"Did you bring a gun along?" asked Bob rather anxiously.
"No," said Mr. Waterman. "We won't need any gun if we catch up with this fellow. But first of all let us get some trace of him."
They soon reached the beginning of the portage. They got out and searched carefully. They saw tracks, to be sure, for they had been over there just a few days before. No new tracks were to be seen. At last, Mr. Waterman picked up the canoe and said, "Let's go on over the divide. Keep your eye peeled for recent marks. If he came over here with a canoe, he will probably slip or slide some place. Look for his tracks at the sides of the trail."
They went along at a slow pace. More than once Mr. Waterman stopped and set down the canoe, only to pick it up a moment later and go on along the trail. Just after they had reached the top of the divide in a very steep place, Bob noticed a place near the side of the trail that was trampled down. Mr. Waterman set down the canoe and came back. After carefully looking at the bushes, he said,
"I think that you're right, Bob. He evidently got off his balance here and not wishing to make a bad slide on the trail, has stepped off in the bushes."
"It looks to me as if he had tried to cover this up too," said Bob. "Look at this small branch. It was bent right over and evidently some one has tried to straighten it out."
Mr. Waterman bent over and exclaimed,
"You're right, Bob. This is the way he came."
The two then went on, but though they watched very carefully, they could not find a single further trace of the man they were seeking. They soon came to the little lake they had been on before. Mr. Waterman led the way and they got out at the further end as if both had agreed that the fugitive was heading for the north and would take this course.
"Now if we can get another trace of this son-of-a-gun on this portage, I'll bet some money that I know where he is staying," said Mr. Waterman.