Without argument Ted took the lantern and he had taken two strides before Buck could catch up with him. Ted was trying to get the incident straight in his mind and he was eager to see that rock. A few of the boys straggled after them, but the bigger group remained near the campfires.
Arriving at the rock the two older boys quickly bent forward and looked at the flat top of the big stone. There was a slight film of moss on it and the moss was marked by the feet of a horse, very faintly, but marked, nevertheless.
“Well, it was a sure enough horse, anyway,” commented Ted, as he kept flashing the light around the rock. “Look here!”
He pointed out a thin white line with purple edges which ran across the rock. Buck studied it, but for the moment its meaning escaped him.
“What is it?” he asked.
“Evidently it was a line of powder, something like flashlight powder, only calculated to burn longer,” explained Ted. “Whoever led the horse out here set a powder train and then got on the horse and waited. He must have been able to hear all that we said around the campfire, and Bob’s words gave him just the cue he wanted. Somehow or other, maybe by a small pocket battery wire, he set off the powder and played spirit, if that is what he was meant to be.”
“I guess that is so,” nodded Buck. “Say, you remember that snapping sound we heard last night?”
“Yes, and I guess I see what you mean. This fellow must have heard us planning and then he planned a little plan of his own. I’ll bet that fellow is in and around our camp more than we know about!”
“Believe me, we must lay our hands on that fellow,” said Buck, grimly. “We had better begin to lay some traps for him when we get back.”
“Yes, we’ve simply got to get him. Come on and see if we can follow the tracks of the horse’s hoofs.”