died up there in that
hide-out where he found me. And if it hadn't been for the little doctor
here I'd likely have died anyway. Anyhow I'd have lost my leg. There's a
barskin coming to you too, some day."

Walter flushed. It made him uncomfortable to be called the little
doctor, as Alec persisted in calling him, yet at the same time he was
conscious of a warm glow of pride which he tried hard to stifle. "Pooh,
Alec, that was no more than any of the other fellows would have done if
I hadn't been here. You know all Scouts know what to do for first aid to
the injured," said he.

"Just the same I don't believe there was one of us would have had the
nerve to tackle that broken leg of Alec's. I wouldn't for one," declared
Hal.

To relieve Walter's embarrassment Pat abruptly changed the subject.
"What was that you hinted at when we first got here about signs of some
one else in these diggings?" he asked, turning to Alec.

The Scotchman's face darkened. He threw a couple of big logs on the fire
and then as the others made themselves comfortable he told his story
briefly. For the last two weeks there had been little fur in the traps,
especially on the forty mile line to the north. He had made the round of
this line twice in this time with only one marten, a fox and a few rats
to show for it, but he had found signs which led him to believe that
some of the traps had been robbed. He was morally certain that some one
had been systematically making the rounds of the traps, timing the
visits so that there would be no danger of running into him and so
cunningly following his trail that it was only by the closest study of
the tracks that he had made sure that a stranger had been on the line.
At one unsprung marten trap he had found a couple of drops of blood
which indicated that there had been something in the trap. At another
there had been the faint imprint of the body of an animal laid in the
snow off at one side. In one trap he had found the foot of a muskrat,
nothing unusual in itself, but it had been cut off with a knife and not
twisted or gnawed off.

These things he had discovered on his trip two weeks ago, and on his
return trip he had thrust tiny twigs into the snow of the trail in such
a way that they would not be noticed. On his second round from which he
had returned only the day before, he had found some of these crushed
into the snow, sure evidence that they had been stepped on. He had kept
a sharp watch for a stra