tug blackstock arrived the next morning about eleven. before he had time to sit down for a cup of that strenuous black tea which the woodsmen consume at all hours, he had heard from woolly billy's eager lips the story of the hole in the tree beneath the fish-hawk's nest. he heard also of the episode at zeb smith's store, but woolly billy by this time had quite forgiven long jackson, so the incident was told in such a way that blackstock had no reason to take offence.

"long tried hard," said the child, "to get me to tell where that hole was, but i wouldn't. and black dan was awful nice, an' made him stop botherin' me, an' said i was quite right not to tell anybody till you came home, coz you'd know just what to do."

"h'm!" said the deputy-sheriff thoughtfully, "long's had a lot of money stole from him, so, of course, he wanted to git his eyes on to that hole quick. but 'tain't like black dan to be that thoughtful. maybe he hasn't had none taken."

while he was speaking, a bunch of the mill-hands arrived at the door, word of blackstock's return having gone through the village.

"we want to go an' help ye find that traysure, tug," said long jackson, glancing somewhat sheepishly at woolly billy. a friendly grin from the child reassured him, and he went on with more confidence:

"we tried to git the kiddie to tell us where 'twas, but wild steers wouldn't drag it out o' him till you got back."

"that's right, long," agreed blackstock, "but it don't need to be no expedition. we don't want the whole village traipsin' after us. you an' three or four more o' the boys that's lost money come along, with woolly billy an' me, an' the rest o' you meet us at the store in about a couple o' hours' time. tell any other folks you see that i don't want 'em follerin' after us, because it may mix up things—an' anyways, i don't want it, see!"

after a few moments' hesitation and consultation the majority of the mill-hands turned away, leaving long jackson and big andy stevens, the blue-eyed giant from the oromocto (who had been one of the chief victims), and macdonald, and black saunders, and black dan (whose name had been dan black till the whim of the woodsmen turned it about). blackstock eyed them appraisingly.

"i didn't know as you'd bin one o' the victims too, dan," he remarked.

"didn't ye, tug?" returned black with a short laugh. "well, i didn't say nawthin about it, coz i was after doin' a leetle detective work on me own, an' mebbe i'd 'ave got in ahead o' ye if woolly billy here hadn't 'a' been so smart. but i tell ye, tug, if that there traysure's the lot we're thinkin' it is, there'd ought ter be a five-dollar bill in it what i've marked."

"h'm!" grunted the deputy, hastily gulping down the last of his tea, and rising to his feet. "but woolly billy an' me and jim's a combination pretty hard to git ahead of, i'm thinkin'."

as the party neared the bluff whereon the tree of the fish-hawk's nest stood ragged against the sky, the air grew rank with the pungent odour of skunk. now skunks were too common in the region of brine's rip mills for that smell, as a rule, to excite any more comment than an occasional disgusted execration when it became too concentrated. but to-day it drew more than passing attention. macdonald sniffed intently.

"it's deuced queer," said he, "but i've noticed that there's always been a smell of skunk round when anybody's lost anything. did it ever strike you that way, tug?"

"yes, some!" assented the deputy curtly.

"it's a skunk, all right, that's been takin' our money," said big andy, "ef he don't carry his tail over his back."

every one of the party was sniffing the tainted air as if the familiar stench were some rare perfume—all but jim. he had had an encounter with a skunk, once in his impulsive puppy days, and the memory was too painful to be dwelt upon.

as they climbed the slope, one of the fish-hawks came swooping down from somewhere high in the blue, and began circling on slow wings about the nest.

"that cross old bird doesn't like visitors," remarked woolly billy.

"you wouldn't, neether, woolly billy, if you was a fish-hawk," said jackson.

arrived at the tree, woolly billy pointed eagerly to a slightly broken piece of bark a little above the height of the deputy's head.

"there's the hole!" he cried, clapping his hands in his excitement as if relieved to find it had not vanished.

"keep off a bit now, boys," cautioned blackstock. drawing his long hunting-knife, he carefully loosened the bark without letting his hand come in contact with it, and on the point of the blade laid it aside against the foot of the trunk.

