376 WILD SPORTS IK THE SOUTH. 



number of days it would take a flag to wither that 

 much. 



At length a dint in the oozy bank he marked as made 

 by the blade of a paddle, and marked it so exactly that 

 when he saw another on the same bank he knew they 

 were the blades of different paddles, and that there were 

 more boats than one that had recently preceded him. 

 By the inclination of the hole in the mud, he knew the 

 direction of the stroke, and therefore the way the pad- 

 dlers who left the marks were going. When there was 

 an opening i^^ the reeds he would raise himself to his feet 

 and look out on the flatlands, watching the birds to see 

 if they would indicate by their flight or their cries 

 passers in the desert. 



"Where the creek ran out, the scout examined warily 

 the landing. There were no marks or signs of any kind. 

 He watched long and closely, but could see not a token 

 that a footstep had been there for a month. 



"Queer, that!" ho said, and paddling back a little 

 to an out-of-the-way elbow, pulled in his canoe in the 

 reeds, and stepped ashore, leaving his hound tied in 

 the boat. He then crossed over from the low land to 

 the higher rolling sand of the coast, but found no signs 

 of passers. Extending his walk a couple of miles down, 

 he came upon footsteps plainly marked in the sand, 

 going from west to east. 



"Ha!" said he, coming to a halt, and bringing his 

 hand to the cock of his rifle. His eyes followed the 

 signs back and forth, and he smiled drily. He felt the 



