CHAPTER X
BLAZING A FOREST TRAIL
"Every time you turn around the scenery has shifted," complained TadButler, as the four boys stood on a rise of ground gazing this wayand that for familiar signs, while waiting for the guide, with whomthey had been out hunting and studying woodcraft.
"I thought I knew my way about in the woods, but I find I don't knowas much as a yearling," answered Rector. "Where is that guide?"
"Maybe he has gone home," suggested Stacy.
"I guess he has not gone far," said Ned.
"He said he wanted to get a look at an old burn some little way tothe northward."
"I'll go look for him," offered Walter.
Tad Butler was already too good a woodsman to permit his friend to doanything of the sort. Tad said they must keep together.
"For the sake of making conversation, which way would you go if youwere about to follow Mr. Vaughn?" he asked.
"That way," answered Walter, pointing.
"And you, Ned?"
"Just the opposite direction."
"Chunky, which way would you go?"
"I? I wouldn't go at all. I would just sit right down here, plump."
"You would show your good sense in doing that very thing. Boys, youare all wrong, except Chunky. Mr. Vaughn went that way, to theeastward."
"How do you know?" asked Ned.
"Because I watched him and saw him blaze a tree with his hatchet."
"But we don't see any blazes," objected Walter.
"That is because we are on the wrong side of it, Walt," replied Ned.
"Right you are," approved Butler.
"But why doesn't he put the blaze on this side of the trees so we cansee them?" questioned Walter.
"For the very good reason that he marked the trees on the side thatwould be facing him when he returned," Tad informed them. "However,had he desired to mark his trees so that one approaching from the wayhe will return would not see the blazes, he would have blazed thetrees on this side. That is what is called back-blazing."
"Tad is the woodsman," nodded Rector.
"He thinks he is," Chunky chimed in.
"No, I don't. I have realized, since coming up here, that I don'tknow enough about the woods to tell when a tree is going to fall.Did you notice another trick of Mr. Vaughn's when we were coming outhere?"
The boys shook their heads.
"He broke the tops of bushes at intervals. I noticed, too, that hebent them all in the same direction. I don't know the meaning of it,but I guess it had something to do with direction."
"There he comes now. Ask him," cried Rector.
"Hello! I thought you boys would be lost before this," called Cale,with a twinkle in his eyes.
"We might have been, at that," declared Ned. "At least Walt wouldhave been. Chunky wouldn't move and Tad, though he pointed the wayyou had gone, wouldn't let us move away. We were talking about yourhaving bent over some bushes on the trail here. Tad said it was toindicate the direction we had taken as you bent them all in the samedirection."
"Master Tad has keen eyes. He is right. In venturing into strangeforests, far from human habitation, one should do this occasionallyin addition to blazing or marking trees with the hatchet. The wayto do is to bend a green bush over in the way you are going, snappingthe stem or clipping it with the hatchet, but letting it adhere bythe bark, so that the under or lighter side of the foliage will belooking you in the face when you return."
"Why, a man couldn't lose his way with that kind of a trail, couldhe?" asked Rector.
"Well, he might," admitted Cale. "But, if he is being pursued byenemies, or for any other reason does not wish to leave a conspicuoustrail, he had better not bend bushes. In blazing, remember that asingle blaze should always be made on the side away from the camp.If the side toward the camp be marked it should be with two blazesinstead of one. Remember that. It may come in handy one of thesedays. Master Tad, what is the gun signal when one is lost?"
"A shot, a pause, then two shots," answered Butler promptly.
"Right. What time of day? Wait! Let's see if any of the othersknow," said Cale quickly, seeing that Tad was about to reply.
"I don't understand what you mean," said Rector.
"What time of the day would you pay attention to that sort of asignal?"
"Any time I heard it," answered the fat boy.
"Provided, of course, that there wasn't anybody else to go."
"I give it up," said Ned.
"After four o'clock in the afternoon is the rule, I believe,"answered Tad in response to a nod from the guide.
"Yes, that's right. That is the hour the camp-keeper is supposed toblow his horn to call home the wanderers. We are too far away, ofcourse, to hear the horn. We must be all of twenty miles from camp.We are now five miles from our ponies."
"It strikes me that it is pretty near time for us to be getting tothe animals, then," suggested Tad.
"Why?"
"Because it is going to rain and the afternoon is getting late."
Vaughn nodded. He was losing no opportunity to teach the boys theart of woodcraft, and woodcraft, with all its tricks, was what thePony Rider Boys wanted to learn. They were learning fast, too,though Tad Butler was the most apt pupil of the four. He neverforgot a thing that had been told him. His memory, too, was of greatservice to him in the woods, as had been demonstrated on otheroccasions in previous trips. Once he had set his eyes on a peculiartree or a rock or a formation, he never forgot it. A man with ashort memory or lack of observation has a hard time in the woods,and usually a searching party has to go out after him in such acountry as this where, were a novice to stray ten rods from camp, hemight never find his way back without help.
