"I do now," replied Rand, "but I wouldn't have noticed it myself."
"Did he have a dog with him?" continued the colonel, following the trail through the woods.
"No," answered Rand.
"Probably the dog came from the other direction. Looks as if Pepper was trying to get away from the dog. They were both in a hurry. It stops here; he must have taken to a tree."
"Pepper!" he shouted, "where are you?"
But neither his calls nor those of the boys brought any response.
"He isn't here," went on the colonel; "but there has been a disturbance of some kind. There are dog's tracks all around as if the animal had struggled with something, but no footprints. There is the track of a snake, too."
"A snake!" cried Jack, in alarm. "Do you think it could have bitten him?"
"No," said the colonel, "if he had been bitten we would still have his trail. He seems to have vanished into the air."
"I don't see how he could do that," declared Don.