Wall, we"ve got to make up that three hours afore we can come up with him, and stopping jest to see what sort of a bed he made last night ain"t a-going to help us. See?"
Joe did; he smiled at Hank. "Never even crossed my brain," he said.
"Somehow, when one tackles a job like this for the first time, one doesn"t see things as does a practised hand."
"In course you don"t," agreed Hank, winking back at him. "It"s jest like the farming; some chaps think they know everything, but they don"t. Most folks is bamboozled right from the beginning. They has to learn; and tracking wants learning jest like farming. Now, jest you see here; how should I know as Hurley warn"t more"n three hours ahead?"
It was a conundrum. Joe puzzled and puzzled, and then gave up the riddle.
"Don"t know," he said, disappointment in his voice. "How?"
"In course you don"t know. How could you, youngster? But I"ll larn yer. This here"s a wooded country, as you"ve agreed. Wall, now, most all the time we"re steering in and out amongst the pines, and every now and agin you or me has to separate because there ain"t room. Hurley"s got two hosses--don"t ferget that--and he can"t so easily separate, "cos he"d lose a hold of the led hoss. So he has to ride round the narrow places or squeeze through. He squeezes through at times, and what happens? Jest this."
Suddenly Hank drew in his mount at just such a spot as he was mentioning, where the trees were grouped in a thick cl.u.s.ter, and the track led between two of them, both on the high road to become giants.
Hank leaned from his saddle and pointed to a spot on one of the trees about the height of his stirrup iron.
"Hurley barged through that "ere place," he said, "and, so as his leg shouldn"t get jammed, he pushed his foot out and rid the hosses as much to the other side as he could. Wall, his thick, hob-nailed toe came agin this tree and chipped the bark. I"ve seen a dozen similar places."
Joe regarded the spot closely. It was evident, now that the fact was pointed out to him, that Hurley"s toe had been responsible for the injury.
"Wall?" demanded Hank. "See?"
"The place he"s left? Yes," a.s.sented Joe; "but----"
"Jest so--wants larnin"," a.s.serted Hank dryly. "Now, see here. This aer a deepish cut, and a jagged one. It"s bleeding; there"s gum oozing from the place, and it aer fresh and sticky. That shows as the wound was done not so long ago. Ef it was last night, then the gum would have balled down below, while the surface of the wound would hardly be sticky, but gettin" dry. Now, how do I know as Mike or his Injuns ain"t done it pa.s.sing along?"
"Because the gum has balled to a certain extent already, while I see it oozes very slowly from the wound."
"Good fer you," cried Hank, evidently pleased with his pupil. "That"s a fust lesson. That there gum ha" balled jest a little, as you"ve said, and there"s some of it still oozing. Wall, now, it stands to reason that a man don"t go riding around in a wood like this when it"s dark, fer he"d get knocking his ugly head agin the branches. So he either lies down and sleeps, or dismounts and leads the hoss. This war done by a mounted man, and sense it ain"t been light more"n three hours, and Hurley couldn"t ride during the dark, why, there"s my question answered. Even ef we hadn"t seen the place where he camped, this here wound in the pine would ha" told us all the story. Jest you put that in yer mouth and chew it."
Joe did with a vengeance. The two rode on side by side for three hours, hardly exchanging another syllable; but all the while our hero was observing. If he had imagined previously that he was a fairly lively individual, quite wideawake and aware of his surroundings, he was beginning to discover, particularly in the company of this sharp little Hank, that he was by no means a marvel.
"See whar Hurley stopped fer a bite?" asked Hank one time, as they pressed along across a more open part of the forest. "You didn"t?
Wall, jest ride back a pace and take another squint. It aer fairly talking to yer."
They returned some twenty paces, and Joe looked about him eagerly. But not a sign did he see to convince him that Hurley had pulled up and eaten. Hank grinned, one of those irritating and superior grins. His dried-up face became seamed with subdued merriment, while Joe went the colour of a geranium; and then, when in the depths of despair, he of a sudden made a discovery. "Ah!" he gasped.
