“Now hold; don’t be too fast. Some of you go ahead of the team, after it is turned around, and carefully obliterate the tracks made by the animals coming this way. Then drive the animals back along the path before we put on the boots, until we reach the place where we came into this little valley. You see we entered it at about right angles. We must put the boots on at the place where we entered the valley, or a few hundred feet beyond.”
“But how can we hide the tracks made by the wheels?”
“I don’t want to hide them. This will take some careful driving, Harry, as I want you to follow along in the exact tracks made by the wagon in coming this way. The animals’ tracks will now plainly show that the wagon is going to the north.”
The wagon was driven back carefully to the north, and beyond the point where they had entered the valley.
“Now, boys, put on the boots. This seems to be a good place to make the change, as the ground is firmer, and the grass grows closer and thicker. Leave one foot on each animal unshod.”
“This is a new wrinkle, isn’t it?” asked Tom, laughingly.
“I suppose it is,” he answered, “but you will see the point in a moment. Now drive forward for a hundred feet or so. That is right. Take out all the traces of the wagon you can.”
“But we can still see the prints of the unshod feet.”
“That is good. Now put the boot on the foot of the other yak, so only one foot will show in the tracks.”
“How far shall we drive with this one foot showing?”