They had been making splendid progress all this while, and must have covered considerable distance since the time when they watched the official posse wind its way past their hiding-place.
Lil Artha and Elmer had once or twice held a low consultation after making an examination of the tracks they were following.
The others, listening to what the leaders said, found they were comparing notes, and that it appeared to be the opinion of both Hen was getting pretty tired. This they could make out in various ways known to scouts who had made a business of reading the story to be found in tracks.
"You can see how uneven Hen walks most of the time," said Lil Artha; "he wobbles even worse than Landy here, which goes to show he's getting pretty tuckered out. Can you blame the poor fellow when p'raps he's weak from hunger? If any of us had to go without a bite to eat all day we'd get wobbly on our pins, too."
There was no dissenting voice raised to this assertion; eating is so essential to the average boy that nothing on earth can compensate for a dearth of food at the regular intervals.
"Then we saw several places where Hen had sat down to rest, you remember," Elmer reminded the other.
"Yes, and the last time it struck us both that the man had yanked him to his feet again by main force; which I take it wasn't as nice and kind of that bully as you might expect," Lil Artha went on to say.
"Oh! the coward!" Chatz was heard to growl, and the look on his face as he said those few words told what he meant to do if ever the opportunity came his way to strike a blow for the abducted chum.
Filled with renewed determination after this little conference, they once more took up their task. Lil Artha likened their progress to the ways of the Siberian wolf that follows its quarry day and night until in the end its very persistence wins the victory.
"We're in this to the finish," he was fond of saying whenever he had the chance, "and sooner or later we'll get him. The boys of the Wolf Patrol mean to stick to their name, and run the prey to the earth. He just can't get away nohow. All we've got to do is to keep moving, and believe the game is going to come our way. Everybody put his best foot forward again. It's for the honor of the patrol, boys, that we get hold of Hen Condit before the Chief takes him in."