"Jest so," said Hank encouragingly.
"He hitched his reins over a branch, and the horse jerked his head and pulled the limb off the tree. There it is. There"s the place where it broke, and, by jingo! there"s gum below, slightly balled already.
Besides, there"s a piece of paper a little to the side. Probably it contained the food he was eating, while underfoot there are horses"
hoofs in all sorts of positions."
Hank grinned the grin of a man who is elated. "That "ere Mike"ll have to look to hisself, and so will the Injuns," he said. "Soon we"ll have you leading this here party. But you have got the hang of the thing now, lad. Never get tired of looking about you. There"s tales to be read in most every spot. P"raps it"s a bear that"s pa.s.sed. Then you"d see a footmark same almost as ef it was a barefooted human. Or you may drop on the splayed-out markings of a moose. That"s the thing to fire the blood of a hunter. Maybe there"s not a sign, but only trees and rocks and stones that seems to tell nothing; but there"s always something to be learned. A wolf has had his quarters here, fer there"s a hollow, and there"s bones in heaps all round. Or there"s been a prospecting party through the place, fer there"s stumps that has been cut with an axe, and not broke off rough as ef the wind had done it.
Tracking aer a game that don"t tire, never! It"s a thing that a man aer best at ef he"s been born to it; but it can be learned, same as farming. You ain"t too old to start, not by a long way."
Not till the sun was directly overhead did the little band come to a halt, and then only to allow them to eat a little, while girths were loosened to give the horses every chance of resting.
"Steady and sure does it," said Mike, as he smoked his pipe and leaned against one of the trees. "Of course, we"ve got to push the pace whenever we"re able, and I reckon we"ve been doing that all along.
Anyway, we"ve made up some of the distance, for single hors.e.m.e.n can get along through these trees quicker than a chap who"s got one to lead.
It"s when he gets to open country that he"ll make the most of the hosses; for he"ll be able to change over, and that means a heap, don"t it, Hank?"
"A heap," answered that individual jerkily. "But he has to sleep, Mike. That"s where we"ll have him."
"Eh? How"s that? I ain"t followed."
"Jest like this. He"s fresh now we"ll "low, and ef he"s able he"ll push on all through the night. To-morrow he"ll still be going; but when night falls he"ll be wanting a rest, and so, you may say, shall we be. Now, ef half this outfit pushes on, Hurley has to move ahead, and it"ll be slow travelling. Our chaps"ll go afoot, so as to rest the hosses. At dawn the rest of us rides along the trace after "em, and can cover the ground mighty quick in comparison, seeing that it"s daylight. Wall, we leave half the hosses with the fust party, who"re resting, and push ahead. Our chums gets a four-hour sleep and comes along after. Both of us is fresh that night, while Hurley can"t hardly keep his eyes open. It aer as clear as daylight."
The little man shut up like an oyster. He drew a pipe as diminutive as himself from an inner pocket, crammed it with tobacco while his eyes rested dreamily on the forest, and then struck flint and steel with such unerring skill that he soon had the weed smouldering.
"It aer as clear as daylight," he puffed at the company. "Ef things goes in the ordinary way, Hurley"ll be taken just when I"ve hinted, and he"ll be in jail come the week-end."
"And supposin" they don"t go along in the ordinary course?" asked Mike, who, from his experience, thought highly of the taciturn Hank. "It ain"t of much use to set out follerin" a criminal and expecting him to do jest as you want him to. You"ve got to make allowance fer all sorts of strange turns. He"s making north; he might fall in with some wandering Indians, or a prospecting gang, and get off along with them because of their help."
"Yep!" answered the usually silent Hank, with accustomed brevity.
"Guess he might. Even so, we ain"t done with him. This outfit"s out to catch a ruffian who wants catching badly."
"You bet!" agreed Peter, with a quick shake of his head.
"A brute who"s been and murdered his wife," cried Jim, his face flushing.
