"I wonder who he could
have been?"
"A man who walked with a limp," continued the colonel.
"Man with a limp," mused Jack. "What was he like, did you see him?"
"No," replied the colonel. "I only see his track. They came along
this way."
"Where do you see that?" asked Rand.
"Here is the trail," replied the colonel, pointing it out as he
spoke. "Here is the print of a foot on the dirt and here is another.
Here is a bigger and a heavier one; a man made those. You can see
one of them is deeper than the other, showing more weight on that
side."
"But, how can you see all that?" questioned Pepper. "You have hardly
looked at them, and I couldn't see them at all until you pointed
them out."
"Practice and observation," answered the colonel. "That trail is
as plain as day. There wasn't any attempt to hide it. Why, out on
the plains a scout would follow it at a gallop. See how far you
can track it."
"'Twill no be far, in my opinion," confessed Donald. "'Tis no over
plain."
But with much care and patience the boys were able to follow the
track for a considerable distance, losing it every now and then and
picking it up again, Rand being the quickest and Donald the most
persistent; ail of them getting a little more expert as they went
on.
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