Page:Hugh Pendexter--The young timber-cruisers.djvu/297

 be wrong with Bub. I said I would go to the end of the line and I will.”

Still the vague feeling of alarm accompanied him as he closed his lips and resolutely resumed his way to the north. It seemed a long mile, but at last he came to the last blaze and willingly turned to retrace his steps.

As he took the backward trail his desire to do something to aid Abner got the better of his nervousness and he found himself closely scanning every foot of the way between the marked trees. He half smiled at his conceit, but persisted in his search. Only he did not know what he was searching for. It would be almost a miracle if Nace—providing he had shifted the boundaries—had left any tell-tale clues behind him. Reason repeatedly told him this much, and yet his optimism kept urging him to search.

“Well, I confess I’m several kinds of an idiot,” he frankly assured himself as he leaned against a large tree to rest. Through a rift in the swaying roof he could catch a glimpse of blue sky. The sun as yet had not penetrated his resting place, but it was comforting to know that once back in the open he could speedily dry his soggy clothing.

As he ruminated over the last few days and