"Was it a man or an animal?" asked the gentleman, as though eager to have that mooted point settled immediately.
"Oh! an animal, sir, there can be no doubt of that," replied Elmer, smiling. "But those tracks puzzle me the worst kind. I know what the trail of a panther looks like, also that of a fox, a wolf, a bear, a deer, a coyote, a wildcat—but this was entirely different from any of these. It resembled the footprint of a human being—a child—more than anything I ever saw."
Mr. Garrabrant smiled, and nodded his head.
"I've got an idea," he said, "but go on, and tell me what else you learned. Then I'll put you wise to what I suspect."
"Well," the boy continued, "the queer thing about it is that Ginger was quite right when he said the thing walked on two legs. I could only find the marks of that many. Now, I've seen a bear do that stunt, and educated dogs, but no other animal outside of a circus."
"How about a monkey?" asked the scout master, quietly.
"Oh! Mr. Garrabrant, how could such an animal get up here? Monkeys live in tropical countries only. But I can see that you've got an idea. Please let me hear it."
"Listen then, Elmer," the other went on, seriously. "Now, I happen to know that just a month ago a certain gentleman named Colonel Hitchens, living on a country place he calls Caldwell, just a mile outside the town of Rockaway, lost a pet monkey that had been taught to do a lot of funny antics. The gentleman was an old traveler, and had brought the animal himself from some foreign land. I remember his telling me how he caught him, by filling some cocoanut shells with strong drink, and getting the animal stupid."
"Oh! that must be it, then!" exclaimed Elmer, laughing, while the look of bewilderment left his face. "No wonder the tracks were a riddle to me. I've never as yet had the pleasure of hunting monkeys, or Barbary apes, or gorillas. Yes, sir, the more I think of it, the more I believe that you've hit the truth. It must have been a monkey, hungry for some of the things he had been used to when held a prisoner at Colonel Hitchens'."
"I saw the beast perform once," Mr. Garrabrant went on, "and he was really a marvel. He was a big chap, too, hairy and ugly. When he chattered and scowled he certainly was enough to give one a shiver. No wonder then that he frightened poor Ginger almost into convulsions. No wonder our factotum believed he had seen the Old Nick. But what had he better do about it, Elmer?"