one after
one
They little imagined how far the wayward young feet had followed the setting sun ! All day long they beat the tangled wilds . Of savage beasts , traces , more than enough , could they find , turn whither they might ; and of savage men , two or three recent trails , one of them leading directly across the buffalo highway that traversed the forest between the settlements and Whitney 's distant cabin . Late in the afternoon the questers began returning to the fort , dropping in , weary and disheartened , one after one . Some had pushed the search to the very threshold of the deserted home , and had observed how the boy 's footprints , after tracing themselves along the path down the hillside , suddenly vanished , there at the spring , and never a sign anear the spot of living things besides , which could suggest an explanation of the mystery . What manner of disappearance might this be ? That morning , after having snatched a brief repose from the fatigues of a day 's chase and a night 's journey , Jervis Whitney had started forth for a few hours after the rest to renew the search , taking leave of Elster at the fort gate .