"But where can we go?" asked Charlton, wringing his hands. "This place has nowhere to hide in; nowhere that could not be found if once people were really searching." "They will search; there is no doubt of that," answered Ralph. "But we may manage to elude them. We cannot stay here dodging round, that is quite certain. We must manage to get out of it and find somewhere else to hide." "Ah, my kind boy, but where shall that somewhere be?" said the man, shaking his head. "It might have been in my own home, but now that they think that I am here, and are on my track, they will keep their eyes on that spot, and I have not one single friend who will shelter me." "Hush! Hush!" cried Ralph suddenly. "Listen! There is no time to lose. They are in the wood on that side. Creep after me. Stop! Cover those leaves over or they will see where you have been standing." "You are thoughtful for one so young," murmured the man, as he obeyed Ralph's instructions. "Well, I will place myself under your guidance, and trust to you. Where shall we go? Through that undergrowth?" "No, no! You cannot move through that without making a noise and leaving traces. Keep to this path. I feel sure that is wisest. Bend low, and step lightly. Come! Now, Charlton, buck up, and we will save your father yet." His confidence inspired them with hope. Unhesitatingly they followed his lead. The path he chose led them into another clear little space, away to the right of that which they had left. They could hear the noise made by their pursuers in their rear, and they did not seem any better off here. It was only putting off the end for a little time, and so Charlton's father said, but Ralph would not listen to him. He had been in as tight a corner before, when he and his father, and two more, had been pursued by the Indians of the plains, and had dodged and doubled for three whole days ere they had thrown their foe off their track. Ralph was not going to give up yet. "Stop!" he said. "You must climb up this tree. No, not that one!" as Charlton ran to a big, old decaying oak. "But this is hollow. We can hide in it," objected the boy. But Ralph shook his head. "I can see it is hollow, and so can any one who has a pair of eyes. That is just why we must not go there, for they will be sure to look in it. Up this one!" "But we shall be seen." "Do as your friend bids you," said the man. And Charlton obeyed, his father following him. Then did Ralph show his cunning, for, directing them to stand with their backs against the trunk, he showed them how to draw the branches down until they made a thick canopy all around them. Ralph himself stood at the bottom, carefully examining their hiding-place. "Now, if you stand quite still, as you are, no one will be able to see you," he said. "But remember there must be no noise and no movement; everything may depend upon that. Keep still. Here is some one coming!"