Charley was greeted with a round of applause, and was I soon at
work with his friends upon the meal which was now ready.
After breakfast there was a comparison of opinion, and it was at
last generally agreed that they had ridden nearly forty miles since
daybreak, and that they could not be far from the spot where the
Indians ought to have passed if they had kept the direction as
calculated. It was also agreed that it would be better to let the
horses remain where they were till late in the afternoon, when they
might accomplish another fifteen miles or so.
Mr. Hardy then proposed that those who were inclined should
accompany him on a walk along the edge of the burned ground. "We
cannot be very far off from the trail," he said, "if our
calculations are correct; and if we can find and examine it before
it is time to start, we may be able to-night to cross to the other
side, and thus gain some hours."
Herries, Farquhar, the two Jamiesons, Cook, and the young Hardys at
once volunteered for the walk, and shouldering their rifles,
started at a steady pace.
They had not walked much over a mile when a shout of pleasure broke
from them, as, upon ascending a slight rise, they saw in the hollow
below them the broad line of trampled grass, which showed that a
large body of animals had lately passed along.
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