"don't any of you tech it," he admonished.

then he slipped his hand into the hole, and felt about.

a look of chagrin came over his face, and he withdrew his hand—empty.

"nothin' there!" said he.

"it was there yesterday morning," protested woolly billy, his blue eyes filling with tears.

"yes, yes, of course," agreed blackstock, glancing slowly around the circle of disappointed faces.

"somebody from the store's been blabbin'," exclaimed black dan, in a loud and angry voice.

"an' why not?" protested big andy, with a guilty air. "we never said nawthin' about keepin' it a secret."

in spite of their disappointment, the millhands laughed. big andy was not one to keep a secret in any case, and his weakness for a certain pretty widow who kept the postoffice was common comment. big andy responded by blushing to the roots of his blonde hair.

"jim!" commanded the deputy. and the big black dog bounded up to him, his eyes bright with expectation. the deputy picked him up, and held him aloft with his muzzle to the edges of the hole.

"smell that," he ordered, and jim sniffed intently. then he set him down, and directed him to the piece of bark. that, too, jim's nose investigated minutely, his feathered tail slowly wagging.

"seek him," ordered blackstock.

jim whined, looked puzzled, and sniffed again at the bark. the information which his subtle nose picked up there was extremely confusing. first, there was the smell of skunk—but that smell of skunk was everywhere, dulling the keenness of his discrimination. then, there was a faint, faint reminiscence of woolly billy. but there was woolly billy, at tug blackstock's side. certainly, there could be no reason for him to seek woolly billy. then there was an elusive, tangled scent, which for some moments defied him. at last, however, he got a clue to it. with a pleased bark—his way of saying "eureka!"—he whipped about, trotted over to big andy stevens, sat down in front of him, and gazed up at him, with tongue hanging and an air of friendly inquiry, as much as to say: "here i am, andy. but i don't know what tug blackstock wants me to seek you for, seein' as you're right here alongside him."

big andy dropped his hand on the dog's head familiarly; then noticing the sudden tense silence of the party, his eyes grew very big and round.

"what're you all starin' at me fer, boys?" he demanded, with a sort of uneasy wonder.

"ax jim," responded black dan, harshly.

"i reckon old jim's makin' a mistake fer once, tug," drawled long jackson, who was andy's special pal.

the deputy rubbed his lean chin reflectively. there could be no one more above suspicion in his eyes than this transparently honest young giant from the oromocto. but jim's curious action had scattered to the winds, at least for a moment, a sort of hypothesis which he had been building up in his mind. at the same time, he felt dimly that a new clue was being held out to him, if he could only grasp it. he wanted time to think.

"we kin all make mistakes," he announced sententiously. "come here, jim. seek 'im, boy, seek 'im." and he waved his hand at large.

jim bounced off with a joyous yelp, and began quartering the ground, hither and thither, all about the tree. big andy, at a complete loss for words, stood staring from one to another with eyes of indignant and incredulous reproach.

suddenly a yelp of triumph was heard in the bushes, a little way down towards the lake, and jim came racing back with a dark magenta article in his mouth. at the foot of the tree he stopped, and looked at blackstock interrogatively. receiving no sign whatever from his master, whose face had lit up for an instant, but was now as impassive as a hitching-post, he stared at black dan for a few seconds, and then let his eyes wander back to andy's face. in the midst of his obvious hesitation the oromocto man stepped forward.

"durned ef that ain't one o' my old mittens," he exclaimed eagerly, "what sis knit fer me. i've been lookin' fer 'em everywheres. bring it here, jim."

as the dog trotted up with it obediently, the deputy intervened and stopped him. "you shall have it bime-by, andy," said he, "ef it's yourn. but jest now i don't want nobody to tech it except jim. ef you acknowledge it's yourn——"

"of course it's mine," interrupted andy resentfully. "an' i want to find the other one."

