of a
sudden I happened to remember that the Indian's head is the design of
the scout pathfinder badge.

Jiminetty, but didn't I get down on my knees and study those some
more. Maybe it didn't have anything to do with the scouts, but maybe
it did.

And even if it did I couldn't make out what it meant, because that shoe
was no scout shoe. I know a scout shoe when I see one, you can bet.

Anyway, I made up my mind I was going to follow that track as far as I
could. Maybe it would peter out on a street or something and then--good
night!

You'll see what happened in the next chapter. Oh boy, it's going to be
a peacherino!

CHAPTER XIV

THE SLACKER

One thing, I wished Tom Slade was there, because he was the best tracker
we ever had. He could track an airplane--that's what the fellows used to
say. But he was over in France and the only other fellow in our troop
who is a crackerjack at tracking, is Westy Martin. I don't say that
just because he's a Silver Fox, because I have to admit that Artie Van
Arlen and Wig Weigand are heroes, and they're not Silver Foxes. But,
honest, Westy is a winner when it comes to tracking, and you've got to
remember that, because now I'm going to tell you some other things
about him and maybe you won't know just what to think. But I'm going
to tell you straight just what happened.

Well, I decided that I'd rather have another fellow with me, because
that's a good rule in tracking and anyway two fellows are better than
one. And anyway, I knew he could hold a track longer than I could. He
got the pathfinder's badge for one of the best tracking stunts that was
ever done up at Temple Camp and he's done enough tracking stunts to win
it two or three times over. He's a fiend on tracking.

By now I knew that the fellows would all be coming down to the boat club
landing to work on the houseboat, because we had it fixed that they would
all be there by nine o'clock. I wasn't going to flunk on that, you can
bet, but I thought if I told them about the footprint they'd let Westy
and me off for a little while, because if a scout is after a merit badge
he can usually get leave all right. Anyway, that's the way it is in our
troop. And all the fellows knew I had the tracking bee, all right. Gee,
I hate to tell you about this, but I have to. Now, the way you get from
Marshtown landing up to the boat club landing is to follow the shore and
its only about a quarter of a mile. After I'd hiked it a lit