"The sort of bully whose capture we must make our duty," declared Jack Bailey, not the least enthusiastic of the party.
"Yep!" responded Hank. "So it comes to this, Mike. Supposin" he does do something we can"t yet guess at, why, where"s the odds? We still goes on after him. And sooner or later, barrin" regular bad luck, we"ll have him. That"s what I"m out fer. Guess it"s the same with you and the other partners."
All that afternoon they pushed on through the forest, sometimes pressing their way through closely-grown pine trees, and then through thick ma.s.ses of maple, of spruce, of birch, or of the scarlet sumac.
At times streams cut across their path--for Canada is a well-watered country for the most part--and more than once had to skirt the edge of great lakes. But always Fox and Bill went ahead without hesitation.
Not once had they met with a break in the trail. Their ferrety eyes hardly seemed ever to look to the ground. It seemed, indeed, as if they followed the trail of the murderer by intuition alone. When night came pine stumps were set fire to and the chase continued.
"You kin say as we"re making even way with him," said Hank, who still rode with our hero. "He"s got to find his way amongst the trees, and he"s walking, I guess. Wall, so are we. But we"ve pine knots to light us, and kin follow the trace easy. It"s to-morrow night that"ll be the teaser."
The early morning found the devoted little band emerging into a stretch of open country. But there were trees again in the distance, and always the tracks left by the fugitive went due north.
"A child could follow all the way," declared Hank, as they went on at a steady walk, sometimes trotting to change the monotony. "This here"s gra.s.s country, and no man can ride through it at this season without leaving a trail. I wonder he ain"t tried some tricks to throw us off, sich as droppin" into a stream and riding down along the bed; but he ain"t, and it begins to look as ef he knew there was someone after him and was feelin" hustled. All the same, he"s "way ahead; you can"t get a glimpse of him across the open."
Halting for meals, and to give the horses a rest, the band had reached wooded country again that evening, and about eight o"clock came to a halt.
"Here"s where we camp," said Mike. "Now we"ll divide up. Some of us has a feed and a smoke, and then goes on ahead on foot; t"others has a sleep along of the hosses, and then rides on at the first streak of dawn. Who"s going on?"
It took but a little while to settle this point, and since it was agreed to by all that young fellows like Joe and Tom needed sleep more than did older men, and, moreover, had harder work to do without it, these two remained in the camp, Hank and Peter staying with them. Fox and Bill, with a curt grunt, a.s.sented to the fact that they should proceed at once. Mike, of course, was one of the forward party, while George and Jack Bailey and Jim completed its numbers.
"Reckon you ain"t got no great need to hurry," said Hank, when the meal was finished and pipes had been lighted, while a tin pannikin was being pa.s.sed round with an allowance of whisky for all who cared for it.
"Guess Hurley"ll think we won"t be out to-night, and he"ll take things easy. In course he might camp too, when you might drop nicely upon him. Jest hold yerselves in, for it"s little sleep you"ll get till we have him."
About an hour later the little band selected to move on in advance left the camp in Indian file, Fox leading, with Bill immediately behind him.
They left their horses with their comrades, so as to give them a good rest.
"Yer see," explained Hank, "hosses is queer cusses. They kin stand a deal of gruelling work ef they"re fed right, and most of these here is corn fed. But you can"t drive "em too hard. There"s no other animal that breaks his heart sooner, and that"s a fact. They"re that game, they"ll keep on till they"re ready to drop. Therefore, you"ve got to save "em, particularly seein" as Hurley has got two to our one, and so kin rest "em in turn. Now the sooner we get stretched out the better."
There being no need to set a watch, all who were remaining in camp at once wrapped themselves in their blankets and threw themselves upon the beds already prepared--consisting of the leafy tips of small spruce trees, than which nothing can make a more comfortable couch--and, needless to say, their eyes closed almost at once, for they were weary after their travels, and they slept till the first streak of dawn awakened Hank.