CHAPTER PAGE

I the Lone figure                       1
II A pathetic sight                      5
III three good turns                      9
IV the five reeler                       15
V R-R-R-robbers!                        20
VI A message in the dark                 24
VII locked doors                          28
VIII A discovery                           32
IX the tenth case                        36
X A race with death                     41
XI A rural Paradise                      45
XII enter the genuine article             48
XIII A friend in need                      56
XIV saved!                                61
XV in camp                               65
XVI footprints                            74
XVII action                                80
XVIII the message                           84
XIX page two hundred and eighty-four      88
XX stop!                                 92
XXI seein’ things                         97
XXII Hark!  The conquering hero comes       104
XXIII Peter finds A way                     109
XXIV deserted                              114
XXV bedlam                                122
XXVI the culprit at the Bar                128
XXVII some noise                            134
XXVIII on the trail                          138
XXIX voices                                142
XXX face to face                          146
XXXI alone                                 154
XXXII on to Bridgeboro                      159
XXXIII Hark!  The conquering hero comes back  165
XXXIV Pee-wee holds forth                   169
XXXV scoutmaster Ned doesn’t see           174
XXXVI more HARDLING                         180
XXXVII hints                                 185
XXXVIII the fixer                             192
XXXIX betrayed!                             197
XL guess again                           206

ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE

“Who—­who are—­you?” Pee-wee stammered Frontispiece
handwritten note 27
“The road is closed,” said Peter. 109
Pee-wee before the justice of the peace. 130
“We’re not miners, we’re scouts!” Pee-wee shouted. 202

PEE-WEE HARRIS ON THE TRAIL

CHAPTER I

THE LONE FIGURE

The night was bleak and cold.  All through the melancholy, cheerless day, the first chill of autumn had been in the air.  Toward evening the clouds had parted, showing a steel-colored sky in which the sun went down a great red ball, tinting the foliage across the river with a glow of crimson.  A sun full of rich light but no heat.