“Yes,” admitted Nat; “but I don’t believe it’s a bird.”
“Me either,” came from Sam. “But what is it?”
“Let’s look at the marks a little more carefully,” proposed Jack.
“Several men have been here, struggling with the—the—er—whatever it was,” spoke Will. “See the different footprints.”
That much was evident. In addition to the man with the mark on his shoes of the arrow in hobnails, there were tracks of several other individuals.
“And if this isn’t the mark of a big bird’s wing, I’ll eat a pair of snowshoes!” exclaimed Nat suddenly. “Look here, fellows!”
They hurried to where he was. There in the snow was the unmistakable print of what seemed to be a wing of a great creature of the air.
“And here’s another wing,” added Sam a little later as he walked slowly over the level place. “But they’re some distance apart.”
“I should say so,” agreed Jack. “Sixty feet, if they’re an inch.”
“But the marks are those of two wings, and they were made at the same time,” went on Sam. “Look, you can see where the body comes between the wings. The bird was over on its back. That happened when they tried to secure it.”