“How will those ducks ever get down to the lake?” Morris asked.
“March down,” Greenleaf answered. “The day after they hatch every one of them will be in the lake. You ought to have seen that old partridge when I found the nest. She fluttered right across my feet twice, playing at a broken wing, and when I went away she ran after me hissing and whining like a pup. I reckon she thought she scared me out.”
“Probably did,” Bill Price insinuated.
Before Greenleaf could retort Sturgis came around the corner of the library and called him.
“I wonder if he is going to spoil my evening?” Greenleaf growled, but he jumped up cheerfully enough. He was doing some extra work clerking for Sturgis.
The two disappeared around the library, and the desultory discussion around the fire continued. In a few minutes Greenleaf walked back to the fire alone. He stood there talking casually until he had caught Scott’s eye, when with an almost imperceptible raising of the eyebrows he beckoned him away. He walked off whistling toward the bunkhouse and Scott soon followed him.
“What is it?” Scott asked eagerly, when he had overtaken the loitering figure, for he had caught something in Greenleaf’s eye which showed excitement.
“What is it?” Greenleaf repeated excitedly. “It’s something that will make capturing that bear look pretty tame.”
“What?”
“Catching a man,” Greenleaf said mysteriously.