The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1905-03-16

uoof oafst 10. HE extra sun, = shoigu
hAa been taken, his pack Of otter pslts Al
9 bis store OF c, fee and sugar. Al else "
y IS be bad left Il, but the dog was nowbc
o about, nor was there any sisn OF him.
Ihhyef, white ar red, hsd robbed b
camp, and Sic ifr had discovered them, "a
lowed, and been shot, so much VAS clel
+ 10 Barefoot. CifclIrg about bic cabin,
found the tracks tf the thieves. Thr,
, pairs OF moceasirs had come up the cree
and gone down again.
Font laion was three days. travel dii
isn', aud al that post lived family Of hal
ar,ed,, the Des Champs, whose i,yelihoo
vas CHI NJ gained by thieving. These fc
lows w,re 10 the habit Of prowlips Abou
the country on foot, tho better to hid
themselves, robbing traps and the camp
of trhppers aud hunters. Bireioo, had n,
doubt u a. three Of these scoundnls wer
The men Who had re bbed him. As 1t va
not YET noon, their trail wssa warm one
aud Barefoot determined to follow, over
take them At th,if night camp, and secur,
their boots, II chance should ofler.
Toe fellows wtud not 4 I cour expect
MIN to return so soon, and might possibly
be taken n heir guard.
No saow had fallen yet, ard recent fire,
had burt,d over much Of the grsm.lands,
90 thar the moccfsn tracks were ofte n
plainly TO be seen. Where they were ess,.
ly followed Bar bot Travelled at sw ingins
trot.
A. 4 ST he had ,xptc'ed 10 Il d the body
OF his z at 10 greet distance from The
shack hut as be put the miles behind him,
aud still found no trace OF Sll Ter, he was
much puzzled In miad. He began to hope
that the dog WAS alive, but II 60, where was
hty
This mat CT Vas settled at the m0u b OF
the creek some ten miles below his cabin.
Here, upon newly burned tract, he found
dog tracks which he knew to be Sit r.
Ten mirutes Of careful trailing dtcio s ID
the astoni'birg fact that Sil Ter was going
In company with the thieves Some, N %
their moccasius fell directly upon the dog g |
tracks, and again the prints Of his tofs ie |
within human footprint, proving beyond
question that Sii ,r bad been trottIr both
before and behind the mep.
Aud now theory na,hed 10 Bir,foot's
mind. He had been csmped In these ssme
Bad Lands when the dog came to him 10 a
Here Slrlsr had lost bis old
master and here he had found him agaio.
Thus was the puzzle neatly nnraveled.
Yet this discovery only whetted Bare
o1t's de'i to follow. The pelts were Of
title account compared with Sli l,r. 50 be
ollowed on as tireltss as coyote. At the
mouth Of the creek the robbers trail lead
irectly down the Little Missouri, They
we're headed for Fort Union and we're max.
pg good time, too. |,
At dark Barefoot e)uli no longer see :
heir tracks, ana he was ti,hearteDed lest /
hey should turn aside into rome creek val. I
". He pushed ahead, holding to the riy- I
for &C uple Of hours longer, and then te q
'ught the gimmer Of a caup.6 e amor z a
ne trunks of some cotton woods.
On the Ice Of the river, hugging its netr b
ink, Barefoot crept toward them until be
ould hide 10 clump Of willows and look c
ut on their camp. As he had suspected. Z
l. men were half-breeds, and one, at least
as a Dea Champs whom he knew.
The three had eaten supper and were k
sting, squatted about their II e. They K
ere smoking their pipes quietly, and cloie q
hand near the fire, lay Slnj,r, sound as. o
ep.
Barefoot watched the thitves until two p
them rolled into their blankets, aud the r,
Ind, putting fresh logs on the fire, sauat.
d on guard. With his own dog to assist 8,
e fellows IN night vigil, Barefoot felt Il
at pruderc required him to keep out Of
g camp. It
The trapper's only hope Of recovering his 7
operty now lay in watching the camp 10
ON distance, and In the chance OF whist 10
e Sir ier { fi,if the dog should 70 scouting b'
und in the morning. m
80 he dropped down the river half tu
lie, where he bid 10 willow thicket, ate oil
me scraps Of venison, aud rolled In for Of
9 night. He WAS awakened at day light ca
the boom OF a gun up the river. Peer. ha
/ cut OF his thicket,. he saw two figurea,s VI
arter-mile or so away, coming at a run de
70 WAS "A I ur-foot-Si, ir--and the other
nan 10 c1sse.
The dog was Juggling something In bis on
th whicn retarded his progress, and the
n could now he heard yelling, Yah,
b ysh!o ed
The dog came resref, ard then Barefoot an
v that Slr isr had sDatebed bis master,s vi
* Of otto.skips, beyond doubt at the
II chance that had fiiIed and was O
king for home as fast ~ he could. lie Gle
caught the head OF one fkin in bis
III, and tie bundle tipped and banged
bic legs at every jump. ul
Barefoot lesped cut Of the brush and ran ]
he rescue. nj
,one oD, Sl,j Coed boy Fetch fetch IA
shouted. fairly wid with excitement. ibt
,1ly ore Of the tslf-3rcedi was II sight, I
this msn waa elatiog 10 on the dog, CHI
ding bic olj North-xett nutket AZ b. ~
. He saw Barefoot, and turning bic !
q, cid fJr the others TO come on. .he
8 the dog was coming toward him,
efoot had he sJvsntsge 10 their race. az
be and sIiJr came together some rod
ront Of tbe hsif-bretd. The deg drop see
bis pack AID sped upon bis master ris
a ijyfuly'lp I
could ave iuIxed b'm, nid Bare &c
!.
be hslfbre,d halted. he had iast do foo
d loading bis gun. snd be looked ugly ant
e t1rrei ard called to bic fellows 10 90,
IN A.. fk.fy ,lav H. 1901