War took up the story. “Not very much, Hap,” he admitted. “We took careful note of those flashes and started off down the trail. After awhile, the fellow who was signaling, gave up. We had nothing to guide us. We thought we had a good idea where the signals originated, but at night the forest all looks pretty much the same.”
“You got lost?” Jack demanded.
“Not exactly.”
“What d’you mean, not exactly?”
“Well,” War grinned, “we did come upon a path that led off into the forest from the main trail. We decided to follow it.”
“Where did it take you?” Ken interposed. “To the middle of nowhere?”
“Something like that,” War acknowledged. “It just kept on and on, and after awhile, we decided we’d have to turn back.”
“You’d marked you way, I take it?” Mr. Livingston asked.
“Well, in a fashion,” War answered, avoiding the Scout leader’s direct gaze. “We figured we couldn’t go astray following a regular path. But somehow in the semi-darkness, we slipped up and got off the darn thing. Getting back was what took so long.”
“We had to wait until dawn,” Willie confessed. “Once it was daylight, we figured things out, and were able to retrace our way.”