“Not a thing,” came the ready reply, with a frankness that could not be mistaken; “for I was soon taken up with a discovery I made, and trying to make head or tail of some curious tracks I ran across. When I thought to come back to the camp I was a little twisted in my bearings; but by making use of my limited knowledge of woodcraft I finally managed to get in all right.”
Hugh turned to the farmer, who had listened intently all this while.
“You heard what this scout said, Mr. Stebbins?” Hugh began. “I want you to know that no one ever questions the word of Arthur Cameron. It looks to me as if those three unknown men, possibly from the foreign settlement over at the cement works, lowered the bars of your fence just in revenge for the scare they got when your prize bull chased them.”
The farmer must have been impressed with the sincerity of these boys. Perhaps, as a rule, he had little use for growing lads, and his experience with such on his farm may not have prejudiced him in their favor; but Arthur’s story was so simple, and the explanation so convincing that he nodded his head slowly as if inclined to take back his former angry charge.
“Wall, naow, mebbe that is what happened,” he said reflectively. “Nero has got a rousin’ temper, an’ he ain’t agoin’ tew let any strangers cross the pasture he’s feedin’ in. I guess naow he mout a run them Eyetalians over the fence; an’ they’d be jest mean enough tew let daown the bars. But haow in creation am I agoin’ tew get on the track o’ my cattle?”
Hugh smiled now.
“Nothing easier, Mr. Stebbins,” he told the puzzled farmer, “if you choose to let us help you. As scouts, we would like nothing better than to find your herd for you; and while you may not know it, that sort of work is one of the things we’ve been trained in—following a trail.”
“By jinks! I really b’lieve yeou mean it!” exclaimed the pleased farmer, a grim smile flitting across his gaunt weatherbeaten face, as he looked around at the eager countenances of that dozen khaki-clad boys.
“You’ve been unjust to accuse us without any evidence except our happening to be camped near your farm, Mr. Stebbins,” said Hugh, meaning that the other should have something to reflect on afterward, “but we will let that pass. We’d like you to know boys better than it seems you do. And if you say the word, I’ll pick out several of the best trackers here to go with you to the pasture and follow your herd.”
“Wish yeou would, er—Mr. Hardy,” said the farmer, eagerly.