ntern," answered his chum. "It was made of black sheet
iron, you remember. This piece may have fallen off when they dragged it
through the bushes. We're on the right trail, all right."

"I believe you. But I wish it would turn on to a better path. It's no
fun forcing your way through these bushes."

"It'll turn soon now," predicted Blake. "They only took this lead long
enough to discourage pursuit. They didn't like it any better than we
do."

His surmise proved correct and about five minutes later, having found
other evidences of the passage of the wreckers, they came out on an open
trail.

It was a narrow path, leading along in both directions from where they
came out on it, and following the coast line, but some distance inland.
There were evidences that men had passed in both directions, and that at
no distant time, for footprints turned to both the left and right, as
the boys emerged from the blind trail in the brush.

"Well, what about this?" questioned Joe, as he looked in silence at the
tell-tale marks. "Which way shall we go, Blake?"

"To the right!" came the answer, almost immediately.

"What makes you say that?" asked his chum. "I don't see anything to show
that they went to the right, any more than that they went to the left."

"Don't you?" asked Blake. "Look here, and remember some of the things
our cowboy guide told us when we were after the Indians. Now you see
footprints going off to the left and right from this point; don't you?"

"Sure."

"Well, do you happen to notice that on the left there are footprints
coming back as well as going."

"Yes, I see that. But what does it mean?"

"And on the right side, counting from this dividing point, there are
only footprints in one direction."

"That's so, Blake. But----"

"Now what's the answer? Why the men got here, and, thinking they might
be followed, tried a simple trick. They doubled their trail."

"What's that?"

"Why, some of them went off to the left, walked on a little way,
doubled, or turned, and came back, joining the others, who had turned to
the right and kept on."

"Why was that?"

"Because they wanted to fool us. Naturally a person, not looking
carefully, would see both lines of footprints, and would reason that the
men might have divided, or that there might have been two separate
parties. He wouldn't know which trail to take. He might pick out the
right one, and, again, he might select the wrong one."

"And you say the rig