The general opinion was that ere long the child would be forthcoming in response to a stupendous ransom.

But this means of recovering the little fellow did not appeal to the scouts.
Perhaps if Tom Slade, alias Sherlock Nobody Holmes, had accompanied the group down to the riverside village, he would have learned or discovered something which they missed.

But Sherlock Nobody Holmes had other business on hand that morning.
"Do you want to see it?
Do you want to see it ?" little Skinny had asked him.

"Do you want to see those tracks I found?
Do you want to see me follow them again?
Do you want to see how I did it--do you ?" And Tom had given Skinny to understand that it was the dream of his life to see those famous tracks, which had proved a path of glory to the golden gates which opened into the exalted second-class of scouting.
"I'll show them to you! I'll show them to you!" Skinny had said eagerly.
"I'll show you where I began.

Maybe if we wait till it rains they'll get not to be there any more maybe." So Tom went with him to the rock close by the lake shore where the path to glory began, and starting here, they followed the tracks, now becoming somewhat obscure, up into the woods.
"Before I started I made sure," Skinny panted, as he trotted proudly along beside his famous companion.