It must be confessed that it was not mainly the fugitive’s lawlessness
or even his cruel heedlessness that aroused Westy. It was the feeling
that somehow this work of murder (for so he thought it) had been wished
on him. It had agitated him and gone against him, and he was enraged
over it.
He had not been quite the ideal scout in the matter of readiness to kill
the deer; he might have done that job more promptly and with less
perturbation. But he was quite the scout in his towering resolve to
track down the culprit and tell him what he thought of him and bring him
to justice.
It was characteristic of Westy, who was a fiend at tracking and
trailing, that this course of action appealed to him now, rather than
the tamer course of going direct to the authorities. There was something
very straightforward about Westy. And besides, he had the adventurous
spirit which prefers to act without cooperation.
“_By jumping jiminies._ I’ll find that fellow!” he said aloud. “I should
worry about catching the train. I’ll find him all right, and I’ll tell
him something he won’t forget in a hurry—I will. I’ll track him and find
out who he is. Maybe after he’s paid a hundred dollars fine, he won’t be
so free with his blamed rifle.”
It was odd how he had balked at putting an end to the wounded deer, and
then had not the slightest hesitancy to pursue, he knew not what sort of
disreputable character, and denounce him to his face and then report
him. Westy would not show up with the authorities, not he; not till he
had first called the marauder a few names which he was already deciding
upon. They were not the sort of names that are used in the language of
compliment. It is not to be supposed that Westy was perfect....
He was all scout now. Yet he was puzzled as to which way to turn. It is
sometimes easier to follow tracks than to find them. No doubt the
fugitive had been some distance from the deer when he had shot it. Where
had he been then? Near enough for Westy to hear the patter of his
footfalls, that was certain. Also another thought occurred to him. The
man’s shot had not been a good one, at least it had not proved fatal. He
was either a very poor marksman or else he had fired from a considerable
distance.
Westy’s mind worked quickly and logically now. He had easily the best
mind of any scout in his troop. Not the most sprightly mind, but the
best. He tried hurriedly to determine where the man had stood by
considering the position of the wound on the deer’s body. But he quickly
saw the fallacy of any deduction drawn from this sign since the deer
might have turned before he dropped. Then another thought, a better one,
occurred to him. The animal had been shot below its side, almost in its
belly. Might not that argue that the huntsman had been somewhat below
the level of the deer?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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