“Do you think Jerry had anything to do with them making us move away?”
“How do you mean?”
“I mean do you think he told those men lies about us? Such as saying we were dangerous characters, and not safe to have around?”
“No, I hardly think that. I believe those men have something to conceal, and would order back any one who they thought would discover their secret. They ordered us back before Jerry appeared and recognized us.”
“That’s so. But how do you suppose he came to get in with them?”
“I don’t know. It’s all part of the same puzzle, I think—the mysterious sounds, the queer marks in the snow, and all that. Of course, Jerry may have met them by accident, and they might have hired him. We knew he came out West, you know, after the part he played in kidnapping us, and very likely he was willing to do any kind of rascally work these men wanted.”
“Yes, that’s probable. But what do you s’pose it is?”
“I give it up; that is, for the time being. But I’m going to solve this mystery, Nat, if it takes all winter. We’ve got something to do now besides hunt. We’ll see what these men are up to. Maybe it’s something criminal, such as Jonas Lavine and his gang were mixed up in.”
“I hardly think that.”
“What do you think, then?”