“Lupo recruits his men from the fisheries. Men of the lowest type come there in Summer, in droves, lured by the high wages. They form temporary alliances with the native women. Then in the Fall, they depart. You can guess what the children of such lawless unions are like. They are cross-breeds, inheriting the most vicious and lawless characteristics of the human race. It is from them Lupo recruits his following.”
“But why should they be away over here, in this unpeopled wilderness?” asked Mr. Hampton. “Unless—” He paused and looked questioningly at Farnum.
The latter nodded.
“That’s it,” he said. “Why? Unless, if you will let me finish for you, Lupo is on our trail. And that I believe to be the case. When Frank here first came with word of Indians in camp, I considered them merely raiders from some passing body of hunters. But when I found Lupo at their head, I knew better. The wonder to me is,” he said, growing thoughtful, “that he did not send men to trail us and kill us or take us prisoner.”
Mr. Hampton shrugged.
“Even the cunningest slip up now and then,” he said. “Perhaps his men wanted to loot first. And, anyway, they had only been here a few moments when, thanks to Frank, we were able to surprise them. Well, thanks to our good angel, we came off as well as we did. Nothing stolen, our canoes still here, nobody hurt.”
“Ah,” said Farnum, darkly, “we’re not out of the woods yet. If Lupo the Wolf is after us, well—there is trouble ahead.”
CHAPTER VII.—A MAN OF THE “MOUNTED.”
While Mr. Hampton and Farnum turned in to take inventory to discover what, if anything, had been stolen, the boys went back to take down and pack their radio outfit. As it lay in the opposite direction from that taken by the Indians who, moreover, were being tracked by Dick and Art and could not double back without warning being given, it was considered safe for the boys.
When they returned to camp, they found the two frontiersmen ahead of them. These reported the Indian camp pitched some two miles in their rear and that, upon arrival, Lupo and his men had packed up and taken canoe on the back track.