Then they heard him utter an exclamation. They turned to see him motioning from around the corner of the chimney.
“Come here, you fellows! Look what I’ve found!”
Filled with curiosity, they joined him behind the tall chimney and found him pointing to a small pile of half-melted snow that showed on the floor. Barry knelt and touched it with his finger.
“It is snow, all right,” he announced.
“And that means that somebody has been in the lodge within the last few minutes, possibly while we were walking around downstairs!” Mac reminded them.
CHAPTER X
A Council of War
Somewhat startled at Mac’s words, the others looked around the loft and then at each other. The thought that some unknown person had been in the building, perhaps at the same time that they were downstairs, was not a comforting one, and they felt the grip of excitement and uncertainty. Barry glanced up at the roof above them.
“No hole there for this snow to drop through, and we haven’t any snow on our shoes,” he murmured. “It surely looks like Mac is right.”
“If somebody was here, how did he get out?” Tim asked, peering into the dark corners of the loft. “Think he slipped down the roof?”
“It would be easy for anyone to go out the front door while we were in the kitchen,” Barry reminded them. “If anybody was hiding in the lodge, he could probably hear us talking and then sneak down into the hall and outdoors while we were in the rear.”