Frank laughed and would have protested, declaring that he stood ready to believe anything Jerry might say after this; but the other would not let him hold back.
"I demand that you investigate. See, here's where my charge tore up the ground when I fired through the rotten wood to scare the bear away. And you can see the plain mark of claws on the old tree-trunk. Is it so, fellows?" he asked.
"Without the least doubt. No Ananias here, that's sure," declared Frank.
"All right. Now walk this way only a short distance. I heard the yells, you see, above the racket of the storm, and that told me the one who shouted must be near by. There's the fallen tree. Think what a narrow escape Andy had from being crushed to death."
"And it's easy to see where you dragged him out. Why, here are the prints of his shoes in the mud as plain as type," remarked Frank.
"Where?" asked Will, showing sudden interest; and then after getting down to look at short range he laughed, saying: "Everything is just as Jerry says. I know it was Andy he pulled out from under this tree."
"How do you know?" demanded the party in question, curiously.
"Why, you see it was Andy Lasher who knocked Bluff off that log into the lake. We guessed it at the time, and he afterwards said as much to Jerry here. Well, we found his footprints, and you see one of his shoes had a queer patch on the sole, a sort of triangle. Here it is, as big as life!"
He pointed triumphantly downward. Frank fairly shouted, and even
Jerry grinned.
"Talk about your great detectives! Why, they ain't in the same class as our chum here. You see, fellows, truth will out. What more proof do you want?" demanded Jerry.