ose
three figures of men?" and Matty held the bark directly in front of
Landy and George.

"Sure," replied George. "Under one is a mark--say, it looks like the
same down at the bottom of the letter, and you said that was the sign or
totem of the Wolf Patrol."

"Just so; and this tells us the first fellow is a member of that patrol.
Under the others you will see marks to indicate that they are members of
the Beaver and the Eagle patrols."

"That's so, Matty; I can see 'em," declared Landy, who evidently did not
wish his cousin to get all the credit for smartness.

"All right. Let's get on a little," said Matty. "First notice two have
hats on, while the third wears none. Now, you may think that an accident
in drawing, but it isn't at all. Elmer meant it for something."

"And I can guess what it is," declared Chatz Maxfield, the Southern boy.

"Then tell the rest of us," cried several.

"Why, it's dead easy," was his reply. "Stop and think; who's always
losing his hat every chance he gets?"

"Nat Scott!" quickly exclaimed Landy.

"All right. And don't we happen to know that Nat was one of those who
went ahead of Elmer and Lil Artha by an hour or so," laughed Red.

"Well, I declare!" cried Landy, "and do you mean to say Elmer has
guessed that, or did he see the fellows before he wrote this letter?"

"Neither one nor the other. He just figured it out from something he
found. Perhaps he knows what the print of Nat's shoe looks like, for we
all make different tracks, you know."

"Yes," said Chatz, "that would be just like Elmer. He's the most
observing, wide-awake fellow I ever knew since I came up from the South.
I've seen him measuring some of our tracks, and making a copy in that
wonderful little book of his."

"Now, let's get on a little further. Do you see that the second figure,
no matter how often he appears, always has his left leg bent a little?"
and Matty pointed in several places to confirm his statement.

Immediately Red laughed aloud, and then in one breath he and Larry
exclaimed:

"That's Ty Collins, as sure as anything!"

"I guess you've hit the mark," said Matty, "and that was just what Elmer
was trying to tell us. Ty's left leg has always been a little crooked
since he fell out of that cherry tree three years ago. Now, the third
fellow got me at first, but come to look at him he seems a little
different from the others. See here, and here, and here."

"That's a fact," declared Landy, scrat