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Pony Rider Boys on the Blue Ridge

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<h3>CHAPTER XVIII</h3> <h3>THE CAMP SUFFERS A LOSS</h3> All the rest of the afternoon Professor Zepplin was absorbed in examining rocks, specimens of ore, and dirt. He was deep in consultation with Dunkan and the others of the prospectors. "Yes, there are strong indications here, but thus far I have found nothing that would pay," said the Professor. "The sample you say you got from Stillman Gulch is the best of all. It is, I might say, most promising. Is that where the other man claims to have found pay dirt?" "Somewhere in that vicinity. We don't know the exact location." "Are you trying to locate a vein of ore, too?" questioned the Professor. "Sure we are. It's anybody's gold. Of course we don't follow him and spy on him. We aren't that kind of cattle. But we'll find it prospecting if we find it at all, and then you'll see music in these parts." "I understand there are gems in these mountains." "Yes, they've been found. Here's an amethyst I picked up a week ago." The Professor, after examining the stone, became enthusiastic. He pronounced it an exceptionally fine specimen. "If, sir, you are able to pick up such stones as this on this Ridge why do you waste your time in seeking for gold?" "That's just the trick, Professor. We can't." "But surely they must be here. This one shows evidence of having been wrenched from its original resting place and hurled some distance." Dunkan gazed at the Professor reflectively. "By Hickey, I believe you're right at that. It gives me a new idea. I'll go to that place and hunt until either I find something or I don't." "Do so, by all means. Those boys of mine will help you." "Let them, but if they find anything it belongs to them. Jim Dunkan hasn't got any claim on anything in these hills unless he finds it for himself. We'll be getting back now." It was a jolly evening spent around the campfire of the prospectors. Stories were told, Chops was induced to sing a song, the boys related interesting stories of their experiences on their various journeys, then all hands turned in well satisfied with their day and their evening. The Pony Rider Boys slept soundly. But late in the night there came an interruption—a rush of the prospectors' collie dog. The animal, tied to a tree, began to bark and strain at its leash. Just before the men turned out to see what the trouble was, the collie broke its leash and dashed away into the bushes, barking furiously. They heard the animal snarling. A yelp followed, then a chorus of explosive barks. The dog's barking ceased suddenly. "I reckon he's chasing some animal," said Dunkan. "It didn't sound like that to me," replied Tad, still listening intently. "Of course you know the dog better than do I. Does he bark at every sound?" "Pretty near," grinned Sam. "Yes, he usually wakes us up once a night, sometimes more," added Tom Royal. "Reckon we might as well go back to bed." Jim whistled for the dog. He kept whistling for several minutes, then turned back toward their tent disgustedly. "He's got on the trail of something and gone beyond sound," he muttered. "He'll be back here in the morning." "I hope so," muttered Tad. "See here, you've got something in your mind, younker!" demanded Dunkan. "Nothing except that I don't believe your collie was chasing an animal. I know a dog's bark well enough to know when he's on the trail of an animal. That bark and growl wasn't like any animal-chasing growl I ever heard." "All right, sonny, we'll see who's right," smiled Jim, turning to his tent. "Night." "Good-night," answered Butler. "He will see whether I am right or not in the morning. I am going to find out something for myself in the morning, too. I don't believe those men are very good mountaineers, though they may be most excellent prospectors." Tad went to sleep and slept soundly until break of day when he was up and about. Dunkan's first inquiry upon getting up, was as to whether the collie had returned. The collie had not. The broken rope with which he had been tethered before breaking away still hung from the stake. "Well, kid, I reckon you were right about the dog's not coming back," announced Dunkan, his face troubled and anxious. "I didn't say he would not come back, did I? What I tried to tell you, was that he wasn't chasing an animal." "Well, he was. If he hadn't been, he'd been back in this camp hours ago. He's got mixed up in his trail, but I reckon he'll be along when he gets ready. I'm not going to worry about the dog, though I'd rather lose anything I've got than to lose him." "You're wrong all around, Mr. Dunkan," asserted Tad confidently. "You think so?" "I know so." "How d'ye know?" "Because if you will look out yonder in the bushes you will find the trail of the man he was following," replied Tad gravely. Tad's calm announcement startled everyone in camp. Even Chops paused with frying pan held aloft to listen to the further words of the keen-eyed Pony Rider Boy. "What's that you say?" demanded Sam Ellison. "Your dog chased a man away from here last night." "How—how do you know?" stammered Jim. "Because I saw the trail this morning." "Where?" "Right there. It begins with the dog's tracks, which, after a little way, are mixed up with that of the man he was after." Dunkan eyed Tad keenly to see if the boy was joking. Tad Butler most certainly was not joking. He had never been more serious in his life. "Show it to me," commanded Dunkan. The prospector's voice was calm, but there was a menace in it. Without a word Tad led the way to the edge of the camp ground, where he pointed to the footprints of the dog, faintly discernible on the soft turf. Tad kept right on until he had gone some ten rods from the camp, whereupon he halted and pointed again. "What do you make of that, Mr. Dunkan?" he asked. "Man's tracks, as I'm alive," muttered the prospector, after a careful examination of the trail as indicated by Tad. "Yes, and the man had been standing here for some time. If you will look a little farther you will find that he started to walk away, then broke into a run. The dog was pressing him rather too closely for comfort. At this point the dog began running faster than before. I know that because from this point the collie left only the faintest footprints, showing that he was barely touching the ground with his feet." <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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