to descend. The men with guns had returned and the
outposts doubled back on themselves as they came, adding a man at
intervals, until they joined those waiting for them. Without delay the
men strung out in single file along the path, with the old millman in
the lead. For the most part they went as quietly as would Indians on
the war-path, loping along now and then down declivities, or panting
upward when the trail climbed to higher altitudes. There was no doubt
at all that the man who had dynamited the dam was certain of his
having evaded all followers, and indeed he would have done so with men
less trained and astute.

"Does any one know this country here?" demanded Rogers, suddenly
halting his little band.

"I do," declared one of the drill runners. "I worked over here on this
side one time about two years ago. Why?"

"Well, where does this trail go?"

"To an old logging camp, first, then from there there is a road
leading over to Malapi."

Rogers lowered his hand from his ear and looked thoughtful for a
moment.

"Many men at the camp?"

"No, I think it's been abandoned for two or three years," replied the
drill runner. Rogers slapped his hand on his leg, and seemed confident
again.

"Then that's where we'll find him. In that old, abandoned camp," he
exclaimed. "It's a ten-to-one bet that he got some supplies up there
some time within the last few days, when he made up his mind to do
this job, and that he plans to lay quiet there until it is safe for
him to get out of the country."

The others nodded their heads sagely.

"If you're sure of that," the drill runner said, "the best thing to do
is for us to leave the trail over here a ways and come up to the old
camp from behind it. He might be on the watch for this trail."

"Good again!" asserted the millman. "Here, you take the lead now and
we'll follow."

For another hour they plugged along the trail with an increasing
alertness, and wondering how soon the drill runner would turn off. At
last he looked back and gestured to them. They understood. He slipped
off the trail into the brush and began going slowly. Once he stopped
to whisper to them to be cautious, inasmuch as within a few hundred
yards they would reach their goal. Now they began to exercise the
utmost caution of movement, spreading out according to individual
judgment to avoid windfalls and thickets. Again the lead man stopped
and signaled them. He beckoned with his arm, and they closed up a