As he had said, Conner didn’t start to tell Hawk of the mission until they were both sitting by the fire, eating. Finally, he became serious. “Hawk, there’s a whole mule train gone missing for about five days now.” He went on to explain that a party of immigrants had last been seen when they left Fort Benton. “They’re a church group,” he said, “maybe Mormons, I don’t know for sure, about thirty folks, counting women and children. They never showed up at Great Falls, not hide nor hair of them. And they were carrying a large amount of money to build a new church in Helena.”

“That’s a pretty good reason they might be missin’,” Hawk said. “Why did you need me to guide the patrol? They were most likely followin’ the Mullan Road, so I don’t reckon I’d do any different than Ben or Raymond would have. You probably don’t even need a scout.”

“Like I told Major Brisbin, you were up in that part of the territory just recently, and you probably know it better than they do.”

“Well, that’s true, I was up that way not long ago, but it wasn’t on an army patrol. I was doing some personal business.”

“That’s right,” Conner insisted. “You told me about it. You were gone from the fort for a long time and you said you scouted the Mullan Road, from Great Falls all the way to the Bitterroot Valley. You found the three men you were looking for, so you know that country a lot better than the other scouts. Hell, you lived up in that part of the territory for a couple of years with the Blackfoot Indians. Ain’t that right?”

Hawk shrugged modestly. “Maybe, but that ain’t no guarantee I’ll find those folks. A mule train of that size had to leave some tracks. Are you tellin’ me nobody saw where they left the road?”

“Guess not,” Conner replied. “They said a detachment of soldiers was sent down to Great Falls from Fort Benton. They looked around for a day or two, said they could find no trace of ’em, and went on back to Fort Benton.”

“A party that big had to leave some tracks,” Hawk insisted.

“Right,” Conner was quick to agree. “And that’s why I need you to ride scout on this patrol. So, what about it, will you go?”

“I reckon.” His curiosity was finally aroused.

“Good man,” Conner said. “I told Major Brisbin you’d do the job. I knew you wouldn’t let me down.”