"Yes," Rube responded, halting near him and standing looking him up and down in curious examination. "Yes, I allow I'm some hungry. Say, your moccasins are wet. Spilt some of the tea-water on 'em? Pity ter spoil a nice pair of moccasins by wettin' 'em. You ain't written much with that pencil. The point's still sharp since you sharpened it after dinner."
Kiddie glanced at the pencil point and smiled.
"Might have sharpened it again, while I've been waitin'," he said.
"But you didn't," returned Rube. "There ain't no chips lyin' around--unless you've put 'em in your pocket, same's you did before."
Kiddie smiled again. He had moved to the fire to put on the eggs.
"You're becomin' quite observant, Rube," he said. "See anythin' special on your solitary wanderin's?"
"Guess I found this here scrap of paper," Rube answered. "Looks as if it had been tore outer that note-book you was pretendin' to be writin' in--same size, same colour, an' thar's writin' on it, too. Looks like your own fist, don't it?"
Kiddie reached for the square of paper that was handed to him and examined it as if he had never seen it before.
[Illustration: Kiddie reached for the square of paper.]
"Queer!" he ruminated, "it's sure my handwritin'--'_Bring this back to camp_.' Where'd you pick it up?"
"Didn't pick it up at all," answered Rube. "Found it on a hickory bush, far, far in, as it might be the very heart o' the forest."
"Ah! Some mischievous jay bird plant it there, d'ye think?"
"Jay bird couldn't have written that message on it," said Rube. "Jay bird couldn't have fastened it with a twig drove through the paper ter keep it in place. Guess you heard a jay squawkin' a lot, didn't you, Kiddie?"
"Sure," Kiddie nodded. "Couldn't get quit of the fowl until you came along on my track an' it started ter foller you instead of me. How'd you find your way back to camp?"
"Came th' same way as you did, I reckon," answered Rube. "Went th' same way's you meant me ter go, all the time--trackin' you by the clues you left."
Kiddie was silent until the tea was quite ready and the two of them were seated. Then he said--
"You've done a heap better'n I expected you to do, Rube. I didn't leave many clues, there was none of them conspicuous, an' they were very far apart--fifty yards apart at the least. Tell me exactly what you found."