Max immediately stepped over and bent down.

"He's right about that, fellows," he announced; "because here you can
plainly see where the basket lay on the ground, for it left an
impression."

"It ought to," burst out Toby, convincingly; "because it was h-h-heavy
enough to m-m-make a m-m-mark anywhere."

All of them could see what Max referred to. The basket had undoubtedly
lain there on the bank. Max looked all around him, then up toward the
tree overhead. In this case the lower branches were at least ten feet
from the ground; and he mentally calculated that no animal, however long
its reach, could have possibly stretched down and secured that basket.

That would mean there should be some chance for discovering telltale
imprints near by. Max was unusually clever with regard to such things;
and always thought of them first when there was a mystery of this kind
afoot.

"Keep where you are, everybody, please, for just a minute or two," he
went on to say; "that is, don't move around more than you can help; and
use your eyes to help locate the tracks left by this _thing_, whatever
it may be."

"Oh! a good idea, Max!" burst from Toby; "now, why didn't I think of
that before I put for the c-c-camp?"

Nobody gave him an answer, but doubtless Steve deep down in his heart
was saying, "Because you were badly rattled, I guess, my boy; and wanted
to meet up with some of the rest of the crowd too much, that's what."

After all it was Max who discovered what he sought. They heard him give
utterance to a low exclamation, as though of surprise; then he was seen
to bend down and closely examine something.

The others crowded close to their leader, and three pairs of hungry
eyes were fastened upon the ground. Toby gave a cry of mingled
astonishment and disgust.

"W-w-why, would you believe it," he gasped, "after all it was a silly
little b-b-baby, and barefooted at that, g-g-got away with the
b-b-basket! Oh! rats!"

Both Steve and Bandy-legs were staring at the plain imprint of a foot,
and such a queer foot too, long and slender.

"Max, what's the answer?" begged Steve; "it don't seem possible that
that track was ever made by any baby like Toby says."

"It wasn't," the other told him, with a smile; "that was a full-grown
monkey, and I should think he would stand about as high as Bandy-legs
here!"

"A m-m-monkey!" echoed Toby, scratching his head; "and that was what
stole our f-f-fine h-h-ham the f-f-first night we ca