“Um—well, the name doesn’t mean much,” remarked Hank. “Once let me get where I can see some signs of the way he went and I think I can follow. But there’s been too many along this road to make sure of anything.” He pointed to the main trail between Leftover and Livingston.
“He used to be a deputy sheriff, and one of the best in the business,” Tinny informed Jerry in a low voice. “Got a bad case of gold fever and took up mining. But he’s a great trailer.”
Whenever they saw any one along the road of whom they could inquire, the searchers stopped and asked questions. They did not learn much, however, for they could not describe the kind of vehicle in which Cromley had probably been carried off. Hang Gow was not clear whether it was a wagon or an automobile, and both kinds of conveyances had traversed the trail.
Nor could a description of the occupants be given with accuracy. That there were three who made the attack at Leftover was certain—probably Noddy, Jack and Dolt. But whether the trio remained in the wagon after having bound Cromley or whether only two of them did, was uncertain.
“They wouldn’t leave Bill up in plain sight, either,” said Jerry. “They’d probably bind and gag him and lay him down on the bottom of the wagon or auto so he wouldn’t be seen.”
However, making such inquiries as they could, they learned that several wagons and automobiles with anywhere from one to half a dozen occupants had passed along the trail that morning. There was nothing distinctive about any of them.
“When we get to Livingston we’ll inquire at the place where Noddy has been staying,” suggested Ned.
But there the searchers were doomed to disappointment. Up to three days before the kidnaping had taken place, Noddy, Jack and Dolt boarded at a not very respectable hotel on the outskirts of this small railroad junction where tourists change trains to go to Yellowstone Park. But the trio of suspects had then gone away, taking with them all their possessions, and had not left word where they were going.
“Talked to me like they were going off into the mountains to look for gold,” said the proprietor of the hotel. “At least that’s what I overheard. It wasn’t none of my business, so I didn’t listen.”
“No, of course not,” assented Tinny.