"Look! This is not an Algonquin moccasin that has left this mark," said Red Feather, who for some minutes had been examining a footprint that was both broader and longer than the rest, and also of a different pattern. "Here, get down to it, Eagle, and examine it for yourself."
The young chief did as he was requested, and measured the print with the palm of his hand, and compared it with the others.
"You see, the heel mark is deeper than any of the other prints, as though the man had walked like this----" and here Jamie imitated the carriage of a man who plants his heels firmly on the ground when he walks.
"Ugh!" exclaimed the Eagle, rising from the ground. "My paleface brother is right. 'Tis not the moccasin of an Indian at all."
"Not an Indian?"
"No!"
"Who, then, can it be?"
"'Tis the moccasin of a paleface that has left that mark!"
"A paleface?" exclaimed the English youths, raising their voices above a whisper, for the first time since the trail had been discovered.
"Then it must be a French officer who is in command of the party!" and this seemed to all of them the solution of the problem.