"Yes, sir," he continued, rising to his feet, "it is gone, and no mistake. Feel in there."
Frank accordingly got down on his knees and made an examination of the stump; but the trap, beyond a doubt, had been carried off.
"There was a mink in the trap, too," continued Harry, pointing to some bits of fur that lay scattered about over the snow. "I wish the rascals that took it had it crammed down their throats."
"It does no good to scold, Harry," said Frank, "for that won't mend the matter. But let us go around and visit the other traps; perhaps they have carried off all of them."
The boys accordingly went around to every place where they had left their traps, but not one of them could be found.
"Now, there's thirteen dollars gone to the dogs," said Harry, angrily; "for every one of those traps was worth a dollar, at least. I wish Dick was here. We would follow up the scoundrels and recover our property. What shall we do?"
"Let's follow them up, any how," replied Frank. "Perhaps we can catch them--the trail seems plain enough. How many of them do you suppose there were?"
"There were two Indians and as many dogs," answered Harry. "Here's a track made by a fellow that must have had a foot as big as all out-doors; and here's another, of very respectable size."
The boys commenced measuring the tracks, and found, as Harry had said, that there were but two different sizes. As soon as this had been determined, Frank exclaimed:
"Well, we mustn't waste any more time. Let's start after the rascals; and if we catch them, we'll make them give up those traps or fight."
Harry shrugged his shoulders, and answered:
"If you are going in for a fight, just count me out, will you? One of those Indians must be a strapping big fellow, judging by the size of his feet; and the other, although he may be a smaller man, would probably prove a tough customer. If Dick was here, I wouldn't mind it. Let us go after him."
"O no," answered the reckless Frank. "I guess we and our double-barrel shot-guns, with Brave's assistance, can recover those traps. If we can't catch the thieves, we'll make the trail, at any rate."
Harry made no reply, but ran along after Frank, who commenced following up the trail of the Indians, which, as no care had been taken to conceal it, was very plain. As on the former occasion, it appeared as if the tracks had been made by one person; but, on closer examination, Frank discovered that the larger savage had taken the lead, and that his companion had stepped exactly in his tracks. The trail ran directly away from Uncle Joe's cabin, and then turned abruptly and ran parallel with a ridge for the same distance; and here the boys came to a place where there was a confused mingling of tracks, conspicuous among which were some made by boots. There were also the tracks of two more dogs, and several drops of blood on the snow.