The lost charm
had an exact bird’s-eye view of the spot in the road where the stage robbery had taken place. On making this discovery David once more uttered a tiny whistle and mused, “Uh-huh! That’s the way, eh? There were two of them in it instead of one, as Bill, the driver, and the deputy sheriffs think. Maybe the one up here had a rifle beaded down on the stage all the time so that if it came to any sort of a show-down he could pot Bill or bring down a horse to make the game certain.”

He devoted some time to seeking the marks where a rifle butt might have been rested and was disappointed because he could find nothing to bear out his reasoning. He still hoped to find some such indication, as he had made a complete detour and picked up the trails where the watcher had come and gone. They led away to the road below at a long angle and, proving that patience with keenness has its reward, David now made another most important find. It was nothing less than a coin watch charm with the few links connecting it to the chain from which it had been broken, at sight of which David’s eyes widened as if he had found something unbelievable.

“Lord! Who’d of thought it! Wish Goliath or Hank was here with me so that if it comes to a show-down I could have a witness to prove that I did find this thing, and that it was here that I found it,” he muttered aloud, and at the sound of his own voice looked around as if startled, then after putting the charm and piece of chain in his pocketbook, carefully marked the spot where he had found them by notching the bottom of some brush with his pocketknife. He resumed the trail which led him down into the main road where still another cause for conjecture was exposed. This was that the trail had debouched almost exactly at a point where a smaller road branched off into the hills. This road David recognized as a private one that led to the Calora Mine, distant about two miles. The trail was lost, but David, now as keen as a bloodhound on a chase, turned off into the private road and followed it for some distance in the hope of again finding imprints of the crooked boot heel, but without success. He finally gave this up and was returning to the main road when he made another discovery and brightened eagerly.

“Horse and buggy been stopped here for some time,” ran through his mind. “Didn’t notice that as I went up because I was too busy looking for foot signs. Wonder who it could have been, and why? Couldn’t be seen here from the stage road. Maybe it turned round and went back into the main road; or maybe it didn’t come from the main road at all. Wish I could have found this before so many teams from the 
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