"so do i," said blackstock. "drop it, jim. go find the other mitt."

as jim went ranging once more through the bushes, the whole party moved around to the other side of the tree to get out of the downpour of the noon sun. as they passed the magenta mitten black dan picked it up and examined it ostentatiously.

"how do ye know it's yourn, andy?" he demanded. "there's lots of magenta mitts in the world, i reckon."

tug blackstock turned upon him.

"i said i didn't want no one to tech that mitt," he snapped.

"oh, beg pardon, tug," said dan, dropping the mitt. "i forgot. 'spose it might kind o' confuse jim's scent, gittin' another smell besides andy's on to it."

"it might," replied the deputy coolly, "an' then agin, it mightn't."

for a little while every one was quiet, listening to jim as he crashed about through the bushes, and confidently but unreasonably expecting him to reappear with the other mitten. or, at least, that was what big andy and woolly billy expected. the deputy, at least, did not. at last he spoke.

"i agree with mac here, boys," said he, "that there may be somethin' more'n skunk in this skunk smell. we'll jest look into it a bit. you all keep back a ways—an' you, long, jest keep an eye on woolly billy ef ye don't mind, while i go on with jim."

he whistled to the dog, and directed his attention to a spot at the foot of the tree exactly beneath the hole. jim sniffed hard at the spot, then looked up at his master with tail drooping despondently.

"yes, i know it's skunk, plain skunk," agreed the deputy. "but i want him. seek him, jim—seek him, boy."

thus reassured, jim's tail went up again. he started off through the bushes, down towards the lake, with his master close behind him. the rest of the party followed thirty paces or so behind.

the trail led straight down to the lake's edge. here jim stopped short.

"that skunk's a kind o' water-baby," remarked long jackson.

"oh, do you think so?" queried woolly billy, much interested.

"of course," answered jackson. "don't you see he's took to the water? now, yer common, no-account skunk hates wettin' his fur like pizen."

the deputy examined the hard, white sand at the water's edge. it showed faint traces of moccasined feet. he pursed his lips. it was an old game, but a good one, this breaking a trail by going into the water. he had no way of deciding whether his quarry had turned up the lake shore or down towards the outlet. he guessed at the latter as the more likely alternative.

jim trotted slowly ahead, sniffing every foot of ground along the water's edge. as they approached the outlet the shore became muddy, and jackson swung woolly billy up on to his shoulder. once in the outlet, the foreshore narrowed to a tiny strip of bare rock between the water and an almost perpendicular bank covered with shrubs and vines. all at once the smell of skunk, which had been almost left behind, returned upon the air with fresh pungency. blackstock stopped short and scanned the bank with narrowed eyes.

a second or two later, jim yelped his signal, and his tail went up. he sniffed eagerly across the ribbon of rock, and then leapt at the face of the bank.

the deputy called him off and hurried to the spot. the rest of the party, much excited, closed up to within four or five paces, when a wave of the deputy's hand checked them.

"phew!" ejaculated black dan, holding his nose. "there's a skunk hole in that there bank. ye'll be gittin' somethin' in the eye, tug, ef ye don't keep off."

blackstock, who was busy pulling apart the curtain of vines, paid no attention, but long jackson answered sarcastically:

"ye call yerself a woodsman, dan," said he, "an' ye don't know that the hole where a skunk lives don't smell any. yer reel skunk's quite a gentleman and keeps his home always clean an' tidy. tug blackstock ain't a-goin' to git nawthin' in the eye."

"well, i reckon we'd better smoke," said black dan amiably, pulling out his pipe and filling it. and the others followed his example.

blackstock thrust his hand into a shallow hole in the bank quite hidden by the foliage. he drew out a pair of moccasins, water-soaked, and hurriedly set them down on the rock. for all their soaking, they reeked of skunk. he picked up one on the point of a stick and examined it minutely. in spite of all the soaking, the sole, to his initiated eye, still bore traces of that viscous, oily liquid which no water will wash off—the strangling exudation of the skunk's defensive gland. it was just what he had expected. the moccasin was neat and slim and of medium size—not more than seven at most. he held it up, that all might see it clearly.

