'less Sol.

"He would," said Henry, "and, being terribly hungry, he would then climb
that wild plum tree there beyond the oaks."

"Might throw up a stick an' knock 'em down," said Long Jim.

"There is no fallen wood here," said Henry, "and, being so ragingly
hungry, Paul would not hunt for a stick. He'd shin up that tree at
once."

"Tree itself will show," said Tom Ross.

"And it certainly does show," said Henry as they looked.

Little pieces of the bark on the trunk were broken off, evidently by a
heavy body as it had struggled upward. Shif'less Sol also found two plum
skins on the ground not far from the tree. The shiftless one held them
up for the others to see.

"Now, ain't that Paul all over?" Tom Ross said. "Knows all about how the
Carthygenians fit the French, an' how the English licked the Persians,
but here he goes droppin' plum skins on the groun' fur any wanderin'
warrior to see."

"Don't you go to attackin' Paul," said Shif'less Sol, "'cause Paul is a
scholar like me. I ain't had the opportunities fur learnin', but I take
naterally to it, 'specially history. So I kin understand why Paul,
thinkin' all the time about Hannibal an' Belisarry an' all them great
battles a long time ago, should throw his plum skins 'roun' loose,
knowin' thar ain't no Carthygenians an' Persians about these days to see
'em."

"Paul is shorely a good boy," said Tom Ross, "an' ef he wants to throw
plum skins, he kin. Now, we've got to figger on what he'll do next."

"Let's go to the top of that hill over there," said Henry, "and take a
look at the country."

The survey showed a tangled mass of forest and low hills, which seemed
to be monotonously alike in every direction. They could not see the Ohio
from their summit.

"I think it likely," said Henry, "that Paul has got lost. Maybe he has
been wandering about in a circle. I heard my Indians say that one lost
on the Great Plains often did that."

"Might be a good guess," said Shif'less Sol. "Let's go back to the plum
tree and try to take up his trail."

Paul's trail from the plum tree led in a northeasterly direction, and
they were sure now that he was lost, as the river lay to the south. But
the trail could not be followed more than twenty yards, and then they
held another council.

"Bein' lost," said Tom Ross, "it ain't likely that he's ever got more'n
two or three miles from here. Been spendin' his time goin' up an' down
an' back an' forth. Ef we'd fire a rifle he