“Only a bear. He didn’t stick around long when he found there was no food.”
“Walz?”
“Not a glimpse of him.”
“He’s hidden out in a canyon somewhere,” Jack guessed. “He may give us trouble yet—especially if we should find the gold before he does.”
“Not much chance of that,” Ken replied. “In fact, I’m beginning to think Stony dreamed up that gold. The valley’s real enough, but that cache may have been all fancy.”
Jack made no answer. Weary, hungry, and discouraged, he too wondered if the trip to Headless Hollow might not have been a mistake. However, he had no intention of saying so. Fetching water from the lake, he went into the cabin and flung himself onto the bed of boughs.
Despite his weariness, he did not lie there long. Something which was propped against the fireplace drew his gaze. He rolled off the bed and went over to pick it up. It was a long strip of bark, and on the inside surface a message had been printed in uneven charcoal letters.
“GIT OUT OF THIS HEAR VALLEY BEFOR IT IS TOO LATE.”
Jack carried it outside to show to the others.
“Walz never left this,” he said. “That fellow who tried to smoke us out last night must have printed it.”