“Sometime before noon today, Constable Pearly—the new man I told you about—will be at Wandley’s. I’ll give you a message for him. This message will explain who you are and why I have sent you. The four of you, Constable Pearly, Sandy, Toma and yourself will continue along the Settlement House trail until you come to a bend in the river. At this point you’ll leave the trail, strike straight off through the woods and make camp at the lower end of the bend just above the river. Here you will remain in concealment until Sergeant Richardson and I join you—sometime before dark.”
“What will we do then?” Dick asked a little breathlessly.
“That will depend—” the corporal hesitated, “upon circumstances and Sergeant Richardson. He will be in command—not I. But I imagine, at least it is very reasonable to suppose, that we’ll start at once for the outlaws’ rendezvous, their meeting place near the foot of Settlement Mountain.”
“But won’t it spoil everything if the outlaws see us?” put in Dick.
“Of course! It’s exactly what we don’t want to happen. We’ll be compelled to move very carefully. Our only chance of finding Blind Man’s Pass will be to follow La Qua and his pack-train at a safe distance. We mustn’t be seen.”
“I suppose you’ll arrest La Qua and his men as soon as they get to the pass?”
“Possibly. I think a better plan would be to follow them straight through to the coast—to the big cache they must have there. That is a suggestion I’m going to make to Sergeant Richardson.”
Dick’s face fell. He was keenly disappointed. The trip to the west coast, the search for the cache of stolen fur, had suddenly, because of this new development, gone glimmering. Constable Pearly and Corporal Rand would probably be the ones now chosen for this task. There was too much at stake, the danger attending the task of following the outlaws was too great to permit of any bungling. Here was a job that required older heads and more experience.
“I guess that lets us out,” said Dick disconsolately. “Sergeant Richardson wouldn’t hear of Sandy, Toma and I going out there alone—following the pack-train, I mean.”
Corporal Rand took Dick’s arm and gave it a friendly squeeze.