"Not unless it broke after she skidded."
Jake gave him a keen glance. "I begin to see! Well, people sometimes find trouble coming to them when they won't leave things alone. But what kind of a clew do you expect to get?"
"A mark on a thorn trunk; we'll look for one," said Jim. "Suppose you take the other side!"
He walked a few yards along the ditch, examining the bottom of the trunks, and presently stopped and put his foot on the other bank. Then he beckoned Jake and indicated a few scratches on the bark of a thorn. The rough stem was tufted with dry moss and for an inch or two this was crushed.
"I reckon something has been fastened to this tree," he said. "If we can find another mark on the opposite row, I'll be satisfied."
They went across and after a few moments Jake said, "Here it is!"
Jim studied the mark and nodded. "Very well! I think we'll get into the field and look at the old fence wire. I want a piece seven or eight yards long."
After pulling about the wire that lay in the grass, they found a piece. One end was bent into a rough hook, and although the other was nearly straight Jim noted a spot where the galvanizing was cracked.
"It has been bent here twice," he said. "Pulled over into a hook and then pulled back. You can see how the zinc has flaked."
They sat down on a bank and Jake remarked: "I think you ought to be satisfied. But what are you going to do about it?"