"But, how can you see all that?" questioned Pepper. "You have hardly
looked at them, and I couldn't see them at all until you pointed
them out."

"Practice and observation," answered the colonel. "That trail is
as plain as day. There wasn't any attempt to hide it. Why, out on
the plains a scout would follow it at a gallop. See how far you
can track it."

"'Twill no be far, in my opinion," confessed Donald. "'Tis no over
plain."

But with much care and patience the boys were able to follow the
track for a considerable distance, losing it every now and then and
picking it up again, Rand being the quickest and Donald the most
persistent; ail of them getting a little more expert as they went
on.

"Where does it go now?" asked Jack after a while, when they had
lost it and were unable to pick it up again.

"That's doing very well for a beginning," commended the colonel.
"They went off here, I think to avoid the house, and we are almost
there."

A short walk brought them to the shack, which was set in a little
clearing in the woods. It was one-story high and about sixteen feet
square, with a small kitchen in the back. It was provided with two
doors, numerous windows, and had a small porch in front. It was
ceiled inside and scantily furnished with a few chairs, a couple