An expressive grunt was his answer.
“Wal, ’cordin’ ter Dutch Joe, this yer Danforth ain’t what he should be, an’ it’s my opinion he’s in some way or t’other, got suthin’ ter do with it. Them yer sentiments, boys?”
“Ay, ay!” and “you bet!” were his emphatic answers.
“Now, Dutch Joe is rayther cracked, but he’s right smart on common things. He’s told me, time an’ ag’in, that he seen Danforth paddlin’ on Shadow Swamp pond, with a lot of hang-dog men, armed ter the teeth. Now, yer know thar’s been sev’ral chaps gone in this timber that’ve never b’en seen ter come out. Blood, too, has been diskivered. Most every one has heerd yells come from this yer timber when these yer chaps war in it—yells of terror. Boys, yer know old Sol Jacobs has fou’t Injuns and knows a thing or two; and yer know he’s no person’s fool eyther. Wal, puttin’ this, that, and t’other together, it’s my opinion this yer Danforth is in cohoots with a gang of robbers, and that whar he is at, the pretty little Katie is.”
Several exclamations came from the men—groans from Walter and Jeffries, threats from the young men, and murmurs of assent from the elders.
“Wal, now, ter get little Katie back ag’in, we must find Danforth. Ter do that we must hev a trailer who knows the woods and who kin foller a blind trail. The best fellur fur that biz in the outfit is Cato, here; and though I know he’ll work fur nuthin’, still he’ll work a durned sight faster and surer with suthin’ in view—pay, p’r’aps.”
“Golly, Mars’r Jacobs, yer done speak de truf dat time, shore,” and the negro grinned in anticipation.
“Now, boys, what’ll yer give ef he does his duty, whether we find her or not? Fur one, I’ll throw in a dozen beaver-skins. Come, boys, shell out!”
They did so, giving liberally of their scanty store of backwoods paraphernalia. One gave a gun, another a foundered pony, a vicious Bronco; another promised a small keg of liquor; another gave a set of beaver-traps; while Walter and her father, in their grief and anxiety, promised all their earthly possessions if she were returned to them unharmed.
After this no time was lost. Eager for the search to begin in earnest, anxious to recover the pet of the settlement, burning to meet and vanquish the supposed gang of robbers, the men, one and all, clamored to be led on.