Presently he saw the Indian halt and stare long and hard at a tall pine growing in front of a large flat rock.
"Wonder if he has missed his way?" mused the scout, but a moment later Yellow Elk proceeded onward, faster than ever.
Coming up to the pine, Pawnee Brown saw instantly what had attracted the redskin's attention. There was a blaze on the tree six inches square, and on the blaze was written in charcoal:
10 f. E. D. G.
"Hullo, a message from Dan," he cried, half aloud. He had read the strange marking without difficulty. It ran as follows:
"Ten feet east.
DAN GILBERT."
Pacing off the ten feet in the direction indicated, Pawnee Brown located a flat rock. Raising this, he uncovered a small, circular hole, in the centre of which lay a leaf torn from a note book, on which was written:
"I write this to notify Pawnee Brown or any of my other friends that I have gone up the ravine on the trail of half a dozen cavalry scouts who are up here, not only to watch for boomers, but also to try and locate several Indians who have left the reservation without permission. I will be back soon.
DAN GILBERT."