Late that afternoon found them at the foot of the Windy Mountains. Here they discovered a well-defined trail and also a signboard, telling them the game preserve in which Dr. Reed was interested was just beyond."
"Now we haven't much farther to go," said the doctor's son. "My father said we'd find a good camping spot less than a mile from here."
"I'm glad of it," answered Giant. "This load on my back isn't as light as it might be."
Pushing on, they soon came to where another signboard had been located; but the board had been knocked off with a stone or a hammer and was missing.
"Some hunter's meanness," was Snap's comment.
"A fellow who would destroy a signboard ought to be locked up," was Whopper's comment. "It's about on a par with starting a forest fire."
They trudged on, and presently came to where somebody had had a camp fire. Here were some empty tins and some well-picked bones. Giant kicked over one of the empty tins.
"Hello! I know who was here!" he cried. "Ham Spink and his crowd."
"How do you know?" demanded the doctor's son.
"Because I know they had some of this brand of canned goods with 'em—-saw it among their supplies. It's different from the kind we have, or what you can get in the regular stores. The Spinks have their goods sent by freight from the city."