CHAPTER EIGHTEEN.
AN ODD ADVENTURE BEFORE BREAKFAST.
They had plenty of meat for their breakfast though--such as it was--and came nigh paying dearly enough for it.
The three brothers slept lying along the ground within a few feet of one another.

Their tent was gone, and, of course, they were in the open air.

They were under a large spreading tree, and, wrapped in their blankets, had been sleeping soundly through the night.

Day was just beginning to break, when something touched Francois on the forehead.

It was a cold, clammy object; and, pressing upon his hot skin, woke him at once.