"Was there a man with them?" asked Jack. "I wonder who he could have been?"
"A man who walked with a limp," continued the colonel.
"Man with a limp," mused Jack. "What was he like, did you see him?"
"No," replied the colonel. "I only see his track. They came along this way."
"Where do you see that?" asked Rand.
"Here is the trail," replied the colonel, pointing it out as he spoke. "Here is the print of a foot on the dirt and here is another. Here is a bigger and a heavier one; a man made those. You can see one of them is deeper than the other, showing more weight on that side."
"But, how can you see all that?" questioned Pepper. "You have hardly looked at them, and I couldn't see them at all until you pointed them out."
"Practice and observation," answered the colonel. "That trail is as plain as day. There wasn't any attempt to hide it. Why, out on the plains a scout would follow it at a gallop. See how far you can track it."
"'Twill no be far, in my opinion," confessed Donald. "'Tis no over plain."
But with much care and patience the boys were able to follow the track for a considerable distance, losing it every now and then and picking it up again, Rand being the quickest and Donald the most persistent; ail of them getting a little more expert as they went on.