"I used to think I knew quite some about the swamps," he said, "I was born with an ax in my hand, pretty near, but I never yet saw any critter with tracks like them. An' what's more, I ain't never been informed that ham sandwiches form a reg'lar part of a fox's menoo!"
One of the men bent to examine the tracks, but the other said airily:
"I'm no Seton-Thompson on the tracks question. Wait till David comes, he's a regular nature-faker for you. Leave him alone and he'll tell a tale of seeing a fox do the honors at a ten-course dinner with squirrels popping the champagne corks."
The cook laughed, but awaited the verdict of his comrade, who, after a prolonged examination, straightened himself, and remarked soberly:
"That's got me! You say the hambone and the bread were clean gone?"
"Clean as a whistle! There was a lot of mud on the dish, and that was all."
"Put it up to David, or Field. Field will tell us all he knows, and what's more, will explain why he doesn't know the rest; but David will put up the best yarn."
A few minutes later the rest of the party dropped in and in turn expressed surprise and conjecture about the confusing marks upon the ground until all were back except David and the chief, and shortly David appeared.
"Where's Field?" one of the men asked.
"He stayed behind a minute or two for something. He said he'd be right along. No," he continued, in answer to a question, "we didn't see anything of the boy."