It will also be remembered that Tad was able to rescue another lad
who, like himself, had been taken by the Blackfeet, and to return the
boy to his father, none the worse for his exciting experiences. It
will be recalled as well, how Tad Butler through his own efforts
solved the mystery of the old Custer trail--a mystery that had
perplexed and annoyed the ranchers along the historic trail for many
months.
And now they were once more in the saddle, having chosen the Ozark
Mountains in southwestern Missouri as the scene of their next
explorations.
With them they carried a pack train of four mules, these being best
adapted to packing the boys' belongings over the rugged mountains.
For their guide they had engaged a full-blooded Shawnee Indian named
Joe Hawk, known among his people as Eagle-eye, making a party of six,
with eight head of stock in all.
At the time of the beginning of this narrative the Pony Riders were
encamped on a fork of the White River some three days out from
Springfield. Joe Hawk had asked permission to leave the party for the
night to pay a visit to a fellow-tribesman who lived somewhere in the
mountains to the west of them.
On second thought it occurred to Professor Zepplin that perhaps it
might have been Joe, or Eagle-eye, as the boys had decided to call the
Indian, whom he had heard skulking about the camp.
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