THE SEVENTH MAN
Cloudcrest, October 10, 1914.
Dear Mrs. Coney,—
I wonder what you would do if you were here. But I reckon I had better not anticipate, and so I will begin at the beginning. On the morning of the eighth we held a council. The physician and the two students had gone. All had their limit of elk except Mr. Haynes and myself. Our licenses also entitled each of us to a deer, a mountain sheep, and a bear. We had plenty of food, but it had snowed about a foot and I was beginning to want to get out while the going was good. Two other outfits had gone out. The doctor and the students hired them to haul out their game. So we decided to stay on a week longer.
That morning Mrs. O’Shaughnessy and I melted snow and washed the clothes. It was delightful to have nice soft water, and we enjoyed our work; it was almost noon before we thought to begin dinner. I suppose you would say lunch, but with us it is dinner. None of the men had gone out that day.
Mr. Harkrudder was busy with his films and didn’t come with the rest when dinner was ready. When he did come, he was excited; he laid a picture on the table and said, “Do any of you recognize this?”
It looked like a flash-light of our camping ground. It was a little blurry, but some of the objects were quite clear. Our tent was a white blotch except for the outlines; the wagons showed plainly. I didn’t think much of it as a picture, so I paid scant attention. Mrs. O’Shaughnessy gave it close scrutiny; presently she said, “Oh, yis, I see what it is. It’s a puzzle picture and ye find the man. Here he is, hidin’ beyont the pine next the tent.”
“Exactly,” said Harkrudder, “but I had not expected just this. I am working out some ideas of my own in photography, and this picture is one of the experiments I tried the night of the storm. The result doesn’t prove my experiment either way. Where were you, Stewart, during the storm?”
“Where should I be? I bided i’ the bed,” the Stewart said.
“Well,” said Harkrudder, “I know where each of the other fellows was, and none of them was in this direction. Now who is the seventh man?”