The three men who had been left with Sadie lay upon the earth under the shadow of the trees. Their faces were upturned to the sky, and it needed no prophet to tell that they were dead, and the party broke into a run and reached the spot. Two of them had been shot through the heart, evidently with pistol balls, and the third had half a dozen knife wounds upon him, and they saw on every hand evidences of a desperate struggle, while Sadie was nowhere to be seen. The men paused and looked at each other in unspeakable dismay, for they knew Jackwood too well to dare face him, and tell him what had happened.
“He’d kill me!” screamed Garrett. “Look here, boys; we’ve got to find this girl before we go back, so take the trail at once, and follow. We’ll have her back, if she is above ground, and avenge these poor fellows who lie dead. I only wish we had Tom Bantry now; he was the best scout among us.”
“What made you leave him in the river then?” said one of the men, in a sullen tone. “He won’t come back no more, Tom won’t, and like enuff he’ll turn against us.”
“Don’t be mutinous, Tracey,” said Garrett, turning a dark look upon the speaker. “You know me, and you know I never waste words. Be mighty careful; I would, if I was you.”
The man understood the deadly threat implied in the words of his leader, and turned away muttering to him self.
“Now Jack Fish,” said Dick, addressing himself to another of the party, “if Tracey has done growling, you take the trail. ’Tain’t likely that a young and tender girl can keep away from us long.”
The man addressed came forward, and waving the others back began to examine the earth to find the imprint of Sadie’s feet. It was not long before he announced that he had found it, and that it was covered by another trail, that of a man in moccasins, who was apparently following her, and from the length of the step he should say they were running.
“That looks as if she was afraid of the critter,” said Garrett. “Who can it be that is brave enough to attack these men, shoot two and kill the third with a knife and get off so easily? Now, I’ll tell you what I make of this, boys. When this man, whoever he is, shot down two of the boys and rushed in on Davis with the knife, the girl was scared and put out for the woods. When he had finished Davis—and he didn’t do it easy—he went after her, and like as not he hasn’t caught her yet. Take the trail, Jack, but have your weapons handy.”
It was yet early in the afternoon and the trail was plain, as no attempt had been made to cover it. They went on at a trot, Jack Fish in advance, closely followed by Garrett and the rest, and the course led them deep into the woods to the right of the position which had been so nobly held by Melton’s scout. Sadie was used to exercise in the open air and was evidently leading her pursuer a desperate chase, using every artifice to throw him from the trail. Garret was dumbfounded, for he could not understand why she should fly from one who had slain her enemies, but they followed the trail, hoping every moment to overtake the man who was in chase of Sadie. All at once, Jack Fish, who still held the advance, stopped and lifted his hand, with a low cry.
“See here, Dick, this gal is cute, you bet. She has throwed him off the trail as sure as shootin’. Thar’s no track but his’n here.”