Page:The Outdoor Chums.djvu/199

Rh Will here, who discovers things by the print of a foot. Possibly he could follow up the trail of the thief until it led to the lost Catling gun."

"It would have been a good idea if taken at the time. What's this plain trail lead to?" asked Frank.

"I think it leads direct from the hemlock camp to where Andy's crowd holds out," replied Jerry, who knew considerable about this region.

"Are we far away from the lake, then?"

"It's some closer than our camp. This trail has been traveled more or less lately, too. That proves those fellows have been back and forth. They're bound to spend pretty much all their time while up here trying to make life miserable for us. We turn to the left here, fellows, and go right along this way."

The other two, after a look along the trail that led to the lake camp, were just starting to follow Jerry when they heard a muffled cry. Looking hastily around, to their great astonishment no Jerry was in sight! And in the trail they discovered a gaping hole which was partly covered with a layer of slender sticks, thickly strewn with dead leaves!