“Don’t seem to have gone in,” replied Sam. “Whoever it was made a complete circle around the cabin, though, as if he was looking for something. You can see the tracks real plain,” he went on. “Here is where I came up this morning, to see that everything was all right, for I expected you boys this afternoon,” he went on. “And here is where I came back,” and he pointed out his second line of footprints. “And here is where Mr. Stranger started up, went around the cabin, and came out on the main road again,” the guide resumed. “No, he didn’t get in, but he looked in the windows all right.”
This the boys could see for themselves, for they were now out of the pung, there being no further need of not obliterating the strange footprints.
Tom and his chums noticed where the intruder had paused beneath several of the low cabin windows, as though trying to peer inside. And another thing Tom noticed; in the broad sole-impression of each boot-mark of the stranger’s feet was the outline of a star, made in hob nails with which the soles were studded.
“I’ll know that footprint if I see it again,” thought Tom. “But I wonder who it was that was spying around this cabin?”
Sam, however, did not seem to be unduly alarmed over his discovery. George asked him:
“Who do you s’pose it was that made those marks?”
“Oh, some stray hunter,” was the answer. “They often get curious, just like a deer, and come up to see what’s going on. No use getting mad about it, as long as no harm’s done, and they didn’t try to get in. Of course, in case of a blizzard, I wouldn’t find fault if a man took shelter in one of the cabins, even if he had to break in. A man’s got a right to save his life.”
“Do you have bad storms up here?” Bert wanted to know.
“I should say we did!” Sam exclaimed, “and from now on you can count on a storm or a blizzard ’most any day. So watch out for yourselves and carry a compass with you. But here I am chinning away when you want to get in and warm up and tackle the grub. Come on!”
He unlocked the door with a key he carried, and the boys gazed with interest at the interior of the shack. It suited them to perfection.