“I think you’re away off there, Step Hen,” declared Giraffe. “Now, if I was asked my opinion, which nobody seems to care shucks for, I’d say that feller might be one of the two guides Mr. James W. Carson took into the woods with him. You see, I reckon there’s a heap of jealousy between all these same guides; and it galled him to know that after they’d gone and fetched the gentleman away up here, promisin’ that he’d have all the big game huntin’ he wanted, without being bothered by any other party, they had to run smack up against a pack of Boy Scouts, out on a trip. That’s why he scooted the way he did, I say.”
Giraffe looked toward Thad, as though wishing he would speak up, and either substantiate his opinion, or else advance a new one. But the patrol leader was closely watching the guides, and made no remark.
Sebattis and Eli had not gone far away. They seemed to be satisfied with following the trail just a little distance; and then turning, came back. Arriving under the window again they beckoned the others to approach.
“Don’t walk over this patch right hyar, boys,” warned the old guide, pointing down close to his feet; and from this they understood that the marks lay there.
“It’s thar, all right, Thad,” remarked Eli, with a grin. “Seems like the boy, he was right arter all, an’ sum critter was a peekin’ in at us.”
Both Thad and Allan of course looked down at the ground. The guides held their blazing pine-knots closer, so that they could see better.
The impression of human foot could not be easily mistaken for the track of any sort of wild beast. Even the most ignorant tenderfoot scout that ever joined a troop must have known that fact at a glance.
But the patrol leader and the Maine boy seemed to discover something about the imprint of a shoe that caused them to stare. The balance of the scouts realized that something was about to happen beyond the ordinary: for they pushed in closer, and waited for either of the two experts to advance an opinion.
Allan looked at Thad, and the other returned his glance with a nod.
“Seen that track before, eh, Allan?” Thad remarked.