Qualley squatted down and examined every detail carefully. “That is evidently where they slept,” he said, pointing to the impressions of the outstretched figures. “I think I know what they did. They went over there and tackled that quicksand and got stuck. They managed to get out of it and came over here on the beach to rest up and decide what they were going to do next. But blessed if I can figure out what they were doing there,” and he pointed to the peculiar slides. He arose suddenly and looked out toward the cape. “Don’t suppose they could have built a raft and made the cape, do you?” he asked, as though questioning himself.
“No signs of their having built one here,” Roberts replied, “but it looks as though they had pulled something into the water. Might have been an old plank, but that would have been water-logged and would not float.”
Qualley turned thoughtfully from the cape and fixed his gaze absent-mindedly on the very bunch of brush behind which the boys were hiding. It seemed to them that he must see them and they both involuntarily sank a little deeper into the water. Between the excitement and the chill of the swamp water their teeth were chattering so that they were afraid it would be heard clear across the creek.
Qualley shook his head slowly. “No, there is only one thing that they could have done; they must have tried to cross the swamp. We can see plain enough that they were here and there are no tracks leading away from here. They did not build a raft and Murphy can’t swim, so there is nothing left but the swamp. Well, I wish them joy of their trip.”
Roberts hated to give in. “There is not much chance of their getting across, but I wish we knew what had happened to them so that we would not be in suspense so long. It will be a week before we can be sure that they did not get away. Possibly they got foxy and followed up the edge of the creek a ways to shake us off the trail.”
“We can soon find that out,” Qualley replied; “we can follow the edge of the swamp up to where the others are waiting and see whether we can pick up any tracks. They could not have passed us that way in the night or we would have heard them. Nothing could move through that brush without making an awful racket, especially at night.”
“If we don’t find anything,” Roberts grumbled, “I suppose it will be up to us to beat it for that cursed cabin and wait to see what happens.”
“Yes,” Qualley said indifferently, “it would not be safe to put it off much longer. I’ll keep a watch out for them around here for a while longer to make sure that they do not come back out of the swamp and then go back to the camp and wait to see if they get back there. If they show up I’ll let you know at once. If they have not come through by the end of a week it will probably be safe to get back to work again.”
When Qualley said that he would watch a while to see that they did not come back the boys’ hearts sank, for they knew that they could not hold out in that cold water much longer, and, as Qualley had said, no one could move in that swamp without making a racket which could easily be heard by any one listening on the other side of the creek. They looked at each other with a sigh of relief when the two men turned and walked off up the edge of the creek together.
They waited breathlessly till they saw the men round a point some distance away with their eyes on the ground watching for any telltale signs. “Well, now what shall we do?” Murphy whispered between his chattering teeth.