After a careful look around, he returned to the forest, and set off at a
quick pace in the direction from whence he had come.

"Shall we leap upon him and make him a prisoner?" asked Dave, in a whisper.

"No," replied Jadwin shortly. "Keep quiet."

Dave now understood what was in the trapper's mind, and kept still, and in
a moment more the Frenchman was out of sight, moving swiftly to the
northwest.

"I will follow him on foot and blaze the trail with my hunting knife," said
Jadwin, to Dave and Sanderson. "You can come after me with the horses. He
will probably go straight to where the rest of the rascals are in camp."

In a minute Jadwin was off and the others were not slow to follow. As
before mentioned, the trail led to the northwest, through an unusually
thick growth of sycamores and hemlocks. Fortunately the way was well
defined, being used by many wild beasts, in their trips between the Ohio
and the Great Lakes.

The French hunter and trapper was a rapid walker, and Tadwin did not catch
sight of the fellow for two hours after starting on the trail. Then he
located the man sitting on a slight knoll, resting. He at once halted and
kept his position until the Frenchman moved again, when he followed as
before.

During the entire day the following was kept up in this fashion. Late in
the afternoon the Frenchman stopped to prepare himself a meal, building a