"Again, why?"

"Well, if we lose our man now, we'll soon feel that we ought to
have turned the whole thing over to the police while the trail
was fresh."

"Dave, don't you know, well enough, that newspapers do more than
the police, nowadays, in clearing up mysteries?"

"This may be more than a mystery," hinted Dave. "Even if we get
through to the end of this trail---or mystery we may find a crime
at that end."

"All the more need, then, for moving on fast. See here, Dave,
I'll follow just the way this footprint points. You get out a
hundred feet or so to the right. And we'll move as fast as we
can, now."

The wisdom of this plan was soon apparent, for it was Dave Darrin
who discovered the next footprint. He summoned Dick Prescott
with a sharp hiss.

"Yes; all right," nodded Dick, joining his comrade and gazing
down at one of the narrow bootmarks. "But don't send a long signal
again, Dave. We might be close, and warn some one out of our
way."

"What shall we do, then?"