“It doesn’t seem as though he could have gone very far in the darkness,” Jack said, “and we ought not to have a great deal of trouble in finding him.”
By this time it was nearly daylight even in the woods, and, after a short discussion, it was decided that they would separate. Jack was to go up along the shore of the lake and Bob in the opposite direction, while Kernertok was to strike off at right angles to their course.
“Remember now, two shots will mean that he’s found and three that there’s trouble and help needed,” Bob told them. “It’s now a quarter to five, and we’ll keep on till seven o’clock, if we don’t find him. He wouldn’t go very far in the dark, and if we don’t locate him in that time it’ll mean that we’ve probably passed him. And don’t be afraid to yell. He may have fallen into a bear pit or something.”
After Bob had left him, Rex fell into a light dose for a moment, but was quickly aroused by a slight noise to his right. Instantly he was wide awake and straining his eyes. Was that something moving up along the shore of the lake? He was not sure at first, but a moment later he was certain that there was something there. Getting to his feet as quietly as possible he stole softly through the darkness. He could just make out a dim shape which seemed to glide rather than walk a few yards ahead of him. He followed slowly, careful to make no sound. If this was Jack’s lalapaloosla he had no wish to come into close quarters with it. But here was a chance to solve the mystery he felt, and the thought of not doing his best never entered his head.
For some thirty yards the shape led him along the shore of the lake and then seemed to turn and plunge into the thick woods nearly at right angles. As the shape disappeared he ran quickly forward to where it had turned, and listened. He could hear it as it made its way between the trees and, after a moment’s hesitation, he struck off after it. It never occurred to him that he could get lost so near the camp, and to wait for Bob might mean that he would lose the chance entirely.
It was pitch dark in the thick woods and he had only his sense of hearing to guide him as he hurried along. It seemed to him that, for so bulky a form, the thing moved with amazing swiftness, and he was hard put to it to keep in hearing distance. So intent was he on not losing track of the thing that he was wholly unaware of the passage of time, and it was with a start of surprise that he noticed that it was getting light. He had no idea as to how far he had come.
Rex stopped and listened. Not a sound of his quarry could he hear. Either the thing had stopped or else it had outdistanced him.
“Guess I’ll have to wait till it gets a little lighter and see if I can follow his tracks,” he thought. “It ought not to be hard if he makes as big ones in here as down by the lake.”
He sat down on a dead tree trunk and waited for perhaps a half hour.
“Guess it’s light enough now,” he said half aloud.