He quickly fed the coals fresh wood, noticing that the pile of fuel was low.
Once the fire was going well, he stretched his stiff legs by taking a brisk hike down trail to where the burros had been left for the night.
Mabel, Jude, Babe and the others were there, looking fresh and willing. But High Hat was nowhere to be seen.
The reason was readily apparent. During the night, the animal had slipped her ropes and wandered off.
A second look convinced Jack that High Hat had not accomplished her escape without help. Someone deliberately had stolen or set the animal free.
“It must have been done for sheer meanness!” he told himself. “Who would pull such a trick?”
His gaze swept the circle of humans near the fire. Pedro was sleeping peaceful as a baby in his blankets and the other bearers were stretched out around him. It was highly improbable that any of them had released the animal, Jack decided.
Below the Scout camp, a thin column of smoke was rising lazily through the early morning mists.
“Captain Carter or one of his men may have been sneaking around here last night,” Jack thought. “I’d like to catch him at it!”
Loss of High Hat would be a serious matter, though not necessarily fatal. But he didn’t look with enthusiasm upon the prospect of toting High Hat’s load over the steep, narrow trails.