“Nothing that you are mixed up in,” assured Pep. Then he learned the direction the shipper of the packages had come from, and he and Vic went outside and held a brief consultation.
“South,” decided Pep, “and that road,” and he pointed in the direction the man they were seeking had taken when last seen by the express agent. “Now then, my opinion is this man comes from some movies camp probably quite a distance from Brinton and in an isolated spot. The railroad map shows no railway to the west for thirty miles. We will follow this road till we strike that line. Then we will make inquiries at the stations we reach if we don’t strike a clew before then.”
“I hope we may do that, Pep,” sighed Vic. “This looks like a dreadful tangle.”
“We’re here to untangle things; aren’t we?” demanded Pep. “Here’s the programme: You take one side of the road, and I’ll take the other. We must make inquiries at every farm house we come to about a tall dark man and a piebald circus horse.”
That was tedious work. At noon they came to a little village some ten miles from their starting point. It had a few houses only and a small general store. The boys bought some crackers and cheese and rested for an hour while they compared notes. Altogether they had found five persons who recalled seeing the mottled horse. They had only casually noticed it, however, and had no idea of where it came from or where it was going.
“Well,” commented Pep, “we’re only sure of one thing.”
“What’s that?” inquired Vic.
“That the man we are looking for came this far, homeward bound on this road.”
“Yes, that’s so,” agreed Vic, “for the people in the last house you called at saw the horse, and that was less than a mile away.”
During the next two hours they found only one more person, a field hand, who had seen the circus horse and its rider. Then they seemed to have lost the trail. There were many confusing cross roads, and the boys were uncertain as to which they should pursue. It was fairly dusk, when dusty, travel worn and tired out, they entered a farm yard and put their usual question to a man refreshing himself at the pump after a hard day’s work.