Of course, the hard crust gave no sign of track. Their first
thought was of the old enemy, but, seeking far and near for
evidence, they found pieces of an ermine skin, and a quarter mile
farther, the rest of it, then, at another place, fragments of a
muskrat's skin. Those made it look like the work of the
trapper's enemy, the wolverine, which, though rare, was surely
found in these hills. Yes! there was a wolverine scratch mark,
and here another piece of the rat skin. It was very clear who
was the thief.
"He tore up the cheapest ones of the lot anyway," said Rolf.
Then the trappers stared at each other significantly -- only the
cheap ones destroyed; why should a wolverine show such
discrimination? There was no positive sign of wolverine; in
fact, the icy snow gave no sign of anything. There was little
doubt that the tom furs and the scratch marks were there to
mislead; that this was the work of a human robber, almost
certainly Hoag.
He had doubtless seen them leave in the morning, and it was
equally sure, since he had had hours of start, he would now be
far away.
"Ugh! Give him few days to think he safe, then I follow and
settle all," and this time the Indian clearly meant to end the
matter.
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