ered from his amazement, he and Hay-uta examined the
immediate vicinity. The action of the youth, and the emotion he
displayed, told the story to the Sauk, who did not fail also to see the
value of the clew that had fallen into their hands.

Ten feet from where the cap was found lay a small decayed tree. It had
probably been blown down during some gale. The suggestion presented
itself that Otto Relstaub was sitting on this support, when he either
flung the hat from him, or some one else did so. That which the friends
wished to find now was the footprints left by the lad when he went away:
_they_ would tell the story as nothing else could.

If the missing boy had gone within the preceding two or three days, the
keen vision of the Sauk could see and follow the trail. Recognizing his
immeasurably superior skill, Jack remained seated on the tree and nodded
to Hay-uta to push his search.

The warrior did every thing he could, stepping as lightly as a fawn, his
shoulders bending low, while he scrutinized the leaves with a minuteness
which would have detected a pin lying on top of them. A faint trail
leading through the wilderness is sometimes plainer a few steps distant
than it is beneath one's own feet. The disturbance of the vegetation,
the rumpling of the leaves resulting in the turning of the under side
toward the sun, and those trifling disarrangements which you or I would
never notice, can be identified by what may be called an off-hand
scrutiny, possibly on the same principle that a careless glance at
Pleiades will reveal each of the seven stars, when if the gaze is fixed
on the matchless group, one of them modestly shrinks from view.

There was no artifice known to the aboriginal brain which was not called
into use by the Sauk warrior. He stepped with the utmost care, so as to
disturb the leaves as little as possible. First of all, he gave his
attention to the space between the log and the river. That was short,
and its examination required but a brief time. Hay-uta seemed to suspect
that the trail would be found to lead toward the stream, but he was
disappointed, as not the slightest trace was discovered. I may as well
say that though the scrutiny was continued for half an hour, and
embraced a complete circle around the spot where the hat was found, it
resulted in no success at all. The conclusion was inevitable--so long a
time had passed since it was thrown to the ground, that every vestige of
the footprints had