“You can see it was made before or during the blizzard,” Dick said. “It’s partly drifted full of snow. Let’s look for other tracks.”
Several feet away from the first, on the other side of a long, low, snowdrift they found the next track. It was raised up out of the snow, the wind having sucked away the loose flakes all around it. Another and another they found, as the trail grew hotter, but the tracks seemed to have been made by a person wandering aimlessly here and there.
“I’m certain it’s Moonshine Sam now,” Dick breathed. “His tracks show how crazily he was going, blinded by the storm.”
Hastening on, the boys presently came to fresher footprints, made, obviously, after the wind had laid. The tracks were now sunken in deep snow, revealing how, from lack of snowshoes, the man had floundered along.
They had followed the fresher tracks for about half a mile, when to their surprise another trail, made by snowshoes, joined and followed the first.
“I wonder who that could be,” Sandy spoke.
“Well, it’s only one man, so it can’t be the policemen, unless they’ve divided up. I hardly think they’d do that.”
“Maybe it’s Mistak or some of his men,” was Sandy’s conjecture. “Don’t you think we’d better go back?”
“Not on your life we’re not going back!” Dick said determinedly. “We’ve been lucky enough to strike a hot trail, and believe me, we’re going to stick to it. But I do wish we could get in touch with the policemen. Look around, Sandy, and see if you can’t see someone.”
But a careful scanning of the bleak snowfields failed to disclose any sign of life.
“We’ll have to keep on alone I guess,” Dick said finally.
Once more they started out on the double trail, their senses on the alert for a sight or sound of those they followed.
Fresher and fresher became the trail, for the man on snowshoes was rapidly overtaking whoever he pursued, provided that was what he had been doing, and according to signs the man in boots had increased his pace to a floundering run as if he wanted to get away from someone.
The boys came to the brow of a long incline, slanting to a level tundra, and down the slope saw two men, surprisingly close.
“Sit down, Sandy,” Dick whispered. “Don’t let either of them see us.”