"We might have been, at that," declared Ned. "At least Walt would have been. Chunky wouldn't move and Tad, though he pointed the way you had gone, wouldn't let us move away. We were talking about your having bent over some bushes on the trail here. Tad said it was to indicate the direction we had taken as you bent them all in the same direction."
"Master Tad has keen eyes. He is right. In venturing into strange forests, far from human habitation, one should do this occasionally in addition to blazing or marking trees with the hatchet. The way to do is to bend a green bush over in the way you are going, snapping the stem or clipping it with the hatchet, but letting it adhere by the bark, so that the under or lighter side of the foliage will be looking you in the face when you return."
"Why, a man couldn't lose his way with that kind of a trail, could he?" asked Rector.
"Well, he might," admitted Cale. "But, if he is being pursued by enemies, or for any other reason does not wish to leave a conspicuous trail, he had better not bend bushes. In blazing, remember that a single 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 blazes instead of one. Remember that. It may come in handy one of these days. 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 others know," 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 a signal?"
"Any time I heard it," answered the fat boy.
"Provided, of course, that there wasn't anybody else to go."