Peering around the corner to see that no one was
in sight, he crossed the open space swiftly and approached the grove
where he had seen Jack.
Jack was not in sight, but a round hole cut in the bark of a tree
told the direction in which he had gone. In the Indian sign language
used by the Boy Scouts this meant:
"This is the trail. Keep on in this direction."
Wondering what had taken Jack away so suddenly, Ned followed on until
he came to an open space where no trees were growing. He, however,
kept straight ahead, taking snapshots as he came to desirable scenes.
A hundred yards from the edge of the grove he came to a small round
stone sitting on top of a large one. Then he walked faster and with
more confidence. This, too, said:
"This is the trail! Keep on!"
It was now after noonday, and the sun poured fiercely down into the
valley between the great ridges. There were patches of forest here
and there, and now and then the boy came to a field which had been
planted to corn. Still, he came upon no human being. The two cabins
he saw seemed empty and deserted.
Weary and hungry as he was, Ned kept on, now reading the trail sign
from a tree, now from a stone, now from a bunch of grass tied at the
top, with the ends of the blades sticking straight up.
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