“The smugglers with the wagon evidently saw your fire, and this man concluded it would be wise to investigate. So he reconnoitered. He knew well enough that if any one should happen to see the wagon there might be trouble. He was no doubt thoroughly alarmed when he discovered your identity. In his suspicious state of mind it must have appeared that you were already on their track.”
“Yes; there can be no doubt about it,” admitted Dick Travers.
“If your slumber had not been broken we may reasonably conclude that the man would, when the vehicle was beyond all chance of discovery, have simply rejoined his comrades. But you happened to jump up; and he, fearing recognition, concluded to take you prisoner.”
“You see,” put in Jed Warren, “Hank knew their game was up. They couldn’t keep me in the cabin indefinitely. So the idea was to wind up their business as quickly as possible, then skip out.”
“May I put a question to Mr. Ashe?” spoke up Larry Burnham.
“Certainly,” responded the sergeant.
“How did you happen to get on the trail of the wagon that night?” asked the blond lad, turning toward the trooper.
“Well, we were working in that locality, and on the lookout. I reckon the men were in a desperate hurry, or they wouldn’t have taken a chance on a night when the moon would be up. We didn’t know where the wagon came from or its destination.”
“What made you think they were the smugglers?” asked Sam.
“Their actions fitted in so well with other information we had that both Witmar and myself concluded there could be no doubt about it.”