“Then what can we do?” Ned wanted to know.
“Well,” began Jerry slowly, “we’ll have to make a start on each of these trails, of course. Then when we find one doesn’t pan out we’ll try another.
“My notion,” he went on, “is that the professor used each and every one of these woodland paths. But he only used one the last time, and on that there will be no return marks. Now the thing for us to do is to find that last trail, and the only way we can do that is to pick out the one with the freshest marks—that is, the one that shows the freshest marks after we have gone beyond the point where we, ourselves, tramped.”
“That’s the idea!” cried Ned. “Come on!”
Jerry’s plan was the only feasible one. They must explore each woodland trail until they came on the one which showed it had last been used by the professor. Then they could follow it until they either found him, or found where the trail ended.
Fortunately the boys were experienced woodsmen. They were not expert guides, but they knew enough to follow a trail, and also to blaze one for themselves. They had had experience in this.
“Now,” resumed Jerry, after they had settled this point, “we must pack along some grub, for it won’t do to have to come back to the cabin at noon for something to eat. That would waste too much time.”
“I’ll look after the grub,” offered Bob.
“I thought you would, Chunky,” said Jerry, with a laugh. “And the rest of us will take what things we need.”
“Shall we stay out all night?” asked Andy, a bit apprehensively. He was not used, as were the others, to roughing it.