“No. They appeared and disappeared among the rocks and bushes. That’s the reason I couldn’t make out exactly what they were.”
“Perhaps they were deer,” suggested Phil.
“I think they were too chunky for deer—and even for goats. Besides that, they didn’t leap from one rock to another as deer and goats do.”
“Could they have been bobcats?”
“No. They were larger than that.”
The chums soon had to leave the regular trail, and then found themselves in a section of the mountainside sparingly covered with bushes and an occasional tree. The rocks were exceedingly rough, and in many places they had to come to a halt to figure out how best to proceed.
“Say, we don’t want to get lost!” remarked Phil.
“I don’t think we’ll do that, Phil,” answered Dave. “Roger and I know the lay of the mountains pretty well around here. And besides, I brought my pocket compass along. Just at present we are northeast of the construction camp.”
They could not go in a direct line to where Ben had noticed the game, and it therefore took them the best part of an hour to reach the vicinity.
“Now I guess we had better be on the watch,” announced Dave, and unslung the shotgun he carried, while Roger did the same with the rifle. Seeing this, the others looked to their automatic pistols, to make certain that the weapons were ready for instant use.