"does this belong to you, andy stevens?" he asked.

there was a jeer from the group, and big andy held up an enormous foot, which might, by courtesy, have been numbered a thirteen. it was a point upon which the oromocto man was usually sensitive, but to-day he was proud of it.

"ye'll hev to play cinderella, tug, an' find out what leetle foot it fits on to," suggested macdonald.

the deputy fished again in the hole. he drew forth a magenta mitten, dropped it promptly, then held it up on the point of his stick at arm's length. it had been with the moccasins. big andy stepped forward to claim it, then checked himself.

"it's a mite too strong fer me now," he protested. "i'll hev to git sis to knit me another pair, i guess."

blackstock dropped the offensive thing beside the moccasins at his feet, and reached once more into the hole.

"he ain't takin' no risks this time, boys," said blackstock. "he's took the swag with him."

there was a growl of disappointment. long jackson could not refrain from a reproachful glance at woolly billy, but refrained from saying the obvious.

"what are ye goin' to do about it, tug?" demanded black dan. "hev ye got any kind of a reel clue, d'ye think, now?"

"wait an' see," was blackstock's noncommittal reply. he picked up the moccasins and mitten again on the point of his stick, scanned the bank sharply to make sure his quarry had not gone that way, and led the procession once more down along the rocky shore of the stream. "seek him," he said again to jim, and the dog, as before, trotted on ahead, sniffing along by the water's edge to intercept the trail of whoever had stepped ashore.

the party emerged at length upon the bank of the main stream, and turned upwards towards brine's rip. after they had gone about half a mile they rounded a bend and came in sight of a violent rapid which cut close inshore. at this point it would be obviously impossible for any one walking in the shallow water to avoid coming out upon dry ground. tug blackstock quickened his pace, and waved jim forward.

a sharp oath broke from black dan's lips.

"i've been an' gone an' left my 'baccy-pooch behind, by the skunk's hole," he announced. and grumbling under his breath he turned back down the shore.

blackstock ran on, as if suddenly in a great hurry. just where the shallow water ended, at the foot of the rapid, jim gave his signal with voice and tail. he raced up the bank to a clump of bushes and began thrashing about in them.

"what d'ye suppose he's found there?" asked big andy.

"scent, and lots of it. no mistake this time," announced macdonald. "hain't ye caught on to jim's signs yet?"

"jim," said the deputy, sharply but not loud, "fetch him!"

jim, with nose in air instead of to the ground, set off at a gallop down the shore in the direction of the outlet.

the deputy turned about.

"dan," he shouted peremptorily. "come back here. i want ye!"

instead of obeying, black dan dashed up the bank, running like a deer, and vanished into the bushes.

"i knew it! that's the skunk, boys. go home, you billy!" cried blackstock, and started after the fugitive. the rest followed close on his heels. but jackson cried:

"ye'd better call off jim quick. dan's got a gun on him."

the deputy gave a shrill whistle, and jim, who was just vanishing into the bush, stopped short. at the same instant a shot rang out from the bushes, and the dog dropped in his tracks with a howl of anguish.

blackstock's lean jaws set themselves like iron. he whipped out his own heavy "colt's," and the party tore on, till they met jim dragging himself towards them with a wounded hind-leg trailing pitifully.

the deputy gave one look at the big black dog, heaved a breath of relief, and stopped.

"'tain't no manner o' use chasin' him now, boys," he decreed, "because, as we all know, dan kin run right away from the best runner amongst us. but now i know him—an' i've suspicioned him this two month, only i couldn't git no clue—i'll git him, never you fear. jest now, ye'd better help me carry jim home, so's we kin git him doctored up in good shape. i reckon nipsiwaska county can't afford to lose mr. assistant-deputy sheriff. that there skunk-oil on dan's moccasins fooled both jim an' me, good an' plenty, didn't it?"

"but whatever did he want o' my mitts?" demanded big andy.

"now ye air a sap-head, andy stevens," growled macdonald, "ef ye can't see that!"