CHAPTER XIX
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," laughedWalter.
"That's the idea," agreed Chunky. "We know how we got him, too, don'twe, Tad?"
Butler nodded absently. His mind was not on that particular subjectat the moment. There was that on his mind which he was trying tosolve, in order to get a clear understanding, but reason as he mighthe 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 thedoe could have been responsible in any way for the attack of the packon 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 makethose whelps do his bidding. At any rate, we shan't be troubledagain after what the boys did to them this afternoon. That was akilling worth while. I reckon I'll have something to tell the folkswhen 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 howtrue that was when he said it."
"Yes, the Major was right," observed Stacy airily. "Some of us areall of that."
"Especially Stacy Brown," spoke up Ned.
"Stacy Brown and Tad Butler," corrected the fat boy. "Still, you andthe Professor did very well after you got on the job. But we hadthem pretty well thinned out by the time you arrived. About allthere 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 didkeel those beasts over!" chuckled Stacy at the recollection ofProfessor Zepplin's shooting.
"It is my old army pistol. I contend that these new-fangled weaponsare no more effective, especially in small arms. There has been someimprovement 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 improvedweapon of today. A far cry, indeed."
"Then you think the fellow with whom we had the trouble could havehad 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 theaffair," 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 thepresent."
"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 havebeen 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 madetemporary camp this afternoon, don't you?"
"Yes, sir, that is what I mean. The horse, as I was saying, turnedabout just beyond where we had the fight with the wolves, and tookthe 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 adead 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 footprintsalmost 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 someother animals had torn his flesh some, but not so much that I couldnot 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 bothhands, gazing fixedly at Tad Butler.
"It's more work of that miserable whelp. He's done it this time. Isee how it was. I should have thought of that before. If my eyes hadbeen as sharp as yours, Master Tad, you wouldn't need to have toldme."
"Tell us what you suspect," urged Professor Zepplin, who was as muchpuzzled as the rest. Even Stacy was regarding the guide withinquiring eyes. The latter was striding up and down, tugging at hismoustache as if he owed it a grudge.
"What I suspect? I don't suspect at all. I know now, thanks toMaster 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 adog. He knew the wolves were in that vicinity, so he rode along theback trail, leading the dog behind him, knowing full well that thewolves would scent it, and, knowing it was a lone dog, would followit. You see he figured that the pack would sooner or later come upwith our hounds. He knew that there would be a battle and he hopedwe would lose all our dogs."
"The cold-blooded scoundrel!" exclaimed Ned Rector.
"There! What did I tell you, Tad?" cried Stacy. "I ought to haveshot the beast while I had the chance. He played us about as Ithought he would. Why, if you had let me have my way, I should havetaken his horse away from him and set him adrift. I guess he wouldn'thave played any such miserable trick on us. No, sir, he would haveall he wanted to do to get out of the woods, let alone dragging alone 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 freerange," 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 afterthe man who caused the death of half of our hounds. He isn't fit toeat out of the same pan with the dogs. Better would he eat with thewild pigs of the swamp. Master Butler, you have keen eyes and youare 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 ableto 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. Whena mosquito buzzes around your head, threatening to bite you, you swathim, don't you?"
"Yes, but this is different."
"It's the same thing, except that this mosquito has two legs insteadof four. He'll be limping on one before I have finished with him ifI get hold of him."
"Surely, you don't intend to shed human blood?" objected ProfessorZepplin.
"I am not saying what I'll do. I am taking the kid with me to kindof hold me back in case I get too mad. Then, as I said, he has theeyes that see things as they are. Tomorrow morning, Master Tad, withthe Professor's permission--"
"I will consider the matter," answered the Professor.
"Tomorrow morning," said Tad, grinning and nodding to his companions.
"You folks wi
ll make an awful fizzle of it if you don't take mealong," declared the fat boy with a slow shake of the head.