"Ye're right thar, capt'n! The night's a comin' down fast. It's a'ready gettin' dark; an' I'm afeerd it'll be tough trackin' under the timber. If we're to catch up wi' them the night, we hain't a minnit to spare." "Let us forward then!" Crossing the ridge, we descended rapidly on the other side--the track of the wheel guiding us in a direct line to the nearest point of the woods. We could tell that the barrow had been trundled down the hill at top speed--by the manner in which the iron tire had abraded the surface of the slope. We had no difficulty in following the trace as far as the edge of the timber, and for some distance into it: but there, to our great surprise, the wheel-track abruptly ended! It was not that we had lost it by its having passed over dry or rocky ground. On the contrary, around the spot where it so suddenly disappeared, the surface was comparatively soft; and even an empty barrow would have made an impression sufficiently traceable, either by my companion or myself. After beating about for some time, and extending our circle to the distance of a hundred yards or so, we failed to recover the sign. Certainly the barrow had not gone farther--at all events, not upon its trundle. Instinctively, we turned our eyes upward--not with any superstitious belief that the fugitives had made a sudden ascent into the air. But the idea had occurred to us, that they might have hidden themselves in a tree, and drawn the barrow up into it. A single glance was sufficient to satisfy us that this conjecture was erroneous. The thin foliage of the cotton-woods offered no cover. A squirrel could hardly have concealed itself among their branches. "I've got it!" exclaimed the hunter, once more seeking along the surface. "Hyar's thar tracks; tho' thar ain't no signs of the berra. I see how they've blinded us. By gosh! thar a kupple o' cunnin' old coons, whosomever they be." "How have they managed it?" "Tuk up the machine on thar shoulders, an' toted it thataway! See! thar's thar own tracks! They've gone out hyar--atween these two trees." "Right, comrade--that appears to be the way they've done it. Sure enough there is the direction they have taken." "Well! ef I wan't bothered wi' these hyar animals, I ked follow them tracks easy enough. We'd soon kum upon the wheel agin, I reck'n: they ain't a-goin' to travel fur, wi' a hump like thet on thar shoulders." "No; it's not likely." "Wal, then, capt'n, s'pose we leave our critters hyar, an' take arter 'em afut? We kin quarter the groun' a good bit ahead; an I guess we'll eyther kum on them or thar berra afore long."