“That is, the track of a broken shoe which has the sole held in place by a rag bound about it, hobo fashion?” continued Allan.
“Yes, and belonging to the right foot at that, just as we learned long ago was the case with Wandering George,” Thad continued.
“Where did you run across the trail?” questioned Allan.
“I’ll show you when we’re leaving here,” he was told. “It’s so plain even a tenderfoot couldn’t miss seeing the same. And when the road is reached you can follow it for some little distance.”
“Toward the river, Thad?”
“Yes, in an easterly direction,” answered the leader of the patrol; “and that just suits us right up to the notch, you know. But the boys are ready to start, so we’d better be hiking out.”
The last they saw of the farmer and his family the two girls were waving their sun-bonnets wildly, while the older people contented themselves with making use of their hands. This little visit of the scouts had made a very enjoyable break in the monotony of their lives, and would not be soon forgotten.
As for Hiram, he had received permission to accompany the boys for a mile along the road; though Thad had solemnly promised the farmer to send him back in due time, for there were daily chores to be looked after that could not be neglected.
While some of the others, notably Bumpus and Smithy and Davy, were paying attention to answering the fervent signals of the jolly country girls, Thad was showing Allan, Giraffe, Bob White and Step Hen the plain impression of the marked shoe belonging, as they very well knew, to the particular tramp whom they were so anxious to overtake.
How Hiram did listen eagerly to every word that was uttered, and even got down on his hands and knees to scrutinize that impression. He had of course hunted at times, as every country boy does, and shot his quota of small game like rabbits, squirrels, quail and woodcock; yet knew next to nothing concerning the real delights of woodcraft. But the seed had taken root in Hiram’s soul, and would sprout from that time on. The coming of these scouts had aroused an ambition within him, and he could never again be the same contented plodder that he had seemed to be in the past.