"And that you wouldn't mind being one of the same guards, eh, Mark?"
"I'd enjoy it all right, Elmer."
"Well, I'm thinking that way myself now. You can hold over with me, then. I'll want another fellow, too. Let's see," and he glanced at the eager faces by which he was surrounded: "oh, well, Lil Artha will be the other."
"Oh, shucks!" grumbled Red, bitterly disappointed, because he dearly loved action.
"Matty," said the acting scout master.
"On deck," replied the leader of the Beaver Patrol, saluting.
"You might try and see how far you've gone in the art of following a trail. I don't believe these rough fellows know the first thing about trying to hide their tracks, so you oughtn't to have a great deal of trouble."
"Oh, I guess I'd be equal to the job so long as they keep down on the low ground. But if they once start up the side of the hill, where it's all rocky, I reckon my cake will be dough, then, Elmer."
"Do your best, anyhow, Matty," the scout master went on; "nobody can do more. But to tell you the truth, I believe the first chance lies here."
"You really think, then, the woman will return?" queried Mark.