"
Hardly a rustling of the branches Tom heard as the young scout ascended.
One silent leaf fluttered down and blew in his face. That was all. A
minute, perhaps two minutes, elapsed. Then Tom saw the agile form slowly
descending the dark trunk.
"I'd make a good sneak thief, hey?" Hervey whispered.
"You're a wonder on climbing," Tom said, with frank admiration.
"It's kind of like worsted, Slady," Hervey whispered, as he brushed the
bark from his clothing. "It's all woven in with other stuff but it feels
like--sort of like worsted. I put my flashlight on it, it's faded--"
"I know it is," Tom said, "but it was bright red when we first saw it
and that's what makes me think it hasn't been in the nest long. I don't
believe it had been there more than a couple of days or so when we found
the nest. All I want to know now is whether it's wool, or anything like
that. You think it is?"
"Sure it is."
"All right, then one thing more and we'll hit the trail. You meet me in
the morning right after breakfast."
CHAPTER XXXII
THE BEGINNING OF THE JOURNEY
Early the next morning Tom and Hervey hiked down to Catskill.
"I don't see why we don't hike straight for the mountain," Hervey said;
"it would be much nearer."
"Didn't you ever sail up the Hudson?" Tom asked him. "All the trails up
the steep mountains are as plain as day from the river. If you want to
discover a trail get a bird's-eye view. Don't you know that aviators
discover trails that even hunters never knew about before? If the
kidnappers went up that mountain, they probably went an easy way,
because they're not scouts or woodsmen.
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