“Excellent!” the major said. “Conner, make sure he gets what he wants.”

“When did that mule train leave Fort Benton?” Hawk asked, even though Conner had already told him. The major said they had left there more than six days ago and had expected to reach Great Falls the afternoon of that day, but never showed up. It was the same as Conner had told him, but he thought it wouldn’t hurt to double-check. That meant they would have departed Fort Benton about ten days before Conner’s patrol could even reach Fort Benton, maybe more, if there were any delays along the way. It would be a miracle if there were any tracks to follow after that amount of time. The patrol was beginning to sound more and more like a lost cause. They weren’t likely to find any survivors, but maybe they could find out what had happened to the mule train.

Major Brisbin walked Hawk and Conner to the door. “Thank you again, Hawk, and good hunting.”

* * *

So far, things were moving right along, as far as Hawk was concerned. When Conner scheduled the patrol, he didn’t allow much time to find Hawk and start back the next day. Even so, they were less than an hour behind the scheduled departure time Conner had informed him of the night before. With the horses of the patrol standing saddled and ready, Hawk was happy there had been no chance meeting with Lieutenant Meade. That feeling was only temporary, however, for as the patrol was about to mount, the lieutenant came out of the powder magazine and walked directly toward the head of the column where Hawk and Conner stood. As Hawk expected, it was an ego visit on the part of Meade to make sure Hawk, as well as Conner, understood his higher ranking. “Good luck on your patrol,” Meade said, addressing Conner. “There’s been no hostile activity reported by any of the patrols in that area. I think you’ll find a pretty simple reason for the disappearance of that mule train in the short distance between Fort Benton and Great Falls. They most likely changed their minds, turned around, and headed back to their homes.”

“Sounds like you’ve got the whole thing figured out, Harvey,” Conner said. “Might not be any use for us to even go up there, although I heard they had all sold their homes.”