His prodigal disposition of the box
of matches impressed most of them as reckless dare-devilism; his haste,
anxiety, and a single instance of mild profanity told others of his
viciousness. One man was sure he had seen the stranger's watch chain in
farmer Grover's possession; and another saw something black on his
thumb, which he now remembered was a powder stain.
"I noticed all them things," averred Anderson Crow, supreme once more.
"But what in thunder did he want with those hair-pins?" inquired George
Ray.
"Never mind," said Anderson mysteriously. "You'll find out soon enough."
"Do you know Anderson?" some one asked.
"Of course I do," responded the marshal loftily.
"Well, what were they for, then?"
"I'm not givin' any clews away. You just wait a while and see if I'm not
right."
And they were satisfied that the detective knew all about it. After
crossing the foot-log the party was divided as to which direction it
should take. The marshal said the man had run to the southeast, but for
some inexplicable reason quite a number of the pursuers wanted to hunt
for him in the northwest. Finally it was decided to separate into posses
of ten, all to converge at Crow's Cliff as soon as possible. There were
enough double-barrelled shotguns in the party to have conquered a pirate
crew.
At the end of an hour Anderson Crow and his delegation came to the
narrow path which led to the summit of Crow's Cliff.
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