"Then, Ralph and Rowena would have knowed where that key hung. They'd be more'n likely to build the fire in their ma's sittin'-room. Now, when they sneaked out o' the house this mornin', they'd take just this kind of stuff that's been took from the pantry."
"And the dog clinches it. He's a friend to all children. He'd never have stopped them, especially as they was in the house and didn't come from outside."
"I believe you are right," admitted Mr. Howbridge.
"I'm great on figgerin'," said the woodsman. "Now, let's see what sort of a nose that there dog's got."
"Yes. I ain't got no dog. There ain't none nearer'n Sim Hackett's beagle at Ebettsville that's wuth anything on the trail. Them youngsters must have gone somewhere, Mr. Howbridge. And they can't be fur off. We've got to find 'em before this here storm that's breedin' comes down on us. There must be tracks somewheres, and a trail a good dog can sniff."
"I understand what you mean. But how shall we start the dog on their trail! We have nothing the twins have worn," said Mr. Howbridge.
"Let's look around," suggested Ike. "Up-stairs in that sittin'-room, where you found the live coals--or, your man did--there's a closet where some of the twins' clo'es used to hang. Mebbe there's some there now. If that there dog has got a nose at all, an' he sniffed them children good this mornin', he'll know the smell of 'em again. Yes, sir."
"That is a good idea," admitted Mr. Howbridge. "You go out and see if you can find any impressions of the children's feet in the snow, Ike. I will hunt in the rooms upstairs for something the twins may have worn."
"Stockin's are best--stockin's that ain't been washed," said the woodsman. "Or mittens, or gloves. Come on, sonny," he added to Neale O'Neil. "You come with me and we'll try to find some trail marks in the snow." He glanced at the window. "And we've got to hurry. It's snowin' right hard now, and will smother marks and everything if it keeps on this way for long."
Just then, while there was so much interest being felt in the Birdsall twins and the possibility of their having been at Red Deer Lodge, somebody should have felt a revived interest in three other children--Sammy Pinkney and the two youngest Corner House girls.