"The marks on the wall show that," replied Will.
"What do you know about his leather leggins, hunting shirt and gloves?" asked Sandy. "I know about the moccasins, because I saw the tracks on the floor myself. He must be an Indian if he wore moccasins."
"I never saw an Indian with long whiskers!" replied Will.
"Well, go on and tell us about the leather he wore," urged George.
"The hunting shirt," Will replied with a smile, as he pointed to a small piece of leather lying on the table, "was patched and in the struggle at the bunk the patch was torn away. A cloth garment, you know," he continued, "wouldn't be apt to be patched with leather."
The boys looked at the leather patch, not much larger than a silver dollar, and nodded their heads.
"The marks on the wall where the outlaw seems to have balanced his burden, show that he wore leather gloves," Will continued. "You can see the blunt mark where he threw up a hand to steady himself. The fingers of a cloth glove would have shown narrower."
"I guess you've got the Sherlock Holmes part of it all right!" said George, "so all we've got to do now is to find the boy!"
"But this will help!" Sandy argued. "At least we know what kind of a man to look for. By the way, how did you know that he wore leather leggins?"
"He lost a buckle!" replied Will. "I found it on the floor under Bert's bunk. And so, you see," the boy went on, "when we find a man wearing leather leggins from which a buckle has been lost, we'll be perfectly justified in keeping close watch of him."