"Oh! Then I guess they must have been here before we came, and all you
say makes me believe I was right. They have no arms, or else their
powder and shot have run out; and for some reason they are afraid to
meet whites. Well, the elk's gone, and we can't mend that. Let's return
to camp. You have the tail to show for your little adventure, my lad."

"Yes, sir; and the memory of it all, which will haunt me for a good long
time," said Bluff, with a shake of his head, as he contemplated the
historic tree around which he had done a little Marathon.

"But I mean to get a picture of this tree, anyhow, just to remind Bluff
how valuable a good pair of sprinting legs may be sometimes," laughed
Will.

And he did, with Bluff standing alongside; for once the official
photographer demanded a pose, he was bound to get it, or throw up his
job, for such was the law of the Rod, Gun and Camera Club.

Then they retraced their steps to the camp, Frank more than usually
thoughtful, for anything in the shape of a mystery always set him to
puzzling, and he more than once wondered whether they would ever learn
just why those Crees stole the elk Bluff had downed after so much
trouble.

"How many did there seem to be?" he asked Reddy, a little later.

"You mean of the thieving reds? I counted nine in all, four bucks, two
squaws and three pappooses," replied the other.

"But if I understand rightly, these Indians never take their families