“It would be, but they don’t,” answered Miss Briggs laughingly. “Wind is the pigeon’s enemy and unless it is with them they have to fight it, and in doing so are frequently lost. I happen to know some things about carrier pigeons, for I have seen them work and heard much about them in France. Once a pigeon becomes lost and has to come down, he loses his ambition, or his confidence, or something—at least something seems to have gone out of him, and, even if he returns at all, he seldom can be depended upon to make another flight. I venture to say that not all the birds we are sending out will reach their loft.”
“So long as the boys see the majority of them we do not care,” said Nora. “Oh, I hope they do.”
The boys did—that is, Hippy, Sam and Pete saw the second bird going over and watched it until it flew out of sight. Now they knew that they were on the right trail. The five o’clock bird was the last one seen by any of the men, and it was Lieutenant Wingate who discovered it. The bird was flying so low that it seemed to be skimming the tops of the slender mountain pines. Observing this Hippy hurried on to join Sam Conifer, whom he found in about half an hour.
“Go easy from now on, Sam,” he cautioned.
“You know somethin’?” demanded the guide.
“The bird that just went over was flying very low. That indicates that he has located his cote and is reaching for it. I do not believe it can be more than a mile or two away from here. Shall I take the lead now?”
“No! I’ll take it myself,” snapped the guide. Sam was irritable, but Hippy laid it to the guide’s wound and his weakened condition. As a matter of fact it was neither. Sam’s nerves were on edge and his rheumatic fingers were “crinkling,” for he could almost feel the feel of a gun in his right hand.
“Very well. I shall keep up close to you, just the same,” announced Hippy. “If you come upon something you’ll need assistance. The men at the rear are instructed not to shoot until they are positive about what they are shooting at, so there is not much danger of their firing at us.”
Sam answered with a grunt and started on. Half an hour later he halted to wait for his companion to come up to him.
“What is it?” whispered Hippy.