner near by the town hall in Lowell and the other as his original captor. Listening to the talk he learned that the former was named Peters, the latter Swithins. Peters rested for a minute, then went over to the table to inspect the map tacked to it. He took up and read the note which Phil and Andy had already perused. "Balfour has been here, Swithins," he reported. "He gives us a point to report and act on at once." "What's that, Peters?" inquired the other man. "Storm Cove. It seems he has arranged, and the boat will be met on signal by a true-blue. Some of the others have been here, too, it seems, according to the dots and crosses on the map." "Good thing," commended Swithins. "Our bad break at Lowell was pretty discouraging. We can get square, though, by reaching the _Vixen_ and rushing the landing through at Storm Cove." "I'd like to get my hands on the fellow who knocked me down in the cellar," growled Peters, gritting his teeth savagely. "Those papers would have been a great haul. Besides, it's gotten the fellow in trouble who sold us the documents. It was a bad mess."