"George and I will be on guard, pistols in one hand and fish in the other." Pennington climbed the elm rapidly and then announced from the highest bough able to support him that he saw open country beyond, then more woods, a glimpse of the stream above the elbow, but no human being.
He added that he would remain a few minutes in the tree and continue his survey of the country.
Dick's eyes had followed Frank's figure until it disappeared among the brown leaves, and he had listened to him carefully, while he was telling the result of his outlook, but his attention now turned back to the river.

No more chips were floating down its stream.

Nothing foreign appeared upon the clear surface of its waters, but Dick's sharp vision caught sight of something in a thicket on the far shore that made his heart beat.
It was but little he saw, merely the brown edge of an enormous flap- brimmed hat, but it was enough.

Slade and his men undoubtedly were there-- practically within the Union lines--and he was the danger! He called up the tree in a fierce sibilant whisper that carried amazingly far: "Come down, Frank! Come down at once, for your life!" It was a call so alarming and insistent that Pennington almost dropped from the tree.

He was upon the ground, breathless, in a half minute, his fish in one hand and the pistol that he had snatched from his belt in the other.
"What is it ?" exclaimed Warner, who had not yet seen anything.
"Slade and his men are in the bush on the other side of the river.
The warning was real and I've no doubt Harry sent it.