WHAT TAD FOUND ON THE TRAIL
"Venison steak and boiled bayou water doesn't go so badly after all,"
observed Stacy Brown wisely.
"Especially when you have had a hand in getting the steak," laughed
Walter.
"That's the idea," agreed Chunky. "We know how we got him, too, don't
we, Tad?"
Butler nodded absently. His mind was not on that particular subject
at the moment. There was that on his mind which he was trying to
solve, in order to get a clear understanding, but reason as he might
he was not able to work the problem out to his own satisfaction.
"Mr. Lilly, you don't think for a moment that this man who stole the
doe could have been responsible in any way for the attack of the pack
on our hounds, do you?" questioned the Professor.
Tad looked up with keen interest reflected on his face.
"I don't see how that would be possible, Professor. Man can't make
those whelps do his bidding. At any rate, we shan't be troubled
again after what the boys did to them this afternoon. That was a
killing worth while. I reckon I'll have something to tell the folks
when I get home and so will you. The Major will be interested, too.
He said you were a lively bunch, but I reckon he didn't know just how
true that was when he said it."
"Yes, the Major was right," observed Stacy airily. "Some of us are
all of that."
"Especially Stacy Brown," spoke up Ned.
"Stacy Brown and Tad Butler," corrected the fat boy. "Still, you and
the Professor did very well after you got on the job. But we had
them pretty well thinned out by the time you arrived. About all
there was left to do was to gather up the wounded and bury the dead.
Professor, that pistol of yours would stop an elephant. How it did
keel those beasts over!" chuckled Stacy at the recollection of
Professor Zepplin's shooting.
"It is my old army pistol. I contend that these new-fangled weapons
are no more effective, especially in small arms. There has been some
improvement in the long-range guns since my time."
"Since the North 'fit' the South," suggested Lilly with a grin.
"Yes. It is a far cry from the old muzzle-loader to the improved
weapon of today. A far cry, indeed."
"Then you think the fellow with whom we had the trouble could have
had nothing to do with the attack of the wolves?" questioned Tad.
"Of course not. That might have been possible, but it wasn't."
"Ambiguous, but good sense," muttered Professor Zepplin.
"Why do you ask?" demanded Lilly.
"I wanted to know. I am a little bothered about some features of the
affair," Tad answered.
Lilly regarded the Pony Rider Boy thoughtfully.
"You have something on your mind?"
"Well, yes, I have," admitted Tad.
"Out with it. It doesn't do to hold in too much at a time like the
present."
"You know I went out on that trail this afternoon, Mr. Lilly?"
"No, I didn't know it. To which trail do you refer?"
"The bear trail we will call it."
"From the other way?"
"Yes, sir. I went in the opposite direction to that supposed to have
been taken by Bruin, and I discovered some things that puzzled me."
"On the trail?" asked the Professor.
"Yes, sir."
"What did you discover?" demanded Lilly eagerly.
"I found the trail of a horse in the first place."
"Going which way?"
"Toward this camp. The horse turned--"
"You don't mean this camp exactly. You mean the place where we made
temporary camp this afternoon, don't you?"
"Yes, sir, that is what I mean. The horse, as I was saying, turned
about just beyond where we had the fight with the wolves, and took
the back trail, or nearly so."
"Hm-m-m!" mused the guide. "That is peculiar. Fresh tracks?"
"Within a few hours of the time I found them, sir."
"What did you make of them?"
"Not much of anything. But that was not all I discovered. I found a
dead dog a little way from camp."
"I saw several myself," laughed Ned Rector.
"One of our dogs?" questioned Lilly.
"No, sir, it was not. Furthermore, the dog had a leash, a long one,
about his neck. He hadn't been dragged. I found the dog's footprints
almost up to the point where his carcass lay."
Bill Lilly was beginning to show signs of excitement.
"Go on. What had happened to the dog?"
"He had been shot and left where he was killed. The wolves or some
other animals had torn his flesh some, but not so much that I could
not tell what killed him. He was killed by a bullet. I wonder why?"
"Can't you guess?" asked Lilly.
"I have an idea now. It has just occurred to me."
Lilly rose to his full height, tugging at his moustache with both
hands, gazing fixedly at Tad Butler.
"It's more work of that miserable whelp. He's done it this time. I
see how it was. I should have thought of that before. If my eyes had
been as sharp as yours, Master Tad, you wouldn't need to have told
me."
"Tell us what you suspect," urged Professor Zepplin, who was as much
puzzled as the rest. Even Stacy was regarding the guide with
inquiring eyes. The latter was striding up and down, tugging at his
moustache as if he owed it a grudge.
"What I suspect? I don't suspect at all. I know now, thanks to
Master Tad's keen scent. What has been done is this. Some whelp,
knowing what we were going to do, has hit the bear trail leading a
dog. He knew the wolves were in that vicinity, so he rode along the
back trail, leading the dog behind him, knowing full well that the
wolves would scent it, and, knowing it was a lone dog, would follow
it. You see he figured that the pack would sooner or later come up
with our hounds. He knew that there would be a battle and he hoped
we would lose all our dogs."
"The cold-blooded scoundrel!" exclaimed Ned Rector.
"There! What did I tell you, Tad?" cried Stacy. "I ought to have
shot the beast while I had the chance. He played us about as I
thought he would. Why, if you had let me have my way, I should have
taken his horse away from him and set him adrift. I guess he wouldn't
have played any such miserable trick on us. No, sir, he would have
all he wanted to do to get out of the woods, let alone dragging a
lone dog along the bear trail to call the wolves to our pack. Oh,
what a beast!"
"It is well that your revengeful disposition was not allowed free
range," answered the Professor rebukingly.
"It is done now. We can't help ourselves," said Tad.
"It isn't done," exclaimed Lilly. "I am not done. I am going after
the man who caused the death of half of our hounds. He isn't fit to
eat out of the same pan with the dogs. Better would he eat with the
wild pigs of the swamp. Master Butler, you have keen eyes and you
are sharp as a she-bear with cubs."
Tad smiled at the comparison.
"Tomorrow morning I hit the trail. Do you want to go with me,
Butler?"
"I am ready for anything," answered the Pony Rider Boy.
"So am I," piped Chunky.
"One is enough," replied Lilly. "I think the two of us will be able
to do the job as it should be done."
"What is it you propose to do?" questioned the Professor.
"Well, we-all reckon to catch the fellow who is bothering us. When
a mosquito buzzes around your head, threatening to bite you, you swat
him, don't you?"
"Yes, but this is different."
"It's the same thing, except that this mosquito has two legs instead
of four. He'll be limping on one before I have finished with him if
I get hold of him."
"Surely, you don't intend to shed human blood?" objected Professor
Zepplin.
"I am not saying what I'll do. I am taking the kid with me to kind
of hold me back in case I get too mad. Then, as I said, he has the
eyes that see things as they are. Tomorrow morning, Master Tad, with
the Professor's permission--"
"I will consider the matter," answered the Professor.
"Tomorrow morning," said Tad, grinning and nodding to his companions.
"You folks will make an awful fizzle of it if you don't take me
along," declared the fat boy with a slow shake of the head.