“And I believe,” Bruce added eagerly, “these two camps were made by Jack Dutton and his companion. And I think they were doing what we are doing; they were exploring the lake and looking for a good place for a winter camp. But why didn’t they camp where we are camping? It is the best place on the lake. Perhaps they camped some distance back from the lake in the brush for some reasons of their own.”
“Indians always camp near water,” remarked Ganawa with a smile, “but white men sometimes camp in strange places.”
“If these men did not lose their lives,” asserted Bruce, “they spent the winter within ten miles of our camp. The season was too far advanced and travelling in this country is too difficult for them to go far before they made their winter camp. Perhaps [[195]]they wanted to find both a good camp and a good hiding-place.”
“From whom should they want to hide?” asked Ray.
“I don’t know,” admitted Bruce. “Their action is a puzzle to me.”
“I tell you something else that is a puzzle to me,” Ray said in a half-whisper, when he and Bruce were alone. “Who was that fellow that you pretty nearly chased over the big falls? And why was he snooping around after us? Maybe he will come again. Believe me, Bruce, if I did not have the dog you would not get me to stay alone in camp for one hour. Maybe that fellow isn’t an Indian; maybe he is one of the evil spirits that Ganawa tells us about.”
“Ray, don’t you know that the belief in evil spirits is just an Indian superstition? It is time I should get you back to Vermont and send you to school. The idea of your believing in evil spirits!”
“But why doesn’t Ganawa tell us who the fellow was, and why he was following us? I [[196]]almost wish you had chased him over the falls. I am afraid of him.”
Ganawa and the boys searched the whole shore of Anjigami once more. They traced every small stream entering the lake some distance back into the timber, and they even followed several game trails that led away from the lake. It was all in vain; they found no other clue. If those two men had planned to vanish without leaving a sign, they had completely succeeded.
Some time ago Ganawa had prepared the frames for three pairs of snowshoes, using for this purpose the wood of young black-ash trees he had found near their last camp. He had also prepared enough rawhide strings for the web, and all three of the campers now spent a few days finishing the work. “They are not very good snowshoes,” Ganawa admitted, “but they will last through the winter.”