“Tomasso, you’re a wonder,” Rossie said; “no dog could follow a trail in the air.”
“There’s often a scent in the breeze,” Brent said.
“Didn’t I tell you it was a mystery?” Pee-wee shouted. “Didn’t I tell you it was a dark plot? As soon as I saw those clothes——”
“You thought they were a zebra,” Ralph Warner said; “a scout knows all the different kinds of animals.”
“You make me sick!” the kid shouted. “A convict is better than a zebra, isn’t he?”
“That’s a fine argument,” I told him.
“It’s logic,” the kid shouted.
“Well, let’s not complain,” Brent said; “a zebra would be a novelty, but a convict is not to be despised. We should be thankful for the convict, even though he isn’t here.”
“That’s the best part of it,” the kid shouted; “that makes the mystery. We’ve got to find him.”
We didn’t bother any more about the mystery then, because we wanted to send the signal and get started again, but you’ll see how that mystery popped up again and confounded us; I guess you know what confounded means, all right. It means the same as baffled, only I didn’t know whether baffled has two f’s in it or not. But, gee whiz, I used it anyway—I should worry.