Great drops of rain began to patter down a few minutes after thesubject had been mentioned. The party had left their ponies when theway became impassable for horses, and had gone on on foot. Stacywent with them because he did not relish the idea of being left alonein the woods. Otherwise nothing would have induced him to foot itover the hills, through the tangled growth of blackberry andraspberry briars in old burns, stumbling over charred snags, fallentrunks and limbs, until there was scarcely a spot on any of theirbodies that was not mauled to tenderness. A mile an hour is fairtime through this sort of country.
Cale decided that it was high time to be going. He took a keen lookabout him, eyed his charges, then turning to Tad said:
"You lead the way."
Tad started off confidently--in the wrong direction. Cale did notset him right. But the boy had gone but a few yards when hediscovered his mistake. With flushed face, he retraced his steps tothe starting point, then took a new course. The first course he hadfollowed was the one Vaughn had taken earlier in the day. Thepresent one led to the temporary camp where their ponies had beentethered.
"You did perfectly right," approved the guide.
"I made a mess of it at the start, sir," replied Butler. A newproblem was confronting Tad. He saw that darkness would overtakethem within a short half hour, and the boy did not know how he wasgoing to find his way then. He knew it would be impossible to findthe blazes or axe-marks on the trees. Had he been alone he probablywould have made camp while it was still light enough to enable him tosee the trail. Such a night would have been far from pleasant, butthen when daylight came he would have the satisfaction of knowingwhere he was.
The rain was increasing in volume every moment, and not having rubbercoats with them the boys were soon soaked. This not being a newexperience they uttered no complaints until Chunky finally wailed hisdisappointment that he had forgotten to bring an umbrella.
Just before dark Tad called a halt, and, borrowing the guide'shatchet, peeled off a liberal quantity of birch bark, dividing upthe load between his companions. Stacy complained loudly at beingobliged to carry the stuff. He didn't see any reason why they shouldlug firewood to camp. They would find plenty when they got there.
"Master Tad knows wh
at he is doing, I reckon," nodded the guide, whounderstood Butler's motive. "Ordinarily I don't believe in the sixthsense business, but some persons are more adept than others inwoodcraft. To me that means that some persons are more alert andobservant than others. Master Tad has just proved this. He has usedhis powers of observation in several different directions since westarted on the return. He was alert enough to discover that we weregoing to be caught out after dark."
"There is one thing he doesn't know," piped Chunky.
"What is that?" questioned Cale tolerantly.
"He doesn't know enough to keep in out of the wet."
"Do you?" asked Tad.
"No, I don't, and I'm kicking myself because of it. You had betterbelieve I shall know better next time. You don't catch me again thisway, not if I am awake at the time. Are we nearly there?"
"About five miles from the ponies," answered Mr. Vaughn.
Chunky groaned dismally.
"You had better light up now," suggested the guide. "Be careful notto drop any fire, even if the ground is wet."
"No, not the rest of you," objected Tad, as the others began reachingfor their matches.
"One torch will be enough. Our torches won't hold out if we alllight up at the same time."
"Right," approved Cale.
Tad lighted his torch while the guide held his hat over the match.Then the party moved on again. As darkness fell their progressnaturally grew more slow. They had to use extreme care not to missany of the little blaze marks on the trees, and at the same time tonote every bush that had been bent toward them.
Water was running from hat brims, clothing was soaked as waseverything in their pockets, and water spurted from their boots withevery step.
"How would you like a pound or so of that bear steak, Chunky?" askedNed, shouting in the fat boy's ear.
"Hot off the frying pan," added Tad.
"With a cup of steaming hot coffee added to it, while you werelistening to the rain pattering on the roof of your tent," suggestedWalter.
"All sitting tight and snug as a bug in a rug?" asked the fat boy."No, I couldn't stand it. My heart is too weak. I should die ofheart failure. And, incidentally, if you fellows keep on nagging me,something's going to happen. Mind you, I am not making any threats."
"You had better not if you know what is best for you," warned Rector.
"But I am just saying what will take place, that's all. I--" Stacydid not complete the sentence. He stumbled over a dead limb andplunged head first into a bed of mold that streaked his face withblack, filling his mouth and eyes, to the great delight of the restof the party and the discomfiture of the fat boy. Stacy kept quietfor a long time after that.
After four hours of this sort of traveling--it was now near teno'clock at night--Tad halted, and, raising his torch above his head,gazed about him, trying to light up the shadows up in the trees. ThePony Rider Boy was trying to get his bearings. Cale was observinghim with twinkling eyes.
A twig snapped off to the right of them and a horse whinnied.
"Here we are," cried Butler. "That was Silver Face calling to me."
"I was expecting to see you go on past the place," chuckled Vaughn."Well done, my lad! Had you lived all your life in the woods youcould not have made a better campfall."
"What, are we home?" cried Walter.
"We are at our temporary camp. Luckily for us, too," said the guide,"for our torches have all burned out. Stamp that out, Master Tad.We will have a fire going in a short time."
The boys turned toward their ponies, stumbling over obstructions,guided by the snorts of welcome from the little animals that theycould hear but were unable to see. They were to learn some newtricks in woodcraft right then and there, something that theyprobably never would have learned of themselves. Even Cale Vaughn'sresources were to be taxed somewhat in overcoming the difficultiesthat now confronted them.