272 WILD SPORTS IN THE SOUTH. 



opening in the reeds he would raise himself to his feet and look 

 out on the flatlands, watching the birds to see if they would indi- 

 cate by their flight or their cries any passers in the desert. 



Where the creek ran out, the scout examined warily the land- 

 ing. There were no marks or signs of any kind. He searched 

 long and closely, but could see not a token that a footstep had 

 been there for a month. 



" Queer, that ! " he said, and paddling back 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 compliment to himself, implied in 

 the pains taken by the savages to conceal their trail. 



"Tried to dodge — landed back and walked around. Some- 

 thin 's up — wouldn't have been so pertickalar ef they'd been 

 actin' honest." 



The hunter followed the trail both back to a branch of the 

 lagoon, where they had left the ordinary course, and then over the 

 sands till where the footsteps faded out in the ripples of Indian 

 River. 



" Seven days out, jist ! " said he musingly. " Scratchin' along 

 fast" 



Seating himself on the sandy hillock, among the rough swaying 

 grass, he mused on the thoughts suggested by the trail, and after 

 a very long silence again repeated with a sigh, looking southward 

 — " Nine bucks and no squaws — that means mischief." 



He laid off his cap and drew back his matted hair, leaving his 

 forehead open to the caressing air. " Seven days," he said. " Wall, 

 seven days are a deal of time, and what 's wrong done, is done bein' 

 helped. I might as well go over and see. Somehow or 'nother, it 

 don't seem nateral for that critter to come this way. Ef he 's run- 

 nin' from the soldiers he 'd gone west ; he knows too much to be 

 bothered by them. He 's sent off the women folks for no good, 



